Gun Control Essays (1285 words) - Gun Politics In The United States

Gun Control Gun Control Gun control is an action of the government that is supposed to reduce crime. Congress has passed many laws on this subject and there really has not been an effect. Gun control has been a controversial issue for years, but the citizens of the United States have a right to own guns and the Constitution states that. On the government's path to control guns they created the Brady Act. Handgun Control Incorporated is the major organization for lobbying, and introducing legislation on gun control. It is headed by Sarah Brady, wife of former White House Press Secretary James Brady. James Brady was shot during an attempt on President Reagan's life in 1981. Sarah is the one responsible for introducing this bill. This bill was supposed to stop criminals from obtaining guns. If an individual wants a firearm bad enough, chances are they will get one (Brennen and Polsby). All it does Is prevent honest people from being able to purchase guns. The person purchasing the gun has to wait for two week while the government performs a background check. The problem with this is it stops the average citizen from purchasing a gun on the whim, while it protects the common criminal. What if a burglar enters a house with full intention to maim or kill? The innocent victim can not get a gun to protect his family because he was arrested seven years ago for drunk driving (Larson). According to the General Accounting Office, in the first seventeen months of the law's existence only seven criminals were convicted for attempting to buy a handgun. Banning more and more guns may reduce gun violence, but it will not eliminate guns from society and will only lead to more and bigger problems. While continuing to take more freedom away from the American people. Gun control laws do not prevent little kids from using guns and harming people. Violent video games help children with their marksmanship and to get over their fear of shooting someone. Parents of three slain girls in the Heath School shootings are going after the manufacturers. They feel that violent video games are partially responsible for their children's death. They claim that the video game taught the shooter how to be an excellent marksman. The boy had never used a gun, but was skilled enough to hit eight moving targets in only eight shots (Prichard). Another fact that backs up the parent's belief is that of military training. Each year billions of dollars are spent to train police and the military how to shoot. Video simulation is the best way to help overcome the natural resistance that most people have about shooting someone. Studies show that people are extraordinary susceptible to programming. One main difference between military training and video games is that military instructions are constantly pausing the action and where the video game is in constant action (Blakemore). There is no direct relationship between the number of guns and the amount of crime in the United States. Between 1973 and 1992, the rate of gun ownership increased by forty-five percent while the homicide rate during that period fell by nearly ten percent. Even with the increasing number of guns in society the homicide rate decreased, highlighting that guns are not the root of the problem, people are. Guns do not kill people, people kill people. Guns do not work as self-protection against criminals. Guns are just as valuable to civilians as they are to police officers. As many as sixty-five lives are protected by guns for every life lost to a gun. Every year potential victims kill between two thousand and three thousand criminals, and wound an additional nine thousand to seventeen thousand. Private citizens mistakenly kill innocent people only thirty times a year, compared to about three hundred and ten mistaken killings by police. Criminals succeed in taking a gun away from an armed victim less than one percent of the time. Gun control laws are needed to prevent the purchase of saturday night specials and assault weapons. Criminals generally prefer larger caliber and more expensive handguns (Brennen and Polsby). President Clinton proposed a restriction on armor piercing ammo. However, the FBI reported that sixty-eight percent of officers killed were not wearing a vest. Of those killed wearing a vest ninety-five percent were shot in unprotected areas. Many people like to use guns for recreation use. The NRA, National Rifle Association, even has its own hunting magazines. These magazines are