The Right To Keep And Bear Arms Essay
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The right to keep and bear arms was considered a fundamental, individual right in the original 13 colonies from the pre-Revolutionary period through the ratification of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution in 1791. The 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 right to keep and bear arms has been a topic of extreme controversy in this century and can be argued equally from both sides. The first side says that it is our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. On the flip side, it is too dangerous and would increase the number of violent crimes. No matter which side is right, there has to be a middleman to regulate the extent of “the right to bear arms”.
Up to the 1900’s people didn’t even second-guess this amendment. Everyone realized how important guns were to maintain a polite and respectful society. Knowing that almost every man was carrying a gun was reason enough for a criminal to think twice about committing a crime. A person could walk down the street without fear knowing they had their gun at their hip if anything went wrong. A sidearm was just as commonplace as the wearing of a belt; it became part of your daily garment worn out of habit. (Larson). As time went on, we became more and more civilized, and people started to feel there was less and less of a need for guns. In today’s world, there are so many people opposed to guns the right to owning one may be taken away. Many people feel guns are the cause of too much unnecessary violence and a great number of accidental deaths.
It is true that guns are the cause of many accidental deaths. To be exact in 1997 there were 1,500 accidental deaths involving firearms in the US. (National Safety Council). When this is compared to the rates of accidental deaths caused by something other than guns, it doesn’t even come close. Accidental gun deaths ranked under every other category (motor vehicles, falls, poisoning by solids or liquids, drowning, fires and burns, and suffocation by swallowing an object) except for one; poisoning by gases or vapors. The closest accidental death to guns was suffocation by swallowing an object, which was still over twice the rate of guns at 3,300 deaths. (National Safety Council).
As far as overall gun violence is concerned, according to the FBI’s 1998 Uniform Crime Reports, the overall violent crime rate in the US decreased about 7%. Robbery alone declined by 11%, the lowest since 1969. In addition, murder dropped by 7%, the lowest since 1967. More significantly, despite the fact the number of firearms and handguns owned by individual Americans continued to increase from 1997-1998, the FBI also reported the rate of firearms used to commit murder and robberies decreased in 1998. (1998 Uniform Crime Reports). These facts conclusively prove that firearms owned by peaceable citizens do not lead to increased murder or violent crime rates. In fact, they demonstrate that armed citizens lead to reduced rates of violent crime. When the gun is in the hands of a well-rounded person, it is no more of a weapon than your every day curling iron.
On the other hand, in 1988, handguns killed 7 people in Great Britain, 19 in Sweden, 53 in Switzerland, 25 in Israel, 13 in Australia, 8 in Canada, and 8,915 in the United States. These figures are shocking. One of the most alarming issues dealing with gun control is juvenile violence. A large percentage of crimes committed with guns are by children. No one has yet been able to pinpoint the exact reason children committed such a terrible crime. Many experts feel risk factors associated with juvenile crime are poverty, repeated exposure to violence, drugs, easy access to firearms, and an unstable family life. All of these issues play a big role in the increase of juvenile crime. Possibly out of all these issues, the most important is the deteration of the family. Many of these children are not being brought up in a nice environment at home. (Prichard).
Juveniles are not the only ones committing crimes with guns. Adults are just as guilty at contributing to the nations violence. It is even easier for an adult to purchase a firearm. Even if the adult has a felony, it is still easy. There are many out there willing to sell to felons if the price is right. If they cannot buy one, it is very simple to pay somebody to buy one for them. If an individual wants a firearm bad enough, chances are they will get one. (Brennen and Polsby).
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