Gun Control Essay Research Paper AI say

Gun Control Essay, Research Paper

AI say all guns are good guns. There are no bad guns. I say the whole

nation should be an armed nation. Period.@ This rather bold statement was

made by Joseph Foss. Former Governor Joseph Foss, a former fighter pilot

for the US Air Force, is the current President of the NRA, or National

Rifle Association (Lacayo 16). The NRA is a special interest group known

by many. Its members are stereotyped to be a group of *truck-driving=,

pompous, huntsmen. Indeed this is partially true, as 97% of all NRA

members are suburban men. Because the organization is a more *Domestic

Blend=, it is a surprising fact that the NRA is a powerful lobbyist

organization. And skeptically viewed upon by many people (Lacayo 19). As

a lobbyist organization, the NRA has a current main objective of

protecting American citizens= rights, to possess and operate a firearm,

form being violated by gun control laws. One of the NRA=s main weapons in

this crusade is the second amendment of the Constitution of the United

States of America. The amendment=s translation in the eyes of the NRA and

many American citizens, clearly protects the individual rights of all

citizens to possess and operate firearms. This would easily make any and

all gun control laws unconstitutional. And therefore illegal. This

translation, however, is not accepted by all people. Including the United

States Government. They believe that the amendment guaranteed no right

for individual citizens to possess weaponry, but merely allowed for the

government to form and maintain an armed service (IE. United States Army,

US. Navy). Because of the different translations of our constitution, gun

control can be viewed by different people in different ways (Lacayo 20).

Some of the many gun control bans and laws wich are under constant

hellfire from the NRA are those pertaining to self-defense. Under current

laws, like those of Texas, require that people MUST retreat and be pursued

by the intruder before any means of force could be taken upon the would-be

attacker. Unfortunately, arguments of *criminal=s rights=, and *excessive

force=, put to rest thoughts of a possible veto of some bans. With some

effort from anti-gun control groups, such as the NRA, some of these laws

have been lifted. Also, laws pertaining to self-defense and property

protection have come to be passed as well. Some laws also help to protect

homeowners form civil suites made by wounded would-be attackers/intruders

(Ward F3).

Another example of unwanted (and unneeded) gun violence

restriction laws, was the famous AK-47 crisis. Due to governmental

handgun bans, the military issue AK-47 became easily accessible, due to

the extended barrel, wich allowed the assault weapon to fall under more

lenient gun bans. The weapon quickly became a favorite weapon of thieves

and one wich created many a drive-by-shooting victim. In one such case,

an AK-47 was used in the massacre of many school children. The rifle had

been attained legally. One can begin to wonder just how many of these

violent crimes could have been prevented by a self-defense weapon. The

attacks by the automatic assault weapon eventually led to more strict

assault weapon bans (Hancock C2). Nevertheless, the percentile of assault

weapons related to violent crimes has in facet decreased only a minuscule

amount. Wich tends to lead experts to believe that many assault weapon

related crimes were done with illegal weapons. After all, it would be

somewhat illogical of people to commit crimes wich were easily traced back

to them by means of a simple background check of assault weapon owners

(Hancock C2). It should be noted, that not all forms of gun control are

intolerable. 73% of the 70 million gun owners in America declared that

mandatory gun registration exist. 87% of the voters stated that

background checks be required (Lacayo 17). One form of gun control wich

was very minutely argued, was the AToys for Guns@, incentive. The

incentive allowed for $100 in toys, to be given to anyone who turns in a

weapon. It was viewed as a safe way to get guns off the street. It was,

however, considered an unsuccessful action. The guns recovered were not

considered to be those that were being used in violent crime (the weapons

the incentive was aimed at). Only 317 weapons were recovered. I

personally was surprised that *entrapment= wasn=t called on this one

(Silvers C11). The past few actions were relatively unopposed by the NRA.

As they were not active attempts to restrict the individual rights of

firearm possession. The acts below however, are examples of *undesired=

gun control methods. In recent years, councilmen passed acts to limit

weaponry. New restrictions not only allowed for the sale of personal

weaponry to be sold further (in an attempt to keep firearm levels at a