Ashpreet Sahni Professor King English 1A 8 November 2017
The Ting Goes SKRAA!! The Second Amendment states that “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’’. Some people like to avoid the topic about guns and don’t bother saying anything about the issue until a tragedy with firearm occurs. Liberals state that guns condone violence and put innocent lives in danger. Others say that it is our second amendment right to bear arms and with firearms, many casualties can be prevented. The news has made a big statement on how guns are a problem and that there should be a lot more gun restrictions/laws being put in place. While others believe that having these restrictions goes against our American rights. In the past few years there have been many large incidents that have made a huge impact on the topic of gun control in the United States. Laws in different states are being challenged by officials and many of those laws are being changed after the large rise in gun affiliated deaths. Liberals frame the topic as only allowing the state to keep a militia and that individuals in the state do not need guns to protect themselves. That “It is the role of local and federal governments to protect the people through law enforcement agencies and the military”. Additional gun control are necessary to prevent criminals from acquiring firearms. Conservatives on the other hand believe strictly in the second Amendment and that the right to bear arms is a part of our natural rights. That the citizens have the right to keep and bear arms so that every individual has the right to defend themselves. Conservatives believe that there are too many gun control laws and that the laws do not prevent criminals from obtaining firearms. Conservatives believe that if there are more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens, there would be less crimes. Gun control is seen as a big issue in the country. People are skeptical when it comes to hearing the word gun, as if the word is something we should be afraid of. Liberals have spoken up about what should happen with gun control. The laws should become much more strict than they are in order to prevent any more harm to the innocent people in the country. In other words, many people lost their life due to the actions of one person who had access to firearms. Liberals have spoken about the laws that are implemented and laws that should be either changed or banned completely. Liberals confront the issue by stating that there should be more background checks on gun purchases. Most firearms that are sold at gun shows, don’t have many background checks set in place. The Heritage Actions For America states that, “One such untruth being propagated by the left is that 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted through private sales at gun shows and are not subject to criminal background check”. In addition to this, strong gun laws aren’t always bound with strict enforcements. An infograph by the numbers sleuth.org, stated that “2 out of 5 guns are sold without any background checks”. This is really shocking that most of firearms sold at gun shows, don’t go through any background checks for the buyer. Background checks aren’t supposed to be something that one looks at as, “why do we have to do this”. Background checks are for the safety of the people. Editor Mark Karlin, of “Buzzflash at Truthout” stated that “Americans make up about 4.4 percent of the global population but own forty-two percent of the world’s guns”. With the Confederates being so close to their American beliefs, how could the people not own over forty percent of the world’s guns. “From 1966 to 2012, 31 percent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American:”, according to a study by Adam Lankford in 2015, a professor at the University of Alabama. In other words, Americas percentage in global population is smaller than the percentage of owning most of the firearms in the world. Its interesting how such a small group can be in control of such a large consumption of items. One of the latest mass shootings took place November 5, 2017 in Texas. An article posted by The Alter net stated that, “ the Michigan Senate voted to allow people to carry guns in schools, churches, daycare centers, preschools and hospitals”. With this vote, some may be skeptical on whether the vote was the right decision. Some may say that the vote was passed to protect the youth from any endangerment or threat from another gunman. The bill was open to conclusion after the mass shooting that occured in Las Vegas, October 2017. After the shooting at the church, the senate decided to release the bill. Why did it have to take another mass shooting for the Senate to realize that those who are in need of firearms should be allowed to carry them. It took two different mass shootings, one after the other, for the senate to finally realize that, maybe people in certain fields, should be allowed to carry firearms. The timing is so out of place because there has already been three hundred and seven mass shootings just this year. It took over three hundred mass shootings for the senate to realize that people should be allowed to carry firearms in certain career fields. The amount of lives that could have possibly been saved if this bill was passed a long time ago. Conservatives have a different approach on the views of gun laws. Conservatives believe that what is written in the United States Amendments is the way it should be. In other words, the amendments were made for a reason and that is what should be followed. Now, with the second amendment stating that people have the right to bear arms, It is important to a lot of people who do own firearms. It has been over two hundred years since the establishment of the amendment and now people are wanting to question whether it should be challenged for the sake of the people and innocent lives. Conservatives feel that they should be allowed to own the same firearms as the military. An article posted by the ThoughtCo. States that “If a nation is unable to defend itself against the forces of tyranny within its government because the right to bear arms is so badly eroded, it undermines the spirit and intention of the second amendment”. In other words, if people aren’t allowed to protect themselves from the government because of the misconception of our American rights, it diminishes our rights as Americans. To protect the public from any harm, California in 1989, had passed a ban on fully automatic firearms and machine guns. Many other states had also made similar laws. Conservatives have spoken up a lot about what should become of gun laws and restrictions. Many do oppose the laws that are being established even though It is for the safety of the people in the country. Conservatives have made their statement but the Republican party is almost on the same side as Liberals. A lot of Republicans actually support gun control. An article posted on the Washington Post by Steven V. Miller states that “Since 1972, a majority of Republicans have supported a law that would require a police permit for a gun purchase”. In doing so, there would be lower chance on what firearms are being purchased and to whom the firearm is being sold too. Police permits give those in the police force a way to purchase firearms without necessarily having any to endure any background checks. There are other attributes that can affect the gun laws that are being placed and the owners of firearms. A recent post has stirred some new information on the topic. An article posted by The Blaze stated that Hawaii police have ordered medical marijuana users to ‘voluntarily surrender’ guns and ammo. In 2011, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives had issued a letter to those with firearm licensees stating that, “there are no exceptions to gun laws whether a particular state passes cannabis legalization laws or not. Thus, it doesn’t matter whether a person uses or is addicted to marijuana, even if the state has passed a legislation for the use of medicinal marijuana, it is still considered prohibited by Federal Law from possessing firearms and ammunition. The U.S. Circuit Court of appeals had upheld the law as of last year. In return, there is a lower chance for medical marijuana users to commit violent crimes. Many users often suffer from illnesses that prevents the people from doing any actions of any kind, but the Federal Government doesn’t want to take a chance with this after all that has already happened with the use of firearms. There are many unbiased sources that frame the topic of gun control. Many sources state that gun control should be established. Both Democrats and Republicans have stated their opinions on gun control and what actions should be taken. The American people challenge this by bringing up the natural American rights imposed on the American people. Democrats and Republicans have said that there should be more restrictions on firearms. Whether it is the use of firearms or the purchase and selling of them. There are currently websites that sell materials to build firearms from your own home. People can purchase almost every piece they need online to build an AR (Assault Rifle). Gun control and gun rights is a topic that has reached the Supreme Court many times. Always asking what should be done. Incidents have occured that make the public say, we need to put restrictions of firearms and on the other hand, the public has also made comments saying, glad he/she had a firearm, or else things could have gone worse. From where I stand, the topic about gun control is very important. The right to bear arms is written in our first ten Amendments. It is literally our second amendment. The banning of firearms is something that won’t happen but certain laws will prevent people from acquiring certain types of firearms or accessories/parts for their firearms. I believe that the people should be allowed to own firearms with precautions. For instance, a background check obviously be searched for all gun owners. There should also be a restriction for people who shouldn’t be allowed to own certain types of firearm. I am not saying this to diminish anyone. What I am saying is that, people who have a history of domestic violence, anger issues, etc., should not be allowed to own firearms. If one wants to argue that It is the Second Amendment right to bear arms, legally a non-lethal firearm could possibly be brought up to the table. If any casualties are to occur to those who have a history of these acts, there should be legal and/or federal consequences for those people. Our current way of how we receive news from the media is tweaked in some ways. One source states a news, while a different source states another. This will cause a confusion to the whoever is reading which side of a story. In other words, research is something that should be necessary before one begins to rant about a topic. Especially a topic that involves the lives of every citizen. If people just listen to the first thing that they are shown, It can easily cause some conflict between those who are for a certain agreement and those who are not. The media is a huge part of this. The media wants us to believe multiple news reports in order to change our way of thinking. Thus, people should look to all of the options before choosing a side. If people weren’t so quick to believe the first thing that is shown to them, people would be more open minded. This is very important because one act and/or law can easily change the course of our country.