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MeganMinix
English11
Mr.Bradley
17March2015
GunControl
ThesadrealityisthatmanyAmericancitieshaveratesofgunhomicidescomparabletosome
ofthemostviolentnationsintheworld.
Thatwastheconcludingsentenceinthearticle
GunViolenceinU.S.CitiesComparedtothe
DeadliestNationsintheWorld
byRichardFlorida.Thearticlewasrelevanttothecontroversialtopic
ofguncontrol.Whilesomepeoplemanagetoignorealarmingfactsandstatistic,likethequoteabove,
otherscannot.Somedonotthinktheirrighttobeararmsshouldbeundermined,butothersdobelieve
inreasonablerestrictions.Frankly,thereshouldbeanincreaseofgunregulation.
Forstarters,thiswholecontroversybeganwiththeSecondAmendment.Thisamendmentistoo
broad,whichgivesroomtocreatemorerestrictionsonguns.Aswrittenin1789,theSecond
AmendmentoftheU.S.Constitutionreads:
AmendmentII
AwellregulatedMilitia,beingnecessarytothesecurityofafreeState,therightofthepeople
tokeepandbearArms,shallnotbeinfringed.
Clearly,thewordingoftheamendmentisnoteasytoread,whichhasopenedthedoorfordifferent
interpretations.
SecondAmendment
isasourceaboutthehistoryoftheamendmentbyCornell
UniversityLawSchool,anditstatesthat...somescholarspointtotheprefatorylanguageawell
regulatedMilitiatoarguethattheFramersintendedonlytorestrictCongressfromlegislatingawaya
statesrighttoselfdefense.Theyrefertothisasthecollectiverightstheory.Inthistheory,ittakes
thesidethattheamendmentwasnotmeanttosecureindividualpeoplesrights,butinsteadthe

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individualstatesrights.DuetopreviouschangesandseveraldifferentinterpretationsoftheSecond
Amendment,alongwiththebroadwordingofit,thereisplentyofleewayformoreguncontrol.
Grantedthatthereshouldbemoreguncontrol,therestrictionsshouldstartwithweaponsof
massdestructionnotbeingavailabletothepublic.In
Guns:VI.NoSolutionsReasonableMeasures
,
StephenKingstatesGunsareweapons.Autosandsemiautosareweaponsofmassdestruction.When
lunaticswanttomakewarontheunarmedandunprepared,thesearetheweaponstheyuse,andthis
couldnotbemoreaccurate.In
Guns:V.FromMyColdDeadHands
ittalksaboutseveralcaseswhen
thisistrue.Forexample,JamesHolmes,whokilledandwounded58inAurora,Colorado,movie
theater,wascarryinganM16rifle(30roundcapacity)anda.40caliberGlock,withaclipthatcanhold
upto17rounds,andthatwasonlyoneofthemanyinstances.Nowsinceoneofthereasonsagainst
guncontrolisselfdefense,whyarethesemilitarylevelgunsnecessary,whenanormalhunting
shotgunshouldbemorethanenough?Theanswertothisisthereisnoneed,whichiswhythesecertain
gunsshouldberestricted.
Inadditiontocertaintypesofgunsbeingrestricted,thereshouldbemorecontroloverthetype
ofpeoplethatownguns,specificallythementallyill.In
TheVeryWeakandComplicatedLinks
BetweenMentalIllnessandGunViolence
,LaurenKirchneradmitsthat...mentalillnesscertainly
playsaroleinmanyofthehighprofilemassshootings.WhatImeanbythisisthatanumberofthe
shootersofrecenthighprofilecrimeshavehadasortofhistoryofmentalillness,orsymptoms
suggestiveofmentalillness,andtheexamplesofthisareendless.In
Guns
,byStephenKing,itnotes
thefamousSandyHookshooting,aswellasotherschoolshootingslike,JeffCox,whowasadmittedto
theLACountypsychwardbeforehisshooting,andMichaelCarneal,whosufferedfromparanoiaand
bullyingpriortohiscrime.Althoughtherealreadyaresomeregulationsonthementallyill,likethe
SafeActinNewYork,thelawsneedtobeexpandedandspread.Mentalillnessisatoughsubjectand
canbemeasuredfrommildtoextreme,whichiswhygunrestrictionsshouldbroadentoallthatare

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mentallyunstable.Thisshouldlowertheactsofgunviolencesignificantly,whichisenoughofareason
toincreaseguncontrol.
Altogether,areasonableincreaseinguncontrolshouldbeappliedintheU.S.Theserestrictions
arenotmeanttoinfringeonthebasicrightsofcitizens,butinsteadtoinsurethesafetyofthecountry.I
encourageeveryonetosupportguncontrol,andtocontinueonourcurrentpathofasafernation.

WorksCited

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TheBillofRights:ATranscription.
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SecondAmendment.
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CornellUniversityLawSchool.Web.6Mar.
2015.<
http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendement
>.
Kirchner,Lauren.TheVeryWeakandComplicatedLinesBetweenMentalIllnessandGun
Violence.
PacificStandard.
PacificStandard,23Jan.2015.6Mar.2015.
<<
http://www.psmag.com/healthandbehavior/weakcomplicatedlinksmentalillnessgunviolence96
672
>.
Florida,Richard.GunViolenceintheU.S.CitiesComparedtotheDeadliestNationsinthe
World.
Citylab.
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http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/01/gunviolenceuscitiescompareddeadliestnationsworld/44
12/
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King,Stephen.Guns.N.p.Amazon(KindleSingle),2013