One of the most controversial, heated, and debated issues of the modern world involves gun control. Guns can be incredibly dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. In reaction to that reality many averages, everyday people feel compelled to own guns in order to protect themselves from others misuse or abuse of such weapons. While gun ownership is legal there are many laws and serious penal consequences that are intended to deter inappropriate gun use and increasingly severe consequences for its misuse. However, there are many American citizens that feel that Gun Control should be much stricter and essentially keep guns out of all hands that do not belong to the police or the military. Many other Americans considered that viewpoint to stand in direct defiance of the 2nd Amendment, which guarantees a citizen’s right to bear arms. However, most Americans support a certain amount of gun control that does not prevent its citizens from gun ownership but can more effectively weed out those most likely to misuse or abuse the right. There are three areas most heavily debated concerning the issue of gun control; the focus being on how gun control influences and affects violent crime statistics, suicide rates, and finally the potential of “civil wars” or the encouragement of other civil uprisings.

History

Human beings have always committed crimes against each other of one kind or another, were harmful to themselves and were prone to armed rebellions since the beginnings of society. From wooden spears to sabers and swords, humanity has worked very hard at developing ways to fight and conquer others. The discovery of gun powder and the use of firearms has only helped to perpetuate those historical traditions. Films like “Braveheart” and “Troy” have dramatized how bloody and extreme of the battles fought long before the modern era; the concept of handguns and semi-automatic weaponry was not even a “twinkle” in the inventor’s eyes. However, guns may have changed how we fight, but not the reasons that we fought. They were committing acts of robbery and murder long before guns were invented. People who wanted to end their lives and found the means to do so long before guns were invented. People, most certainly, fought wars over civil issues, long before the invention of firearms (Borade 1). For this reason, many experts feel that guns do not cause crimes to be committed. However, at the same time, a gun gives wrong-doers an advantage over their victims when implemented. Violent crimes are being committed every few seconds of every day all over the country and addressing those high statistics is paramount, however, the question becomes does eliminate guns from the “American Public Equation” likely to endorse more crime, suicides, and acts of civil unrest or less? This is the main reason for stricter gun laws decisions.

Discussion

When many people think of gun control they think of the most extreme viewpoints, for example, fascist Adolf Hitler’s strict legal attempts to disarm the citizens of Germany or, the other extreme, where everyone will be strapped with a gun and shooting out in streets the O.K. Corral of the Old West. However, these are both exaggerated scenarios, the reality is hardly as extreme on either side. Many people turn the argument into its basic components, which is not necessarily helpful ( Dacus 10). The perspective is that “guns kill,” so if there are no guns then there would be less opportunity for people to get shot, would eliminate one means of suicide, and affect the rates of crime in general. So by implementing very restrictive gun control laws it would forcibly improve the United States, overall. The opposition to this perspective feels that such laws would infringe and contradict Constitutional Rights, and if you restrict the number of gun ownership you may, in fact, is placing the public in greater danger not less (Borade 1). Both sides of the argument make valid points and are worth greater consideration and discussion.