Erin Molello
English101
Position Essay
Gun
Control
Try to imagine
30,000 people standing in front of you. Now before you get to talk to them,
learn their names, or even look at all their faces, they all disappear. These
people are the representing group of the 30,000 people that are killed by guns
a year in the United States (Heeding God’s Call). 30,000 people that were
someone’s child, someone’s best friend, and maybe even someone’s soul mate,
taken from the earth due to the ease of access we have to guns these days. The
set of laws that are enforced today are flawed and make it to easy for a deadly
weapon to fall into the wrong hands. The right of gun ownership is cherished by
many Americans and that is something that shouldn’t be taken away for those who
deserve the right. Building on existing laws and making them stricter will
allow for only those Americans who deserve it to be able to obtain a gun.
While
there are laws against a massive group of people who can not lawfully own a
gun, including convicted felons, mentally ill patients who have adjudicated or
involuntarily admitted to a mental institution, those who have been
dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, anyone convicted of domestic
violence including misdemeanors, anyone under a restraining order for harassing
an intimate partner, and a few more on illegal aliens in the United States.
Although it in unlawful for persons
in the group above to own a gun the laws prohibiting others to sell firearms to
prohibited persons is weak and easily evaded. Many guns sold in private sales
or gun shows are not subjected to perform a background check on those buying
the guns by state law (TheAtlantic). Furthermore, these state laws are backed up
by federal law which in shorthand states that guns purchased by federally
licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) are to perform background checks on probable
firearms purchasers to ensure that the firearm transfer would not violate
federal, state or local law. But the loophole for private sealers is still an
issue that has not gained its needed attention, under federal law persons who
purchase guns from private sellers are not required to undergo a background
check. It was also found that 40 percent of gun owners in America purchased
from a private seller, concluding that this is a serious loophole that is well
known to the public and is used by many to obtain a gun (SmartGunLaws).
With
popular video games, such as halo, call of duty and many more which have been
introduced into today’s society, kids as well as others are becoming desensitized
when it comes to the severity of damage a gun can cause. The laws in place enforcing
gun safety is not cutting it anymore when kids are becoming use to shooting guns
in a virtual world. Although federal law does veto the sale of a handgun unless
“the transferee is provided with a secure gun storage or safety device” (SmartGunLaws).
But once again this law is only an issue when buying from an FFLs, if bought
from a private owner this law does not exist. Another loophole; although the
purchase of a secure gun storage or safety device is required it is not required
by gun owners to secure their gun in that purchased device. So yes by federal law
one must buy the secure storage device but included in that same law one could keep
their handgun as the centerpiece on their dinning room table, free for any kid
to access and accidentally play a real life game of halo. Another safety issue;
what happens if a gun goes missing or is stolen? Legally, nothing is an option.
If a convicted felon for some reason didn’t go through a private seller to obtain
the dangerous fire arm he/she wishes to possess, why not just steal someone
else’s? Under federal law it is not required by an individual gun owner to
report if his/her gun is indeed missing or stolen (SmartGunLaws). Someone could
physically watch another steal their gun, run from the house with it and still
not be required to report the incident, never knowing whose dangerous hands
this deadly weapon has fallen into.
The
right to bare arms, as stated in the 2nd amendment, is the
constitutional right which allows Americans the capability to own and store a
gun on themselves or in their residence. But it is nothing more than a right, a
privilege that is given to model citizens, and lawfully can easily be taken
away from a person who is not living their life up to par. Many believe that enforcing
more gun control laws would take away their constitutional right which they
then believe is unmoral and unfair, and while it is possible for the
constitutional right to be revoked for all that is not what the majority of activist
promoting gun control laws are asking for. Laws that prevent a gun from falling
into the wrong hands, laws that prevent the more than 30,000 lives taken from just
our nation a year, and laws that allow those model citizens who do deserve the right
too participate and practice safe gun handling and storage, are some, among a
few others, that our nation is in need of before the numbers of fatalities grow
even higher than they are now.
As every day passes stricter gun control laws are
critically needed. In 2009 the statists found on Heading Gods Call stated that over 30,000 people die a year from
gun violence, as stated above. While these numbers are still true the actual
number today greatly exceeds the ones in 2009. With a number of already 47,956
deaths due to gun violence in this year brings shock that nothing has been done
regarding this issue. And if that number doesn’t bring shock and a feeling of horror,
then maybe this number broken down will. 640 children. 308 due to mass
shootings. 2,407 teenagers. 1,736 due to accidental shooting. And many more lives
taken not including the 24,536 who were injured by a gun so far in this unfinished
year (GunViolenceArchive).
Fatalities
due to this constitutional right not being regulated appropriately, is a
pressing issue which calls for a rapid yet thought out and thorough plan which
will allow those deserving of the right to maintain it, and those non deserving
to be incapable of purchasing and obtaining this lethal weapon.
Bibliography
Frum, David. “Mass Shootings Are
Preventable.” The Atlantic. 23 June
2015. Web. 29 November 2015.
“Gun Violence Archive 2015 Toll of
Gun Violence.” Gun Violence Archive.
1 December 2015. Web. 1
December 2015.
Smart
Gun Laws. Something in the Universe, September 2015. Web. 29 September
2015.
“USA Gun Violence Statistics.” Heeding Gods Call. October 2009. Web. 29
November 2015.
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