"A gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to kill a family member of friend than an intruder"(Gun Control Facts). This and other statistics like it prove that the United States needs to adopt a stricter gun control policy, restricting both the purchasing and ownership of guns. Although hunting and self-defense purposes involve gun use, purchasing and ownership restrictions prove necessary because of severe gun misuse, guns today prove too powerful for common use, they often endanger children, and strict gun control policies have drastically cut down on crime in other countries.

Handgun misuse causes a major problem in today's societies. People purchase handguns with the thought that the guns will only be used in self-defense. Most guns are not used for that purpose at all. Last year less than four percent of homicides resulted from self-defense reason (Bogus 188). Handguns represent only 30% of all guns but account for 90% of gun misuse (Sugarmann 252). The many examples of gun misuse go on and on. One example of gun misuse occurs when a gun fires when the safety is thought to be on. Handguns take the most lives in the form of suicides. Each year handguns result in the self-in

Then NRA insists that guns in the home and family violence have no correlation. Leaders contend that all citizens who own guns keep them locked up with the safety on. Spokespeople for the NRA also insist that guns be only used for protection purposes. Although these comments sound very convincing they are not the whole truth. Most murders have nothing to do with crimes. They result from arguments between family and friends. People known to the victim committed AN estimated 59% of all murders and only 18% were the result of a felonious activity (Sugarmann 249). Author Lorraine Stern poses the question, "What possible reason can there be for the ways availability of assault weapons?" (62).

The NRA opposes gun control claiming it violates guaranteed second amendment rights. Supporters of the NRA believe that the Second Amendment gives them the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to bear arms, shall not be infringed (Bogus 203)." The previous statement does not give citizens the right to carry the biggest guns they can find. When the Constitution was written, guns were necessary for survival; they were used to kill animals for food. In 1983 the Untied States Supreme Court agreed. It stated, "Because the possession of handguns is not part of the right to keep and bear arms, gun control does not violate the Second Amendment"(Sugarmann 250).

The NRA, or National Rifle Association, believes that suicides and accidental killings are the price of freedom. They also believe that without guns criminals would turn to other methods of violence, including using baseball bats and knives. The NRA concludes that, "A machine gun is no more deadly of a weapon than a baseball bat" (Gun Control Facts). This quote exemplifies the outrageous claims made by the NRA. The majority of U.S. citizens would not believe for a second that this statement could possibly have a speck of truth. Almost every crime could be more easily committed with a

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Approximate Word count = 1368
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)