Gun rights and gun control activism have been dominating the United States politics for centuries. One of the main areas of the activism lies on whether to ban the use of assault weapons. Gun control activists have been lobbying policy makers to formulate policies aimed at preventing the use of assault weapons. Assault weapons should be banned in the United States due to the negative impacts that emanate from their use.
The existence of loopholes in gun laws is one of the main reasons why assault weapons should be banned. When framers of gun laws used the term “arms” over a century ago, they did not conceptualize the possible improvements in gun technology. Back then there were less harmful weapons that …show more content…
America is one of the few countries that allow citizens to enjoy gun rights. The American law protects the right to possess firearms despite the increasing gun control activism. Assault weapons should not be banned due to the massive benefits accrued from the enjoyment of the right to own assault …show more content…
Banning assault weapons implies that criminals would be using illegal means to acquire the same weapons. Security agencies lack the capacity to fully secure the country from illegal firearms. In other words, criminals would still access assault weapons despite banning the same. Possession of assault weapons by criminals in an environment characterized by unarmed civilians put the security of civilians at stake. Citizens are only able to protect themselves when they have access to reliable weapons capable of countering attacks by criminals. Allowing civilians to enjoy the right of possessing firearms would scare away criminals, and this reduces the crime rate. Evidence shows that crime can be prevented by revealing a firearm. Criminals are reluctant to attack armed people since such individuals have the ability to fight back. Banning assault weapons would boost the confidence of criminals armed with sophisticated weapons as it would assure them of the victims’ inability to fight back. The constitution guarantees each citizen the right to security and limiting the ability of people to defend themselves using assault weapon is a violation of a fundamental