People for gun control

The Columbine High School tragedy was something activist tried to say was caused by the lack of gun control. The two shotguns and rifle used by Harris and Klebold were purchased by a girlfriend who would have passed a background check, and the TEC-9 handgun used by them was already illegal (2000 Lampo). Tragedies like this are what drives the gun control issue they think that a gun ban would stop a criminal or someone else from getting their hands on a gun to commit these crimes.

     Approximately 60 percent of all murder victims in the United States in 1989 (about 12,000 people) were killed with firearms. According to estimates, firearm attacks injured another 70,000 victims, some of whom were left permanently disabled. In 1985 (the latest year for which data are available), the cost of shootings either by others, through self inflicted wounds, or in accidents was estimated to be more than $14 billion nationwide for medical care, long-term disability, and premature death. In robberies and assaults, victims are far more likely to die when the perpetrator is armed with a gun than when he or she has another weapon or is unarmed.

 Residents of homes where a gun is present are 5 times more likely to experience a suicide than residents of homes without guns Although the reader may or may not disagree with the morality behind suicide being illegal, the fact remains that a gun makes it easier to commit suicide in a fit of rage, depression, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence as to whether any kind of substitution occurs (2008 Agresi).

The second amendment gave us the right to bear arms and some states have added right-to-carry laws that require law enforcement agencies to issue handgun permits to all qualified applicants. Qualifications include criteria such as age, a clean criminal record, and completing a firearm safety course so some proposal by gun control activists seem to be pretty rational as to limits instead of an all out ban on guns. These are some examples of ideas a national system for registering guns and ammunition. Part of the reason New York City has stiff gun laws and high gun death rates is that anybody can go from New York to a state with less restrictive laws, get a friend who lives in the state to buy the guns for them, and take those guns back to NYC. (Even though it is illegal) First, a national system would prevent this by scaring those people into not buying the guns legally and selling them illegally, for if the guns are used in an illegal crime, that person can be held accountable. Second, a national system would be more helpful in tracking crimes after they have happened, to bring the perpetrators to justice. Also instant background checks on people attempting to buy guns or ammunition. Brady is still patchwork, and does indeed have its flaws in tracking felons. Felons and ex-cons should not have access to weapons, and many misdemeanors and juvenile crimes should also count against a person’s record. Stiffer sentences for gun crimes. This has been the position of the NRA for quite some time, and it is certainly one with which I agree. Gun education many guns are involved in accidents that could easily have been prevented by a little care or forethought. Perhaps gun purchasers should be required to take lessons in gun safety, at the purchaser’s expense. Again, the NRA has long been a proponent of gun education.

General education study after study has concluded that there is a direct correlation between lack of education and violent crime. Every dollar spent on education now will prevent countless dollars worth of crime damage in the future. Think of all the private and public funds used to pay for gun violence hospital bills, funerals, insurance bills, the actual cost of buying firearms. Now invest that money in education, and watch the crime rate drop.

Hand grip ID tagging this is technologically probably still in the future, but it would be a good goal to work for. The theory is, each gun is “registered” to one’s person palm prints (the legal purchaser of the gun), and only that person can fire that gun. If another person tries to fire the gun, the gun simply will not fire. Thus, stolen guns become useless, and cannot be used to harm anybody in the course of a crime.

Works Cited

Agresti, James D. “Gun Control.” Just Facts.com. 27 June 2008. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp&gt;.

Asahi, Jason. “A Case for Gun Control.” http://www.asahi-net. Jason Asahi. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zj5j-gttl/guns.htm&gt;.