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Balancing Freedom and Security: Examining the Impact of Gun Violence
Introduction
What is the purpose of government? The U.S. Constitution answers this perfectly; “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…” (U.S. Constitution, Preamble).
Body
The Debate Over Gun Control
This introduction to the U.S. Constitution promises that the government will protect U.S. citizens and their natural-born rights. While the idea of protection would normally feel comforting, U.S. citizens cannot rest assured that the government will fulfill the standards enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, as decisions the government makes often compromise these principles. Examples of this compromise would include the numerous times the government has or has tried to pass gun control laws. The government should not induce more gun control. In doing so, the government would be infringing upon the second amendment, failing to properly address violence, and infracting upon the freedom to own guns for hunting and sport.
By imposing gun control, the government is breaking its promise to protect U.S. citizens’ rights. The Bill of Rights explicitly states U.S. citizens’ unalienable rights, one of which is the right to bear arms. The second amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (The Bill of Rights). This clearly states that Americans are born with the right to own guns, and the government cannot impede upon this right. However, when gun control is imposed, making it harder or impossible for a U.S. citizen to own a gun, the right is infringed upon.
The DOJ has a roster of handguns certified for sale in California and states that “No handgun may be sold by a firearms dealer to the public unless it is of the make and model that has passed required safety and functionality tests and is listed on the DOJ’s official roster of handguns certified for sale in California” (Pen. Code, #32000). This law prevents citizens from being able to own certain guns, which infringes upon the second amendment. The government justifies this by saying that gun control will prove to be beneficial, reducing crime and violence. In reality, gun control fails to solve either of these issues.
Balancing Rights and Safety
An increase in gun control would not solve the issue of violence. Desert News announced that the Brady Campaign issued a 100-point scorecard ranking all the states in The U.S. on gun control enacted by 2011, including; background checks, permit-to-purchase laws, etc. Number nine on the list of states with the strictest gun laws is Illinois (Hartvigsen “10 States Strictest Gun Laws”). However, Neighborhood Scout listed the thirty cities with the highest homicide rates in 2017 and named East ST. Louis, IL, as number one (“Top 30 Cities Highest Murder Rates”).
Illinois had strict gun control laws for six years, yet the state still had plenty of violence and crime. This directly shows that gun control does not resolve any violence or crime issues. A criminal, by definition, is a person who has committed a crime. Since these criminals have already proven themselves to be those who break the law, more laws would likely not prevent crime. Additionally, guns are not the actual problem that needs to be addressed. In 2012 a patient (Devin Kelley) escaped from a mental hospital in New Mexico. Later, in 2017, he shot and killed 26 people in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in Texas (Emily Shapiro “Texas Shooting Suspect”).
In this case, and numerous others, the human is not mentally stable, making them the threat, not the gun. There is a bigger issue at hand- mental health issues- that the government is failing to solve with gun control. This shooting in Texas occurred after an unstable patient escaped from a mental hospital; perhaps what the government needs to impose is stricter mental health regulations, such as higher security at mental hospitals or better mental health awareness.
Implications for Sports and Hunting
Gun control infracts upon the freedom to own guns for hunting and sport. Petersen’s Hunting summarizes how most hunters believe that the “common sense” gun laws the government wants to impose will not affect them. The hunters think that the gun laws only apply to the criminals and mentally unstable, and therefore, they can continue to hunt unaffected (Mike Schoby “Why Gun Bans Affect Hunters”). However, the government continues to keep adding gun laws, making it harder and harder for even a regular person to purchase a gun.
When the second amendment was written, there was no gun control at all, but over time the U.S. has accumulated a vast number of them. What starts off as just “common sense” gun laws can eventually turn into a gun ban, which most certainly will affect hunters. In the state of California, “It is illegal for any unauthorized person to possess or bring a firearm upon the grounds of, or into, any public school” (Pen. Code, #626.9). This gun control law directly impacts high school students as it makes it very difficult, and in some cases impossible, for high schools to have a trap team.
Since this law will not allow schools to hold practices on campus, schools are either forced to find somewhere else to practice or not offer a trap team. Many schools do not even have access to another location to hold trap team practices, and therefore students do not have a trap team to join. This violates Americans’ freedoms as schools should be able to easily offer a trap team for students to join.
Many people seem to think that banning guns will result in significantly reduced violence. However, the ban on guns will fail to solve violence problems as criminals already, and will continue to, obtain guns illegally. The California Firearms Laws Summary states that any person convicted of a felony has a lifetime prohibition from owning a firearm (Penal Code Section 29905). Criminals clearly disregard laws, so even though it is illegal for a felon to own a firearm, felons still obtain and use guns illegally. Just because there are more gun laws does not mean criminals will follow them. Therefore, more gun control will not solve violence issues.
Conclusion
In summary, gun control infringes upon the second amendment, fails to solve violence issues, and violates U.S. citizens’ freedom to own guns for hunting and sport. All American citizens are born with unalienable rights that cannot be taken away. It is the government’s job to ensure that Americans’ rights don’t get taken away, yet they are the ones taking away our natural-born freedoms. It is time America bands together to stand up for our rights and explore new solutions, such as better mental hospital security or mental health awareness, instead of stricter gun laws.
Works Cited
- Hartvigsen, Matthew. “10 States with the Strictest Gun Laws | Deseret News.” DeseretNews.com, 7 Apr. 2013, www.deseretnews.com/top/1428/0/10-states-with-the-strictest-gun-laws.html.
- Schoby, Mike. “Why Gun Bans Affect Hunters.” Petersen’s Hunting, 1 May 2013, www.petersenshunting.com/conservation-politics/why-gun-bans-affect-hunters/.
- Shapiro, Emily. “Texas Shooting Suspect Escaped from Mental Health Hospital in 2012, Attempted ‘to Carry out Death Threats’: Police Report.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 7 Nov. 2017, abcnews.go.com/US/texas-shooting-suspect-escaped-behavioral-center-2012-attempted/story?id=50985821.
- “State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General.” State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General, oag.ca.gov/.
- “Top 30 Highest Murder Rate Cities in the U.S. 2017.” NeighborhoodScout, 27 Oct. 2017, www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/highest-murder-rate-cities.
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