The debate of gun control is becoming a national issue. With the many mass shootings, accidents and suicides, it only seems natural for law makers to argue the issue. However, all citizens should maintain the right of personal gun ownership, understand that guns are a natural part of our American heritage and know that the violence surrounding guns is a misconception. Gun rights have been questioned over the course of history. In 1791, when the Second Amendment was ratified, gun ownership quickly became one of the most publically debated issues in America (Al-Khatib). Throughout time, large cities such as Chicago have tried to place a ban on handguns, but the Supreme Court has consistently overturned and ruled that it is “an individual right
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Guns contribute to only a small number of accidental deaths in the U.S. For example, compared to accidental death from firearms, a person is twice as likely to suffocate on a swallowed object, 10 times more likely to die from a fall and 31 times more likely to die in an automobile accident (“Comparing Gun Facts is Misleading and Irrelevant”). Many gun control supporters often not only state accidental deaths as a reason to create more laws, they often use the argument that the rate of suicides and homicides increase as more guns are sold. To evaluate suicide, one would have to look at the many issues that it involves. One of the main points is that guns do not cause a person to commit suicide; such reasons often include a person’s mental state, not the fact that they own a gun (“Suicide and Firearms”). There is simply not a cause and effect relationship between suicide and gun ownership. Consider the murder rate in this country; between the years of 1993-1997, when gun ownership rose to nearly 20 million, the rate of homicides committed in those same years with firearms dropped 27%. Studies show that most criminals come by their guns illegally, often by theft or underground purchases. For example, Connecticut has one of the strictest gun laws in America, but that didn’t stop Adam Lanza from stealing guns and killing 26 people, in the Sandy Hook Massacre (Yu). One can repeat the popular phrase, guns don’t kill people, people kill
Guns contribute to only a small number of accidental deaths in the U.S. For example, compared to accidental death from firearms, a person is twice as likely to suffocate on a swallowed object, 10 times more likely to die from a fall and 31 times more likely to die in an automobile accident (“Comparing Gun Facts is Misleading and Irrelevant”). Many gun control supporters often not only state accidental deaths as a reason to create more laws, they often use the argument that the rate of suicides and homicides increase as more guns are sold. To evaluate suicide, one would have to look at the many issues that it involves. One of the main points is that guns do not cause a person to commit suicide; such reasons often include a person’s mental state, not the fact that they own a gun (“Suicide and Firearms”). There is simply not a cause and effect relationship between suicide and gun ownership. Consider the murder rate in this country; between the years of 1993-1997, when gun ownership rose to nearly 20 million, the rate of homicides committed in those same years with firearms dropped 27%. Studies show that most criminals come by their guns illegally, often by theft or underground purchases. For example, Connecticut has one of the strictest gun laws in America, but that didn’t stop Adam Lanza from stealing guns and killing 26 people, in the Sandy Hook Massacre (Yu). One can repeat the popular phrase, guns don’t kill people, people kill