The Gun Control Debate Discussion Assignment Paper (Essay Sample)

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The Gun Control Debate
A strong debate has ensued in the open parlance regarding the issue of gun control in America. Civilians, as well as the government, have a sole intent, to make America a safer place. However, the controversy occurs on the issue as to whether safety can be achieved by allowing more civilians to carry guns or by limiting and controlling gun possession among them. In accordance with the Second Amendment to the American Constitution which was enacted on 15th December 1791 a free and safer state can be ensured by having a well-regulated Militia. It also stated that the people’s right to bear firearms should never be infringed in order to achieve a secure state (Klukowski 195). However, there is still a strong debate questioning the role of government in ensuring security among the citizen. The debate has culminated to what is now referred to as the Gun Politics which has pitted out two main antagonistic groups. One group are fervent advocates for laws and regulations that allow individuals to bear arms without any restriction while the other group believes that the government should impose a more strict law regulating and controlling gun possession among the citizens (Spitzer 32). The debate, however, has remained a hard nut to crack as none of the sides have been successful in bringing up an argument without adequate counter-argument.
One of the argument that gun right activists have is that gun possession among the public prevents instances of open shootings. They believe that by allowing the civilians to carry guns around will enable them to defend themselves in cases of mass shooting. A survey done by John Lott in 1986 among the prisoners convicted of gun violence found out that almost 70% of the prisoners could not have committed the crime were it that the victim was armed (Lot 16). Lot argued that states, where the citizens are allowed to carry guns, have lower instances of gun violence. Lot also talked about the issue of Conceal and Carry Policy which allows the civilians to carry guns around but in a concealed manner. In other words, the gun right activists believe that instances of gun violence and many other forms of violence are as a result vulnerability of the victims. If the victims were allowed to carry guns, then they should have been able to protect themselves.
The pro-gun activists give an example of Detroit City. This is one of the cities with the highest levels of gun violence. However, in cases of violence the average response time is as bad as 58 minutes (Kleck 16). By the time the police will have reached the scene, probably all the victims would have been dead. This can be controlled by allowing people to have their own guns. At least they would be able to defend themselves before the police arrive. As was stated by the sheriff from Arizona, police do very little in preventing the public in cases of gun violence. All they do is to come after the incidence and start investigating a crime which has already occurred. It is, therefore, imperative that the civilians be given the freedom to protect themselves against the villains.
The pro-gun activists also argue that allowing the civilians to freely possess firearms is their constitutional right as it is backed by the Second Amendment. In other words, restricting or illegalizing gun possession among the public is an infringement of their constitutional right. It is clearly stated in the second amendment that civilians have the right to hold firearms for protection purposes (Klukowski 195). In 2008, the Supreme Court made a ruling in favor of uplifting the ban on handguns in Washington DC, a status with had existed for 32 years (Cornel 571). According to Lund Nelson, a law professor at George Mason University, the Second Amendment appreciates the human’s right to defend themselves and that no single law should disarm civilians of firearms. This implies that gun possession among civilians is well entranced and guaranteed in the Second Amendment, part of the American Constitution which is the supreme law of the land.
Those who support gun control, however, believe that allowing the civilians to freely possess guns results into higher instances of gun violence. According to data which was represented by the Guardian in 2012 as well as the Small Arms Survey done on 2007 provided that US has the highest rate of gun-related homicides (Goss 46). On the other hand, the United States is ranked as the country w...