Gun Control

Gun Control

In the United States, almost anyone can get a gun illegally because the government does not have enough laws or emphasis on existing laws to prevent this. Instead, the government hides behind the writings of the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment. People who should never have a gun are able to get them illegally, and therefore could be directly affecting the large amount of school shooting massacres and accidents caused by guns. For example, in the 1960s the assassinations of Robert f. Kennedy and Martin Luther King made the American people more conscious about gun control. The easy access to guns continues to produce many intentional deaths and terrible accidents. If more laws or stricter laws were implemented, less of these accidents would occur.

Guns have been part of America since it was formed. Americans carried guns to protect themselves and to hunt for food. Back in those days Americans had to carry guns because there was no police protection. Times are different now. There is police protection and people hunt for the sport of it instead of hunting to eat the food. Americans now use guns for aggression instead of self-protection. For example, in Colorado there were two high school students who were being made fun of and laughed at for the way they dressed. The two students had purchased guns from a gun show. They locked themselves in their school and began shooting people until they turned the guns on themselves. Fifteen people died that day because two students were being laughed at. This is why laws on gun control need to be changed.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution gives an individual the right to bear arms. This law has been used time and time again to justify the unlawful killing that takes place in the homes and streets of America every day. While the U.S. is a free country and our Constitution states we are able to own a gun with a license, this leaves much room for misinterpretation and misuse. Although it says one may have the right to own a gun, it should not mean just anyone. It should be more explicit and state the people who should bear arms are law enforcement officials.

In 1994, the Brady Bill was voted on and made law by the U.S. Congress. This law established a national five business day waiting period on handgun purchases through licensed dealers. It also required local authorities to conduct background checks