The Debate over Gun Ownership

Victoria Anderson
Professor Bowser
ENGL1101/TR2
4/7/13
The Debate over Gun Ownership Over the past century, the debate over guns has become more and more of an issue. Violent crimes involving guns have been increasing dramatically. “More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day, and more than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country”! (USA Gun Violence Statistics) The Second Amendment in the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. Many people agree that something needs to be done about the gun violence in America, but the issue is what to do. Do we just take guns away from people or do we try to limit who owns a gun, and then why would we only let those certain people obtain guns and not the others. Guns are not only used for protection and engaging in crime. Many people use guns as a hobby as well, like target shooting and hunting. High school students can even obtain scholarships to college with shooting sports. In a video a 15-year-old Maryland girl effectively argued for the Second Amendment and against gun control to state lawmakers. Sarah Merkle stated, “Because of [my gun background] I have become eligible for various shooting scholarships around the country to a wide array of even the most prestigious colleges that have shooting teams,” she said in the video. “Achieving stricter gun control laws would obliterate any opportunity I could have had to attend a decent college on a shooting scholarship.” She added to her statement “People are the problems, not guns.” (Chumley) I believe the people to be the problem as well. We have always had guns in America, as well as violence and crime. These days though more people are on harder drugs and the economy is worse, which creates more stress for people. Stress can do all kinds of things to people; too much stress can make someone become depressed. Depression can lead people to do all kinds of things, intentionally or unintentionally. Schizophrenia can develop in someone from too much depression or a devastating event. These mental disorders can cause people to do things they don’t have any control over. So the problem seems to be that someone that could have held a gun in a reasonable manor five years ago may not be mentally stable now to do so. Therefore the person that bought a gun to keep in his home for protection five years ago, something devastating could have happened recently and made him go crazy, so now he goes into the mall and shoots everyone up. This is what I believe to have happened in many cases of school shootings and other crimes. In my opinion I believe that the government needs to conduct a full length background check on a person before issuing them a gun. Not just checking their criminal record, but also checking their health/ mental health records. In order to make sure that the person buying the gun clears both background checks, I believe that the government itself should only be the sellers of firearms and ammunition and ban anyone else from being able to sell firearms. These provisions would better insure that a gun doesn’t get into the wrong hands. Furthermore, if anyone gets caught with a gun that doesn’t have a certificate of sell with it then there should be jail time of 45 days and a fine of $500 on a first offense. If someone was to get caught a second time with a firearm with no certificate then they shall be placed in jail for 6 months with a fine of $1,000. A third offense, jail time of a year; and a fourth offense they shall be thrown in jail for four years. If someone was to get caught selling firearms then they would be thrown in jail for ten years. Before issuing these new laws for firearms I believe that the government officials in each state should conduct a full out search in everyone’s home and obtain all guns from residential areas. Then the people would be able to go to the new government buildings and obtain a gun after going through the background checks. We cannot take guns away from people; people do have the right to bear arms. People have had this right since 1791 with the Second Amendment, which we adopted from the English Bill of Rights of 1689. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment "codified a pre-existing right" and that it "protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home" but also stated that "the right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose". ("Second Amendment to the United States Constitution"). So the only place a person should have a gun is in the house, you are not supposed to walk around town with a gun. Which is another major concern besides just who should own them. Some people would say that they should be allowed to carry firearms around for self-protection anywhere, because someone can be attacked in public as well and having a gun on them would help prevent it. “There is nothing wrong with openly carrying a firearm in a peaceable manner while going about one 's business.” (Workman) Others believe that carrying openly will increase the chances of someone being injured or killed, and that it is threating and dangerous. “People who choose to live in peace have the right not to be exposed to weapons and violence.” (Johnson) I do not believe that a person should be allowed to openly carry a firearm. Having that weapon right there within reach when something upsetting happens could very much lead to more violence. Some people would feel uncomfortable and threatened, thus leading to more conflict. Surprisingly though only six states prohibit this practice, and the remaining states either specifically allow open carry or having no law against it. In recent years openly carrying has become more popular and legislation has introduced it to some of the states that used to hold against it. I feel this is very bad for our economy, there is way too much stress from our everyday lives, and this practice would just cause more chaos. So everybody has many different opinions on what should be done about this issue. There are some people out there that would disagree with how I feel. "We not going to invade anybody 's privacy," Byron 's Simmons-Edmunds said. "We just want to send a statement that we 're not going to give up our guns." (Associated Press) So then; we shouldn’t send the government out to take all guns from every residence and let them go buy another one from the new government store that I proposed and let them pass a criminal, health, and mental/health background check; he and others would oppose my idea. Communities from Idaho to Georgia have been inspired to "require" or recommend their residents arm themselves ever since a gunman killed 26 youngsters and educators Dec. 14 in a school in Newtown, Conn. (Associated Press) I believe that this will only lead to more conflict and people feeling threatened, and as stated in the Second Amendment "It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose". Our founding fathers wrote it out for us that no one should keep and carry a gun on them. So why just because a crazed teen got hold of a gun should we keep and carry a gun on all of us? This would cause more people would be attempted to commit stupid acts.

Works Cited
Associated Press. "Some U.S. communities seek to require gun ownership." CBSNews.com. The Associated Press, 08 03 2013. Web. 8 Apr 2013. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57573401/some-u.s-communities-seek-to-require-gun-ownership/>.
Chumley, Cheryl. "Teen takes Maryland, and nation, by storm with pro-gun arguments.." washingtontimes.com. The Washington Times, 05 04 2013. Web. 7 Apr 2013. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/5/teen-takes-maryland-and-nation-storm-pro-gun-argum/>.
Johnson, Constance. "No." 25 04 2012. USNews.com, Online Posting to Online Posting to Debate Club. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-people-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-openly>.
"Second Amendment to the United States Constitution." <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>.
"USA Gun Violence Statistics." Heeding God 's Call. N.p.. Web. 7 Apr 2013. <http://www.heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10>.
Workman, Dave. "Yes." 25 04 2012. USNews.com, Online Posting to Online Posting to Debate Club. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-people-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-openly>.

Cited: Associated Press. "Some U.S. communities seek to require gun ownership." CBSNews.com. The Associated Press, 08 03 2013. Web. 8 Apr 2013. &lt;http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57573401/some-u.s-communities-seek-to-require-gun-ownership/&gt;. Chumley, Cheryl. "Teen takes Maryland, and nation, by storm with pro-gun arguments.." washingtontimes.com. The Washington Times, 05 04 2013. Web. 7 Apr 2013. &lt;http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/5/teen-takes-maryland-and-nation-storm-pro-gun-argum/&gt;. Johnson, Constance. "No." 25 04 2012. USNews.com, Online Posting to Online Posting to Debate Club. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-people-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-openly&gt;. "Second Amendment to the United States Constitution." &lt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution&gt;. "USA Gun Violence Statistics." Heeding God 's Call. N.p.. Web. 7 Apr 2013. &lt;http://www.heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10&gt;. Workman, Dave. "Yes." 25 04 2012. USNews.com, Online Posting to Online Posting to Debate Club. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-people-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-openly&gt;.