Running head:GUN ISCONTROL NOT THE ANSWER

Gun Control is Not the Answer

Yiming Ou

Cal State University, Long Beach

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I. Introduction

A. Attention Grabber: According to statistics, more than 30,000 people become

victims of gun violence on average each year in the United States, including

teenagers under the age of 16 (Stolzenberg, & D’Alessio, 2000, p.65). However,

do not for a moment think that this paper is advocating for gun control.

B. Content: Many people associates gun violence and gun related crimes with the

lack of gun control. Those who thinks that way advocated for stricter gun control

laws. They think that limiting the amount of gun sales can better improve the

safety of the society, but studies and researches showed otherwise.

C. Thesis: No clear evidence proves that strict gun control laws reduces gun violence

yet it causes law-abiding citizens defenseless against harden criminals, legislation

must make obtaining firearms easier so people can have the means of self-

defense.

II. Body

A. The Right to Bear Arms: Before the United States was a nation, revolutionist

picked up arms to fight for their freedom and belief of liberty. "For decades

afterward, they resisted every effort of the central government to substitute a

standing army for the armed militia of the states" (Edel, 1995). The early

Americans had the ability to defend themselves just with their gun, people will

lose that ability without their firearms. The Right to Bear Arms is in the Second

Amendment. It is the construction right to be able to obtain and possess firearms.

1. The Two Sides

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a. Gun enthusiasts: Gun enthusiasts are those people who love

guns and want to protect the Right to Bear Arms. The most

influential of them are member of the NRA and NAGR.

i. NRA: The NRA is the National Rifles Association.

A nonprofit organization that protect the right of gun

ownership. It was found in 1871. Their mission is to

"Protect and defend the Constitution of the United

States" (Chilson, 2014). Ever since the founding, the

organization had 9 presidents as members.

ii. NAGR: The NAGR stands for National Association

for Gun Rights. It is also a nonprofit organization that

advocate for the freedom to bear arms. The NAGR

was found in 2000. It shards the same goal as the

NRA, it has been having disagreements with the

NRA over approaches to more gun rights.

iii. Comparison: Though both fighting for gun rights,

the NRA and NAGR have different approaches. The

NRA promotes safety of firearms usage through

better training and awareness of gun safety. The

NARG on the other hand seeks to attack Politicians

who oppose gun rights and the Second Amendment

by television ads or mails.

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b. Gun Control Advocates: Gun control advocates are those who

want stricter gun laws, making it harder for citizens to obtain

firearms legally. Many of these gun control advocates are

harmed by gun violence, or are associated with people that are

victims of gun violence. Gun control advocates argue that the

lose gun control laws we have today is the direct cause of the

mess shootings and gun violence that happens all the time

(Lemieux, 2014, p.5).

B. Arguments: Both side of gun control came up with many arguments. A lot of

these arguments takes a certain kind of bias in favor of their opinion. Still, Some

of them are supported with evidence and logic.

a. Gun Enthusiasts' Arguments

i. Constructional Right: One of the biggest argument the

gun enthusiasts came up with is the right to possess

firearms. Quoting from the Second Amendment, the

right to bear arms. They argue that the founding fathers

gave their people the right to own firearms as a mean to

fight for liberty (Edel, 1995).

ii. Educational Argument: Gun enthusiasts argues that

stricter gun control does not solve any gun violence,

better educating the public does. They stated that the

general public fear firearms because it can take away a

life in the pull of a finger, if more firearms related

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educations programs are offered, the public can learn

more about safety of guns and get a better

understanding. These programs are not going to teach

people rather firearms are good or bad, it instead offers

a better understanding of gun safety (Wolf, & Rosen,

2015, p.28).

iii. Legal firearms V.S. Illegal Firearms: Another very

strong argument by gun enthusiasts. They argue that

gun control laws can only take away firearms from law-

abiding citizens that obtained their guns legally.

Criminals who obtained their gun illegally are not

affected at all by these laws. Laws for gun control will

only leave law-abiding citizens defenseless (Ridder,

2014)

b. Gun Control Advocates' Arguments

i. Gun Control Reduces Gun Crimes: This argument is

the more popular argument post by the gun control

advocates. They argues that taking firearms away and

making the process of obtaining a gun harder can lead

to the lower of gun related crimes(Kessler, 2008 p.389).

Gun control advocates draws statistics from studies that

shows stricter back ground checks can lead to lower

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firearm death, claiming that it discourages criminals

from obtaining guns.

ii. Guns Escalates Situations: This argument states that

having a gun in dangerous situations will only make the

situation worse. Gun control advocates argues that

having a gun in the house while argument occurs makes

it more likely that the gun will be drawn by one of the

parties, which increases the risk of gun death, rather it

be accidental discharge or lost of temper (Should More

Gun, 2017).

iii. Other Countries are Doing Better: This argument by

gun control advocates states that other countries with

stricter gun control laws have a lower rate of gun

related death compare to the United State. They draw

statistics from countries like Switzerland and Finland,

quoting that these two countries have much stricter gun

ownership process, and their death by gun rate are about

a thousand times lower than the United States (Should

More Gun, 2017).

c. Counter Argument: Most of the arguments posted by the gun

control advocates are very situational. Like the example they

gave on how having a gun in an argument will increase the

chance of death. Only when an argument occurs, that the risk

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of gun death will increase. Arguing that other countries with

stricter gun control laws have lower gun related death is a false

argument, because other countries' situation might not be like

the United States(Libresco, 2017). Furthermore, those

countries that with lower gun death rate have less guns and less

people to begin with.

C. Studies: Arguments post by both side of gun control gave birth of many studies

on the effect gun control has on gun related violence. Both sides of the argument

came up with studies to prove their own point. Independent studies were also

done as a nonbiased source.

a. 170 Cities: A study was conducted in 170 cities in the United

State to measure the impact gun control would make on gun

violence. Drawing data from level of firearm widespread from

those cities as well as crime rate and violence rate that involved

a firearm. The study concluded that the rate of violence does

not show a positive correlation, but it was actually the crime

rate that contributes to the widespread of firearms. The study

also found that imposing stricter gun control law made no

impact of widespread of firearms (Kelck, & Patterson, 1993).

III. Conclusion

A. Both sides of gun control came up with credible arguments, and numinous studies

were conducted on this subject matter. The result was clear, stricter gun control

laws have little to no effects on lowering gun related death rate. All gun control
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laws are doing is weakening the defense of the citizens against criminals with the

willingness to kill. Stricter gun control laws should not be imposed on the citizens

of the United States. Legislations should make obtaining a firearm easier, but

offer more educational programs to help citizen understand the importance of gun

safety. The right to bear arms are given to the citizens to defend their home and

loved ones, taking them away cannot solve anything . As long as citizens learn the

correct way to handle a gun, the nation will see the safer side of firearms.
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Chilson, M. (2014). National association for gun rights vs. nra: how do the differ? Newsmax.

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differ/2014/10/12/id/600067/

Edel, W. (1995). Gun control: threat to liberty or defense against anarchy? Westport, Conn.:

Praeger.

Kessler, R. G. (2008). Gun control and political power. Law & Policy, University of Denver,

5(3), 381-400.

Kleck, G., & Patterson, E. B. (1993). The impact of gun control and gun ownership levels on

violence rates. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 9(3), 249-287.

Lemieux, F. (2014). Effect of Gun Culture and Firearm Laws on Gun Violence and Mass

Shootings in the United States: A Multi-Level Quantitative Analysis. International

Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 9(1), 74-93.

Libereco, L. (2017). I used to think gun control was the answer. My research told me otherwise.

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58c702d2d975_story.html?utm_term=.13b67e790e63

Purple, M. (2017). Gun control: the new moral crusade. The American Conservative. Retrieved

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Ridder, K. (2014). Gun control pro and con: 3 points on both side of the debate. Newsmax.

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Should Gun control Laws be Enacted? (2017). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from

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Wolf, C. R., & Rosen, J. A. (2015). MISSING THE MARK: GUN CONTROL IS NOT THE

CURE FOR WHAT AILS THE U.S. MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM. Journal of

Criminal Law & Criminology, 104(4), 851-878.

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