Gun Control Debate Essay
The issue of gun control comes up every season, every year. There will be an incident that sparks national concern while every day in the U.S someone is either maimed or killed via gun violence.
Gun Laws in the U.S
Gun laws in the U.S can be viewed as somewhat lax compared to other countries such as the United Kingdom. While there are safeguards in place to make sure that not just everyone can purchase a gun without a permit. Historically, there were codes and laws that prevented Blacks from owning firearms in the post-American Civil War period. Those codes have since been lifted.
The safeguards in place are fairly lax and people who are generally kept from legally getting guns—the mentally ill and criminals—are able to get their hands on guns one way or another even through legal means. The lax means to stop people from getting the guns can be circumvented in a way so that unfavorable people can get a permit for guns legally. Once the permit is in a person’s hands and they can pay for the gun, that’s it. They have the weapon. Since there is a steady flow of illegal guns on the street, anyone with the money can pick a handgun, shotgun, or assault rifle with no check required. Ammo can be purchased online fairly easy as well and isn’t particularly expensive. These online retailers aren’t required to do checks either. There is also a loophole via gun shows that give people a way to get around gun permits and checks.
Reasons For Gun Control Discussion
As stated before, gun violence is a reason that discussion is sparked. Another reason is the sheer amount of guns on the street is a concern. Another means of concern is the kinds of guns on the streets. Some of the guns are military level weaponry such as assault rifles, machine guns, and so on. Whenever an incident occurs whether it be a shooting spree or shoot out, the questions flood in:
- How could this happen?
- How did this person get their hands on these kinds of guns?
- Where did this person get these guns from?
All valid questions, many answers have been given, no solutions have been found. The main thing that stops a working solution from taking shape is politics and no common ground being reached.
Concern Over Gun Rights
Whenever the gun control debate occurs, concern over gun rights occurs as well. Those in favor of wielding firearms will believe that the most extreme is about happen. The idea of the government marching in and taking away their guns gets them up in arms. The Second Amendment is often evoked as well. At the government level, this is often disputed in favor of defending people’s right to bear arms.
A concern presented against this is the nature of the guns people should have. The Second Amendment in its layman’s interpretation is extremely vague. So there is some concern as to what kind of guns people should be allowed to have and what kind of guns people would actually need for self-defense. There is also a matter of if the Amendment is dated for its time and if it applies to now given the advancement in firearms.