Shortly after dusk, a sixteen-year-old boy stands on the street corner talking with a
friend about what happened at school today between himself and another student. He
nonchalantly stands there sipping his Pepsi when all of a sudden a black Honda with
tinted windows drives up to the corner. The window rolls down, a voice calls out, and
the boy walks up to the car. He bends down to peer into the car to see who it is when
three rounds from a .38 caliber pistol rip through his chest and neck. The other boy
frantically runs off into the distance. He stumbles backwards and trips on the curb
behind him and falls to the sidewalk the car speeds off into the dark alleyway across the
street. The young boy struggles to breathe as he coughs up blood. He chokes to death
with every effort to breathe. He dies a minute or two later. These kinds of events are
all too familiar to us and perturb us as we see an increasing number of handguns fall
into the hands of the young. I am shocked at the sight of these events where innocent
children are being gunned down on the street because of petty little arguments over
something so minuscule as a pair of shoes, a particular type of jacket, or simply just a
misinterpreted look. I believe that more strict handgun regulations are a must in
today's society. I'm not saying that we have to ban handguns, but we have to take
legislative measures in order to limit the possibility of handguns falling into the hands
or youths. Peter Annin and Tom Morganthau state that according to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Uniform Crime Report, murders committed by persons under the age of
eighteen who were arrested jumped from 1,193 in 1985 to 2982 in 1994. [1] This report
shows a substantial increase in the number of killings by people who are under the age of
eighteen. Most of these people are often participants in gangs and involved with drugs.
Many of these people find that guns are a much easier method to defeat his or her
opponent in a quarrel. This problem is made worse by the increasing availability of
guns. Residents of gang-ridden areas are afraid to leave their homes for fear that their
children or themselves might fall victim to a gunshot. I believe that many people feel
we need tighter control over the sale of handguns while many others believe that we
shouldn't. Many people say that it is a right to own firearms and handguns in this
country because it is guaranteed by the second amendment of the United States
Constitution. The second amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to
the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed." First of all, very few states today in the U. S. have militias because we
have the five branches of the U.S. Military, the Army, Navy, Marines, Airforce, and Coast
Guard. The military provides this country with enough support to fend off any war
levying or belligerent nations. That is the military's obligatory purpose today. There
is no necessity for a state run military. The U.S. Military's purpose is to keep this
land free. Second, the Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people from our
government should it transcend to tyranny. These laws and rights were established in the
period of colonial times when monarchies and dictatorships were common place in society.
Today, they're just about non existent except for subtle hints of them in communist
governments which exist in areas such as the People's Republic of China. We have no need
to protect ourselves from the possibility of a dictatorial government materializing from
our democracy because it is highly unlikely that this would occur. The United Nations,
which the United States is a member of, would not allow this because their main function
is to stop the spread of communism. We are not living in that era anymore and that is
why I believe that guns aren't really needed that much by civilians. As I mentioned
before, I'm not suggesting that we, the people, totally ban guns. Firearms and handguns
still have their recreational purpose in society. For a lot of people, the sport of
hunting wild game is an enjoyable pastime and tradition that has been passed down through
the ages. People have always hunted. From Paleolithic man to the Middle Ages and to the
present, hunting has and provides us with food even though that same food can be
purchased at the local supermarket. Other activities such as target shooting and
enrollment in gun clubs are also enjoyable. They are sports, just like any other sports,
that give men and women a sense of pride and satisfaction that fulfills the primitive
instinct of competition in our minds. Another important argument among civilians of the
country is that if more restrictions on firearms and handguns are passed, this would
gradually lead to a total ban on all guns sometime in the future. In an article written
by Robert J. Blendon, John T. Young, and David Hemenway, they include a Gallup/CNN/USA
Today poll which show how gun owners, non owners, and the nation as a whole were
surveyed. Sixty-five percent of all people, including owners of guns and non owners,
believe that stricter legislation would gradually lead to a total ban of all guns. In
addition, a majority of gun owners, approximately fifty-five percent, believe that these
laws would violate the second amendment of the U. S. Constitution while non owners don
not believe this. The survey was asking about how stricter laws would reduce certain
aspects related to guns. The national figure is sixty-nine percent for those who believe
that stricter laws would reduce the number of people killed by guns in arguments.
Sixty-eight percent of the nation believe that laws would reduce the number of accidental
deaths and suicides attributed to guns. Fifty-eight percent of the nation agrees that
more laws would reduce violent crime. However, in both cases of owners and non owners,
the difference of agreement is over twenty percentage points in favor of non gun owners.
[2] I certainly agree that stricter legislation would definitely reduce the number of
gun related deaths and that if handguns were restricted from the hands of minors and
criminals, the rate and recidivism rate, the rate of repeat offenders, of violent crime
would be reduced. I believe that we need more strict laws to curb some of the violent
crime that is being committed by America's youth. I also believe that the National Rifle
Association of America (NRA) will not let the government ban all fire arms since the NRA
is the biggest lobbyist in the gun control debate today because it has so many active
members. Finally, most people feel that they need handguns for protection of their
property and themselves. I believe that protection of your own property, such as you
home, is perfectly fine, but if you carry a gun around for protection, that can become
dangerous. For example, gang members who carry guns are an enormous threat to others.
If someone should irritate or annoy them, they might possibly resort to using his or her
gun on that person. Innocent children and bystanders could fall victim to a stray
bullet. Minor arguments could erupt into bloodshed on the street corner or in a dark
alleyway. Other people are also a possible threat, especially to police officers. If
for some reason, a gun toting civilian was pulled over for a traffic violation, that
person could decide to shoot that police officer in an attempt to get away. This would
cause major problems in society. Another thing is that people under the influence of
drugs or alcohol might use their guns on somebody with out reason because of impaired
reasoning and judgment associated with inebriation. Now I'm not saying every person
would be and is like that, but there are some people that are. I believe that this
presents a danger to society and why handgun access and sales should be restricted. I
believe that we need tougher legislation on handguns. Citizens should be registered for
each and every gun he or she owns and that they should be obligated to pay a high fee for
that registration. Also, juveniles and convicted felons that have already served time
should not be permitted to purchase or possess and handgun. I believe that if someone
who has purchased a handgun, should be required by federal law to take a safety and
training course in order to lawfully possess a handgun. This course would be directed by
the federal government and would ensure that a handgun purchaser's record would be
checked out. This country should have tougher laws in order to restrict handgun access
and sale. I'm not saying this will work, but it will be a step forward in the direction
of effective gun control. If we and the government can work together on it, we can
slowly minimize the problem and keep guns out of the wrong hands. [1] Annin, Peter;
Morganthau, Tom. "The lull before the storm?"
Newsweek 4 December 1995: <
http://sbweb2.med.iacnet.com/infotrac/session/993/36/2172572/62?xrn_14 > 03/24/97
19:29:23
[2] Blendon, Robert J.; Hemenway, David; Young, John T. "The American public and the
gun control debate"
The Journal of the American Medical Association 12 June 1996:
< http://sbweb2.med.iacnet.com /infotrac/session/993/36/2172572/16?xrn_1 >
03/24/97 18:54:01
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