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Abbey Riley
Ian Ellis
English 101
8 May 3013
Gun Control And Its’ Effect on Society
Guns have been around in this country since the beginning of its’ history. The
United States started its history with a war and people needing to defend their possessions
and freedoms. Although things have changed quite a bit involving the people and
defending their rights, guns are still very debated issues involving nearly everybody in
the whole country. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, often times causing heated
debates on the right and wrong courses of action. There are two main sides in this
argument that I believe are significant, the NRA (National Rifle Association), and the
parent groups supporting the tightening of gun laws. The NRA has been around since the
1930’s and as of recently, these parent groups have begun to take the gun control scene
by storm. The NRA is trying to protect the rights of gun owners, while in contrast; the
parent groups are trying to take them away to due to recent incident involving guns. This
debate started in 1989 due to the mass school shooting that took place in Stockton,
California where five children were killed and 29 people were injured. The people of
America have certain freedoms that tried to be upheld in the government and gun control
is one of them. As violent and inhumane as it sounds, guns were absolutely a contributing
factor to the start of the country and our freedoms continue to be defended by these very
same weapons. ”You have the right to live and therefore you should have the right to
defend that life” (GCD).
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Starting with the Revolutionary, war guns have been a staple of the American life.
In the Revolutionary War, people used guns to fend off the British army, eventually
taking them down and starting the country that we have today. The Revolutionary War is
one of the main reasons that the second amendment was added- “The right to bear arms”
(Madison). Of course between the time of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War there
was not much talk about guns, but of course once the Confederate Army was formed their
discussions consisted of banning and regulating guns.
In recent years there has been a deadly increase in mass shootings throughout the
United States. The Virginia Tech shooting is the most deadly school shooting in the
United States history, student Seung- Hui Cho “killed 32 students and staff members
before committing suicide. He wounded 17 others”(Katel). The Brady Law was created
in 1993, which made it illegal to buy a gun without getting a background check but this
was not the case for the shooter. He got away without having to receive a background
check. But after the Brady law was created there was a decrease in firearm crimes in the
United States, according to Bob Adams in the article titled, Gun Control Debate. “After a
20-year rise, the use of firearms in serious crimes in the United States dropped 50 percent
from 1993, when the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act was passed until 2003”
(Adams). This act has saved many lives and helped keep guns out of the hands of
criminals and critically ill people. Another act that shortly followed the Brady Law was
the Federal Assault Weapons Act of in 1994. This banned the sale of nineteen assault
weapons, which had been used in the mass shooting leading up to the ban. Unfortunately
though there are plenty of replicas to the guns specified and the act expired in 2004.This
has been one of the main pedestals for parent groups- banning assault style weapons all
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together.
After every major incident involving guns there is a big uproar of people trying to
take the right to have a gun away from the American people. “After a shooting spree,
they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell
wouldn't want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and
the military” (Burroughs). The main people that are involved in this uproar are the
parents involved or those who have been involved in prior incidents. After the Sandy
Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the parents made it their lifelong mission to fix
the gun laws in America. During their interview on 60 Minutes one parent said, “This is a
marathon. And you have to be prepared to run all 26 miles…” Following this, Sherlach
said in response to a question on whether he feared the issue was beginning to fade in the
public consciousness. “Now when you take a multifaceted approach, and you can build a
wagon big enough for a grassroots movement to get involved, it has the legs to go the 26
miles” (60 Minutes).
The NRA has stood by its’ beliefs all through its’ history and never once denied
people their rights. As soon as something bad happens involving guns the media blows it
up, blaming the gun laws instead of the people behind the gun shooting innocent people.
“New York has become the first and so far only state to pass gun-control legislation since
the New-town shootings. “I’m proud to be a New Yorker because New York is doing
something because we are fighting back,” Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in
mid-January as he signed the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement
Act, or SAFE Act, into law”(Mantel). Even though everybody thinks there needs to be
something done for some reason nobody has the means to do it.
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The NRA puts a lot of funding into the government and supports many of
politician’s campaigns. Since they fund them they are more likely to support the laws that
the NRA wants them to support. The NRA is trying to more greatly protect our second
amendment as well as the rights associated with supporting the government. Not only to
they support our government but they also are advocates for gun safety; going so far as to
set up classes for the public to teach them proper and safe gun usage. “While widely
recognized today as a major political force and as America's foremost defender of Second
Amendment rights, the NRA has, since its inception, been the premier firearms education
organization in the world” (NRA).
Everyday people are put into situations that there is a possibility of their health
being compromised, as well the risk of getting hurt or someone attacking them. Although
I think they should be the last resort, guns can be used as a self-defense tool against your
attacker. When I came to college my dad gave me pepper spray, just knowing I had it on
my key chain made me feel more comfortable going new places and in general gave me a
feeling of better safety. The belief of the National Rifle Association is that “the only
thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”(NRA). Although it can
sometimes be true it is not legitimate for every case. There have been plenty of cases
involving this exact scenario and both people involved were injured, if not dead. In the
case of Treyvon Martin, the man that shot him thought that he had a gun when really it
was just simply a bag of Skittles. Treyvon Martin died, and the shooter is being
prosecuted for murder. This deadly mistake compromised not only America’s views on
gun control, but as well as the lives of two individuals and the sufferings of their families.
The gun laws in United States may have some flaws but for the most part they are
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well written and protect our freedoms and rights as Americans. In my opinion, the one
flaw is the loophole in which people can buy guns without any sort of background check
or papers at a gun show. I believe that with the elimination of that standard and an
increased attempt to try to find a better law to keep gun shows more regulated and secure,
the future of a more rational society opinion on guns can be more of a realistic and
attainable possibility. Guns have played a significant role in the creation of our country,
and should remain a part of not only America as a whole, but our society as well.
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Bibliography
Reynolds, Glenn. "Column: Gun-free Zones Provide False Sense of Security." USA
Today. Gannett, 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 May 2013.
"NRA | ABOUT US." NRA | ABOUT US. National Rifle Association, n.d. Web. 03 May
2013.
Madison, James. "Bill of Rights." Bill of Rights. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 03 May
2013.
Adams, Bob. “Gun Control Debate.” The CQ Researcher 12 Nov. 2004: 951-968
"Counterinsurgency Cops, Robin Hood, Invisible Wounds." 60 Minutes. CBS. New York
City, New York, 5 May 2013. Cbs.com. Cbs. Web. 6 May 2013.
Mantel, Barbara. “Gun Control.” The CQ Researcher 8 Mar. 2013: 233-255
Katel, Peter. “Crime on Campus.” The CQ Researcher 4 Feb. 2011: 98-119