Sachen1

ChrisSachen
Gardner
English10H
28April2016

SmartGunControlfortheSafetyofthePeople
InColumbineHighSchoolandinSandyHookElementarySchooltwomentally
unstableattackersarmedwithfirearmsmurderedmorethanelevenyoungchildrenand
adultsandinjuredanothereleveneach.Willyouallowthistocontinueorwillyoutake
actiontopreventthedeathsoftheinnocent?GuncontrolIstheenforcementoflaws
thatcandoeverythingfrommakingitharderforcivilianstobuyandownguns,to
completelyremovingcertaingunsfromthecivilianArsenal.Thisissueremainsatlarge
andishotlydebatedbecauseofthechanceofdecreasingthenumberofmassacres
withguns.CurrentlyCaliforniahassomeofthetoughestlawsonguncontrol,including
astandardizedwrittentestbeforepurchaseofafirearm,atendaywaitingperiod,and
thestatetracksallgunpurchasesanddoesnotallowgunstobesoldiftheyhavenot
gonethroughsafetytestingandarenotonalistcertifiedbythestate.Anyfirearmsthat
areconsideredassaultweaponsareprohibited.Gunlawsshouldbeimplemented
throughouttheU.Sbasedoffofeffectivelawsinothercountries,research,andaclear
understandingofthesecondamendment.

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Thoseagainstguncontrolsticktoaninterpretationofthesecondamendment
thatkeepsallrestrictionfrombeingappliedtogunsthatanycivilianmayown.Thereis
datawasputtogetherbyRobertVerBruggenthatprovesthat
Notonlyisthereno
correlationbetweengunownershipandoverallhomicidewithinastate,butthereisa
strongcorrelationbetweengunhomicideandnongunhomicidesuggestingthatthey
springfromsimilarcauses,andthatsomestatesaresimplymoreviolentthanothers
(VerBruggen).Basicallythereisnoconnectionfromthestrictnessofgunlaws
implementedcurrentlytheamountofhomicidesinindividualstates.Keepinggunsfrom
citizensdoesnotkeepthemfromcausingharm.Whilethismaybetrue,thegunlaws
thatarecurrentlyinusemightnotbeveryeffectivefromkeepinggunsoutofthewrong
handsandtheymightnothavebeencomparedtopreviousyearsofhomicidesbefore
thegunlawswereapplied.Thegeneralpurposeofthesecondamendmentistoallow
peopletoowngunsforthepurposeofkeepingamilitiaandkeepingthepowertorebel
againstthegovernment.It'sintentisnottoallowthepeopletousefirearmsagainstthe
theirownneighborsortoallowthosefirearmstogetintothehandsofmentallyillor
criminallyUnjust.

Itisverytruethatkeepingthepublicfromowningfirearmsiscontradictorytothe
secondamendment.Nevertheless,itdoesnotmeanthatapplyingcertainrequirements
onowningaguniscontradictorytothesecondamendment.Asystemandseriesof
backgroundchecksandregistrationwouldnotpreventtheregularcitizenfromobtaining
afirearm.Theadditionofbackgroundchecksandregistrationwouldmakeguntheft

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trackableandmakeithardertoputgunsintotheunderground(Mikva).Overallthe
additionofthesecheckswouldnothinderaregularcitizenfromobtainingafirearmbut
makeitharderforcriminalsormentallyinsanetoobtain.Theremovalofgunsfrom
societyisindirectcontrastofthesecondamendmentbutkeepinggunsregisteredand
havingbackgroundchecksbeforepurchaseallowtheregularcitizentoobtainafirearm
easily.

Gunlawsshouldbeimplementedbasedonlawsinothercountries.GreatBritain
hasextremelytightguncontrolbecausetheydonothaveanythingthatresemblesthe
secondamendmenthandgunsareprohibitedandrequireaspeciallicense,other
weaponsneedviablereasonandapermitfromthepolicetobeowned(Malcolm).This
didnotstopthemassacresfromhappeningthatpeoplewouldhopedsothisisnotthe
answer.
SixweeksaftertheDunblanemassacrein1996,MartinBryant,anAustralian
withalifelonghistoryofviolence,attackedtouristsataPortArthurprisonsitein
Tasmaniawithtwosemiautomaticrifles.Hekilled35peopleandwounded21
others.Atthetime,Australia'sgunslawswerestricterthantheUnitedKingdom's.
InlieuoftherequirementinBritainthatanapplicantforpermissiontopurchasea
gunhavea"goodreason,"Australiarequireda"genuinereason."Huntingand
protectingcropsfromferalanimalsweregenuinereasonspersonalprotection
wasn't(Malcolm).

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Obviouslytheseextremelytightgunlawsandremovaloffirearmsfromthegeneral
publicisnottheanswer.Asaresultthesimpleansweristomakelawsrestrictive
enoughsothatpeoplewhowanttobuyweaponswillonlybeabletobuythemifthey
areintherightstateofmindtousethemproperly.

Gunlawsshouldbeimplementedbasedonprobableresearch.AsMelissaHealy
fromLATimesstatedThethreemeasureslinkedtosubstantialdropsin
firearmsrelateddeathswere:universalbackgroundchecksforfirearmssales,
backgroundchecksonthosebuyingammunition,andarequirementthatgunowners
gettheirfirearmsmicrochippedor'fingerprinted'foridentificationpurposes(Healy).A
partoftheuniversalbackgroundcheckswouldrequireavisittoamentalhealth
professionalasbothoftheperpetratorsintheColumbineandSandyHookshootings
haddepressionatypeofmentalillness.Theselawswouldcuttheamountofpeople
whoareeithermentallyillorintendtousethesefirearmstokillinnocentsfromobtaining
them.Itwouldalsodroptheamountofundergroundtransferofweaponsbecauseofthe
microchipping,stoppinggangviolencewithguns.Thereforethesethreelawsshouldbe
testedinawillingstateandiftheyworkshouldbeusedthroughouttheUnitedStates.
HealyalsostatedNotallofthegunlawsonstates'booksappearedtobeeffective.Of
the25lawsexamined,nineinitiativessomeofthemdeartotheheartsofguncontrol
advocateswereevenassociatedwithincreasesingundeaths.Theseincludedbans
orrestrictionsonassaultweapons,limitsonthenumberoffirearmsacustomercould

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purchase,andlawsrequiringlockingdevicesonfirearmsavailableforsale(Healy).
Thesimplefactisifthelawsworkthenweshouldusethemtoprotectoursociety.

Inconclusion,
GunlawsshouldbeimplementedthroughouttheU.Sbasedoffof
effectivelawsinothercountries,research,andagoodunderstandingofthesecond
amendment.Ifdonecorrectlythiswouldsavelivesthroughoutthenationandprotect
againsthorrificmassacresasseeninColumbineandSandyHook.Thepointisnotto
takeallgunsawayfromthepublicnormakeithardtoobtaintheseweapons.Thepoint
istostopthosewhointendtousefirearmstokillothersorwhoarementallyunstable
frombeingabletoobtainthem.

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WorksCited
Healy,Melissa."Can3LawsStop90%ofGunDeaths?."LosAngelesTimes.11
Mar.2016:A.9.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.03May2016.

Malcolm,JoyceLee."JoyceLeeMalcolm:TwoCautionaryTalesofGun
Control."WallStreetJournal.N.p.,26Dec.2012.Web.5May1016.

Mikva,AbnerJ.,andLawrenceRosenthal."ToughGunLawsAreConstitutional."
NewYorkTimes.24Feb.2016:A.19.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.05May2016.

VerBruggen,Robert."FewerGuns,LessHomicide?."NationalReview.21Dec.2015:
n.p.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.05May2016.