Soward 1

Darin Soward
Mr. Burchett
Government 3
23 October 2015

Mock Congress Research Paper

The scale of violence in the world has been greatly multiplied by the introduction of
firearms. People believe having a firearm may provide great protection, but in reality one's own
gun may kill themselves by accident. Since the beginning of the invention of firearms, war has
become much more conflicting resulting in a much higher rate of casualties. In the United States,
the easy access of guns causes a variety of major gun issues to the people of the United States.
Major issues overall in the United States are caused by firearms or involved the use of firearms.
The major controversy with firearm control is how anyone can easily purchase a gun through a
licensed dealer or private owner leading to more destructive violence amongst negative figures.
However, the controversy with adding stronger background checks is that the peoples' privacy is
being invaded. The bill I have proposed to implement a universal background check will limit
nationwide access to guns ultimately reducing the scale of violence that can be done, accidental
suicides, and it will help to secure the lives of innocent civilians from mass shootings or
accidental crossfire.
Firearms being present in aggressive situations will usually result in a greater scale of
damage being done than if no guns were present, such as death, life-long injuries, or forceful
threatening. Large possession of guns nationwide puts at risk a higher chance that firearm
violence will be greatly present in the United States. The bill will restrict the easy access of guns
to any person in the United States, lowering the amount of gun violence and overall scale of

Soward 2
damage that can be done. An example of how often guns are used to aid mass violence or serious
crimes is shown from statistics being, Data collected by the FBI show that firearms were used
in 68 percent of murders, 41 percent of robbery offenses and 21 percent of aggravated assaults
nationwide (Gun Violence). The evidence shown supports the reason that easy access of
firearms leads to greater scale of damage, because it gives high statistics of how firearms are
most often involved in murders and other common serious crimes. The statistics gathered by the
FBI shows a positive correlation between guns and serious crimes. Not only in the US but, it has
been found that across developed countries, where guns are more available, there are more
homicides (Homicide). Harvard Injury Research Center gathered the conclusion from their
data that more abundance of guns relates to more homicides. The relation to more homicides
supports the reason that guns being common causes for more damage being done, such as more
death and murderers. Allowing for private gun orders to conduct business solely by themselves
provides an easy service for anyone to acquire a gun without background checks or further
regulations. Private dealers in the United States make the prevalence of gun issues more
common, We conclude that approximately 60 percent of gun acquisitions involved an FFL and
hence were subject to federal regulations on such matters as out-of-State sales, criminal history
checks, and recordkeeping. (National Institute 6). The statistics show for an uncounted 40
percent of how people acquired guns. This shows that there is a circulation of firearms
unchecked by the federal government, meaning that many people may buy guns without ever
having a license or background check. This brings into circulation more guns to people who are
willing to do more damage than others. Not only does an easy access to a large amount of guns
lead to more common crimes being more life threatening, but people commonly playing with
their many guns results in serious accidents.

Soward 3
The common gun in nearly every family's household greatly puts at risk the chance that
an accident may occur with life consequences. Children having easy access to their parents gun
can result in a serious accident, such as the child wanting to play with the loaded gun then it
accidentally going off. This reason relates to my bill wanting to limit the access of guns, because
careless people around the US should not have a limitless supply of guns for the reason of
putting at risk that someone without knowledge of guns may cause an accident. In the United
States the number of firearm-related injuries, both fatal and non-fatal, increased through 1993,
declined to 1999, and has remained relatively constant since. However, firearms injuries remain a
leading cause of death in the U.S., particularly among youth (Firearms). As shown, firearmrelated injuries are the leading cause of death in the US, this supports the reason that accidents
due to firearms are a very serious result of easy gun access. Firearm related death is very high
among the youth showing how easily one can get a gun regardless of age. This supports that guns
should be limited per household to lower the nationwide firearm-related violence. The risk of
accidental suicide or on purpose, increases highly when guns are present as shown that,
Firearms play a significant role in both suicide and homicide, accounting for slightly more than
half of all suicide deaths and two-thirds of homicide deaths, according to 2009 data from the 16state National Violent Death Reporting System (Access). The high percentage of firearmrelated homicides and suicides shows that the United States needs to more strictly regulate the
sale of guns to prevent common firearm violence. People diagnosed with depression or such,
should be reported on a background check to limit the sale of guns to them to prevent further
suicides. According to statistics in metropolitan areas, Across reporting periods, firearm suicide
rates increased for 74% of MSAs (37 of 50), mirroring the national trend (Firearm Homicides).
The most common way people commit suicide is by using a gun. The law proposed would help

Soward 4
to limit guns to people who have symptoms relating to suicidal thoughts. A background check
will look for any history of depression or recent life activity that could link to depression. Some
people that are depressed do not only use a gun to commit suicide, but instead use the gun to
commit mass murders or other harmful acts that threatens the lives of many innocent people.
The quick access to guns provides an easy chance for depressed people to commit mass
murder or other violent firearm acts, endangering the lives of all civilians. For this reason, an
extensive background check is needed to search for all signs of suicidal or depressed thoughts or
activity in order to prevent the sale to someone planning a mass shooting. Demonstrated in the
past, many notorious shootings have been caused by suicidal or crazy people who easily and
quickly acquired a powerful gun for mass murder. Any person can quickly get access to a large
supply of guns shown by the statistics that, Almost half (48%) of gun owners report owning
four or more guns with a few possessing large numbers of guns; 64% of gun owners own at least
one handgun (Gun Violence). Research shows that it is very easily possible for people to
purchase a gun quickly. Not only is it easy to buy a gun, but it is possible to own a large variety
of guns and even many high-caliber guns good for mass shootings. This supports my reason to
make a background check that will limit the amount of guns allowed to per household. In the
past many years, public mass shootings has been the result of many civilian deaths taking note
that Reports suggest that up to 60% of perpetrators of mass shootings in the United States since
1970 displayed symptoms including acute paranoia, delusions, and depression before committing
their crimes (Metzl). With a thorough background check, gun dealers would be able to avoid the
sale of guns to people with any mental illness that can contribute to mass shootings. This would
make gun control much safer for the people of the United States. As stated by David Hemenway,
The public health approach is not about banning guns. It is about creating policies that will

Soward 5
prevent violence and injuries (Hemenway 225). The goal is not to make guns impossible to
acquire, but instead to make enough restrictions and limits so that only those who have positive
purposes can purchase weapons. The bill proposed can greatly increase safety for all the public
by regulating gun sales. Overall, the easy access of guns gives mentally ill people a good chance
of executing a mass shooting, so to prevent this a thorough background check should be
implemented nationwide. However, the three reasons explained that support my bill also come
with controversies against them.
Two controversies that go against the bill becoming a law is that it could increase firearm
trafficking amongst gangsters and restriction of gun rights. An increase in security to purchase a
gun may likely cause firearm trafficking to become a much bigger business. This would increase
violence among gangster and police, which could cause a war between the two. For the second
counter-argument, restriction of guns to the people is a violation of the rights given to the people
by the founding fathers. The second amendment states that the people of the United States have
the right to bear arms, meaning that the government should not be able to interfere with gun
rights. Although it may not be completely possible, but, Effective enforcement of gun control
laws can deter illegal gun trafficking, but loopholes, high standards of evidence, and weak
penalties make it difficult to enforce laws designed to keep guns from prohibited persons (The
Income-Associated, 8). Although firearm trafficking may increase, proper dedication to
enforcing the law could deter trafficking of firearms. With FBI, CIA, and local police help major
firearm trafficking organizations can easily be brought down. The second amendment reads, "A
well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed (Second). Although the second amendment states
that the right of the people to bear arms cannot be infringed upon, it also talks about the security

Soward 6
of a free state. Although this amendment is stated in the constitution, many regulations can be
made to limit the right of bearing arms, The Court stated that the right to keep and bear arms is
subject to regulation, such as concealed weapons prohibitions, limits on the rights of felons and
the mentally ill (United). As stated by the courts, even though the second amendment
guarantees firearms to the people, there are still possibilities of adding regulations. These
regulations can include a universal background check to guarantee the safety of the people, while
still allowing gun rights. The best way to maintain security for the people is to watch over the
people closely, which can be done through regulating the sales of firearms by a Universal
Background Check System. Although these controversies provide good points, it is still in the
best interest for the people to go through background checks and have a regulation on gun
possession.
Approving my bill as a law will be making stricter regulations and limiting gun sales to
each person will in time reduce firearm violence and depth of firearm violence, number of
suicides a year, and possibilities of mass shootings across the United States. The topics discussed
put the United States at the top of many charts for leading death polls or firearm violence around
the world. This is an alarming issue having the United States leading the world in firearm
violence, to correct this the people must accept background checks and gun limits in order to
keep civilians safe. One of the biggest threats to our nation is how easily anybody may obtain a
gun and use it for corrupted violence on innocent people.

Soward 7

Works Cited
"Access to Guns Increases Risk of Suicide, Homicide." UC San Francisco. N.p., n.d.
Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
"Firearm Homicides and Suicides in Major Metropolitan Areas United States, 2006
2007 and 20092010." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 02 Aug. 2013. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
"FIREARMS TUTORIAL." FIREARMS TUTORIAL. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.
"Gun Violence." National Institute of Justice. N.p., 4 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
Hemenway, David. "Conclusion." Private Guns, Public Health. Ann Arbor: U of
Michigan, 2004. N. pag. Print.

Soward 8
"Homicide." Harvard Injury Control Research Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.
"The Income-Associated Burden of Disease in the United States." SpringerReference
(2011): n. pag. Web.
Metzl, Jonathan M., and Kenneth T. MacLeish. "Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the
Politics of American Firearms." American Journal of Public Health. American Public
Health Association, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.
"National Institute Of Justice (Nij)." Handbook of Research Design & Social
Measurement (2002): 698-99. Web.
"Second Amendment." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.
"United States: Gun Ownership and the Supreme Court." Second Amendment. N.p., n.d.
Web. 02 Nov. 2015.