293). It is important to note that those who are against gun control believe taking away the right to carry a firearm would leave them more vulnerable to violent crimes. The media doesn’t help either and reporters looking for a quick story will usually use violent television shows, movies, and video games as a scapegoat. However in studies where children have been observed watching violent media there was no direct correlation between violent media and real violence. ‘A conservative conclusion is that mass media violence has a small effect on real-life violence that is eclipsed by other influences… we should remain skeptical of mass media effects until the empirical evidence becomes compelling…’ (Barkan, 2007, pp. 290-291). Advocates of gun ownership should not use violent media as the cause of real life violence when there is not a substantial amount of evidence to prove their …show more content…
The Gun Control Act of 1968 put a restriction on machine guns, limiting mail order deliveries, as well as placing national restrictions upon who could purchase a firm arm. The law was passed as a reaction to the violent inner city riots of the 1960s. The groups that the act put restrictions on were minors, convicted felons, fugitives, drug abusers and anyone dealing with a history of mental illness (Rosen 47). The second act is the Brady Act, which went into effect in 1994. Somewhat recent laws that limit the access of firm arms include: the Armor Piercing Ammunition Band, The Gun Free School Zone Act, and the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. Gun activist groups like the NRA will often argue that regulation is part of the problem, but there is evidence that regulation does work. The U.S. has seen a 35% drop in gun crime, and in the year of 1997 alone, 69,000 handgun sales to convicted felons were blocked by the Brady Bill (GunCite.com) . Background checks have also been successful, according to the Justice Department, background checks have kept over half a million guns from being transferred to people who weren’t buyers (Rosen