Gun Control4
Gun control is an issue that has been debated by Americans since the 1960's (Dolan 1). The debate questions the right of Americans to bear arms, this including, handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Some say a simple restriction of these arms is in order while some think they should be banned altogether (Dolan 1). Both sides hold strong opinions often causing conflict in the matter and confusion among the citizens of the United States. However, the opponents do agree that a death rate of 30 million a year due to the powerful and deadly weapon is too high; only they have different views on how to lower this rate. These arms, proven by statistics, provide the result of 30 million murders, suicides, and accidental deaths each year (Dolan 1). The number of firearms is estimated to be over 150 million and outnumber all of ours cars, trucks, and busses by more than 25 million (Dolan 7). A large percentage of these firearms are held by half of the nation's families that for the most part use them for the lawful protection of their homes and will most likely never be used (Dolan 7). "And the millions more are kept by responsible sportsmen for hunting, trapshooting, and target shooting," t
"As President, Bill Bradley will stand up to the National Rifle Association. Conventional wisdom tells us its politically perilous to take them on. But our children's future and safety is far too precious to be left to conventional wisdom. We must act and we must act now. We must reduce the gun violence in America," (Bill Bradley for President). Pro-control supporters vary in their opinions for control. Some just want the ability for a person to acquire a gun much more difficult, some believe ownership of handguns should be banned only in areas known to have exceptionally high crime rates, and some who hope for banning of handguns everywhere in our nation (Dolan 37-38). Anti-gun controlists hold two basic beliefs. First, they defend themselves with the Second Amendment, saying that laws banning firearms will violate their rights (Dolan 39). Secondly, they believe the banning of guns will do nothing to reduce crime and violence. Supporting this with their opinion that criminals will not turn in their firearms if they are banned and they will be left defenseless (Dolan 39). "The anti-control camp holds that criminals and not guns cause all the trouble," (Dolan 39). All of this leads to one of the most important and difficult issues of today, gun control. With so many different views on the issue it has been hard to come to reforms. A contributor to the rise of guns is the power it holds. Although, the gun has played a major part in our history, the larger result of the gun is a cycle: man lead to war- war lead to guns-guns led to crime- crime leads to fear- fear leads to more guns. "The right to own guns is set out in the American Constitution: 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,'" (Hawkes 10). The private ownership of guns is claimed by many to be a tradition. The must of having a gun was used by the settler for hunting and protection and went on later to play a major role in the winning of our nations independence (Dolan 13). This reflects the protective use of the gun, however, the growing violence in our nation has seemed to conflict with the right of citizens to protect themselves and their families. To say our nation has done nothing to control the viole
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1505
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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