PlanetPapers.com RSS Feedhttps://www.planetpapers.com/ Should The Firearm Makers Be More Responsible To The Society? Should The Firearm Makers Be More Responsible To The Society? Ethics are principles governing the behavior of an individual or a group. These principles establish appropriate behavior indicating what is right and what is wrong. Defining the term is easy, but determining what the principles are is difficult. What is ethical can vary form one to another, from industry to industry, and from country to country. In the play ¡V All My Sons, it is an unethical decision that Joe Keller sold the broken airplanes¡¦ cylinder heads to the military during World War II. One main reason was that he did not want to let the business fall behind in the industry. However, it eventually led to the death of those pilots, and suicide of his son. At the end, he could not run away from the emotional charge of his family members. This is one best example about the ethical conflicts that many gun industries have to face today. The gun industries claim that they have the right to legally promote their products while the others believe that gun makers have been unethically taking advantages of people¡¦s fear due to violent criminals for enhancing their profits. As the approach of Y2K, it seems that there were numerous calamities overwhelming the Earth. Businesses and government agents were force to test their hi-tech systems ¡V computers ¡V to avoid any possible hacking disasters. Some others claimed that ¡§the end of world¡¨ was coming soon. However, gun industries tried to exploit on the issue of Y2K. They launched a main campaign for sales to gain more profit from disruptive social fear. One main reason was that gun industries had been going through a shrinking of the market for several years. Therefore, the gun makers had to introduce some new and more deadly products to raise the sales. These types of new weapons comprised assault weapons, sniper rifles, and smaller mortal handguns like pocket rockets. Meanwhile, they targeted the products on new divisions, such as females, and youth. The advertisement for Wilson Combat Millennium Protector .45 pistol stated that the accuracy, total reliability and fast handling of the new Millennium Protector would provide you with security and peaceful mind in those unpredictable times. It kept going that you would find you were responsible to 2004-07-27T01:58:15-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Should-The-Firearm-Makers-Be-More-Responsible-To-The-Society-5752.aspx Why is America A Country of Violence Why is America A Country of Violence Many people might ask themselves, Why is America a country of violence and hate? There are several factors that contribute to making the United States one of the most violent and highly crime rated country‘s in the world, such as the history of war, and poor gun control. But there is one reason that stands out from the rest and that is, the media. The media has an enormous impact, and influence on today’s children and young teen’s. There have been several reports of kids getting hurt and even killed from emulating the violent behavior that they see on television shows. The violence on cartoons, movies, music, and videogames submerges kids into an unrealistic, fictional world. The media is teaching children that violence can be safe, fun and harmless, which we know it is not. in addition it is also teaching kids thatm it is alright to resolve conflicts with force and teaches them that after being violent, somehow everybody gets up at the end of the day. Children begin to take fiction on television to the next level, reality, were they think that guns, drugs and violence are “cool”. Some children can be mature about things they see on television and other’s can’t and want to act like or imitate characters and the thing they see on television. Crimes committed by children are growing rapidly. “In 1991, children under the age of ten committed more than one-thousand acts of aggravated assault and 81 cases of forcible rape. Juveniles twelve and under committed ...murder, robbery, larceny-theft, and forcible rape"(Bennett). It is unbelievable to know that young twelve year old kids can be capable of pulling a trigger and killing a human being. In February 29 of 2000 a six year old first-grade boy pulled a loaded gun from his pants and shot a female classmate in the neck in Mount Morris, Michigan. The six-year-old little girl died shortly after she was shot. This is just one of many cases that occur in the United States. The big question is why was the kid in position of a loaded gun and what caused him into doing such a terrible thing like that. The over supply and selling of guns in the United states is frightening. The violence on television pushes kids over the edge and into committing murder such as 2004-06-07T23:38:32-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Why-is-America-A-Country-of-Violence-5691.aspx Should guns be banned? The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; it is their right and duty to be at all times armed. Thomas Jefferson, 1824 Should guns be banned in America? Should guns be banned? This is one of the widest asked questions. There are those who believe that gun’s should be banned, as guns are the number one killer. All around the world, small arms stocks were destroyed in the hope to lower the amount of guns in the world. South Africa’s destruction of 24 000 small arms today is part of worldwide small arms destructions – 6 000 illegal guns were destroyed in Cambodia, 1 700 in Mozambique, and 10 000 weapons were destroyed in Brazil. Through these destructions governments from around the world are showing their support for the regulation of the small arms trade – a trade that kills an estimated 500 000 people each year. Handguns and other firearms have a long tradition in American civilization. The right to bear arms is an American right featured in the second Amendment of the Constitution. In the 18th century, when the constitution was written, times were different; there was a need for armed citizens to insure the safety of the society as a whole. Contemporarily the police department preserves the safety of society and the need for armed citizens is out of date. The founding fathers of the Constitution could presumably never imagine the horrendous outcome of their actions. Every year too many lives are claimed as the result of the American government’s inability to fully face up to effects of the issue. Compared to other western countries that have considerably stricter gun control laws America is still viewed as “The Wild-Wild West”. The growing gun related death toll in the U.S. has to come to a turning point. Stripping away the constitutional right to bear arms might have the effect that only criminals will have access to guns. It is important to understand that in a society where both criminals and law abiding citizens have access to guns the likeliness of an innocent person getting shot, when both parties are waving guns, is probably greater than if only criminals have guns. A ban on firearms might not be appealing as a short-term solution but it is important that people don’t limit their thinking to their generation and not think about the safety of 2004-01-13T17:41:32-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Should-guns-be-banned-5397.aspx Should guns be banned in America? The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; it is their right and duty to be at all times armed. Thomas Jefferson, 1824 Should guns be banned in America? Should guns be banned? This is one of the widest asked questions. There are those who believe that gun’s should be banned, as guns are the number one killer. All around the world, small arms stocks were destroyed in the hope to lower the amount of guns in the world. South Africa’s destruction of 24 000 small arms today is part of worldwide small arms destructions – 6 000 illegal guns were destroyed in Cambodia, 1 700 in Mozambique, and 10 000 weapons were destroyed in Brazil. Through these destructions governments from around the world are showing their support for the regulation of the small arms trade – a trade that kills an estimated 500 000 people each year. Handguns and other firearms have a long tradition in American civilization. The right to bear arms is an American right featured in the second Amendment of the Constitution. In the 18th century, when the constitution was written, times were different; there was a need for armed citizens to insure the safety of the society as a whole. Contemporarily the police department preserves the safety of society and the need for armed citizens is out of date. The founding fathers of the Constitution could presumably never imagine the horrendous outcome of their actions. Every year too many lives are claimed as the result of the American government’s inability to fully face up to effects of the issue. Compared to other western countries that have considerably stricter gun control laws America is still viewed as “The Wild-Wild West”. The growing gun related death toll in the U.S. has to come to a turning point. Stripping away the constitutional right to bear arms might have the effect that only criminals will have access to guns. It is important to understand that in a society where both criminals and law abiding citizens have access to guns the likeliness of an innocent person getting shot, when both parties are waving guns, is probably greater than if only criminals have guns. A ban on firearms might not be appealing as a short-term solution but it is important that people don’t limit their thinking to their generation and not think about the safety of 2004-01-11T13:19:59-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Should-guns-be-banned-in-America-5390.aspx Gun Control Americans are faced with an ever-growing problem of violence. Our streets have become a battleground where the elderly are beaten for their social security checks, terrified women are viciously attacked and raped, teen-age gangsters shoot it out for a patch of turf to sell their illegal drugs, and innocent children are caught daily in the crossfire of drive-by shootings. America can’t ignore the damage that these criminals are doing to our society, and must take actions to stop these horrors. However, the effort by some misguided individuals to eliminate the legal ownership of firearms does not address the real problem at hand, and simply disarms the innocent law-abiding citizens who are most in need of a form of self-defense. Today's gun control activists are a slightly different breed. They claim that gun violence in this country has gotten to a point where something must be done to stop it. They would like to see criminals disarmed, and they want the random violence to stop. Although they have a point, they are going about it in the wrong way. While claiming that they want to take guns out of the hands of criminals, they work to pass laws that would take the guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens instead. For this reason the efforts at gun control do not address the real problem of crime. A criminal is someone who does not obey the law. A law-abiding citizen is someone who does obey the law. Therefore, if laws are passed restricting ownership of firearms, which category of people does it affect? The answer is that gun control laws affect law-abiding citizens only. By their very nature, the criminals will continue to violate these new laws, they will continue to carry their firearms, and they will find their efforts at crime much easier when they know that their victims will be unarmed. Innocent people are turned into victims when new laws make it impossible for them to fight back. An unarmed man stands little chance against an armed one. An interesting recent development has been the backlash against the gun-control advocates. In many states, including Florida and Texas, citizens have stated that they want to preserve their right to carry firearms for self-defense. Since the late 1980s, Florida has been issuing concealed weapons permits to law-abiding citizens, and these citizens have been carrying their firearms to defend themselves from malicious 2002-11-05T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-5111.aspx The Issue on Guns: One student's Perspective Guns are a major part of America’s history, as they are to this very day. The dependency people feel towards guns are blinding them to their true nature. Their nature of being lethal instruments that are the cause of many of our everyday problems. Guns should be banned. It needs to be done. The logical circumstances for that kind of radical change is because it’s the only thing that can be done. School shootings are becoming more common, crime rates are going up, suicide by guns are more common then any other method, and negligence are all examples of the things that are happening because of the massive amounts of available firearms in this nation. An increase of the death rate in the U.S has been obvious for some time, and even if making guns illegal only leads to the criminals having then it is still a step toward the right way. This is still an incredible improvement of almost everyone having a gun. The fact is, when you reduce the number of people who have guns, then you reduce the number of incidents that cause innocent people to get killed. That’s just the way that things work out, that is life. Society is filled with violence, crime and war. The media / news are proof of this. You can no longer turn the TV on and not see some act of violence. The movies and TV shows glorify the gun, they show it as the finishing touches to huge body built men saving the day once again. Video games, another good example, how often do you go to the movies or an arcade and not see some form of shooting game? All to often in my opinion. When I sit with my family to dinner and we turn on the news, stories of school shootings and murders unfold before us. The most current issue is “The Sniper“, a man who is so insane he goes around shooting people in the head, this man has killed around 12 or 13 people! What is being done to stop these kind of people from getting guns? And the answer to that is that there is no answer. It is impossible to keep these guns from reaching all of the hands of people who are not fit to use one. This further supports my opinion that guns are only a weakness, and not a necessity. 2002-10-15T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Issue-on-Guns-One-student-s-Perspective-5047.aspx An Argument for Conceal-and-Carry Gun Laws While most citizens are not concious of the fact, it has been a proven defense in court cases across the country that the police are to act only as a general deterrent to benefit the community as a whole. The police are not responsible for the protection of any single person from crime. Department of Justice statistics reveal that the police can get to a crime-scene within 5 minutes only about 28% of the time. And according to FBI estimations, there is a violent crime committed somewhere in America every 22 seconds. I’m here to address the advantageous aspects of conceal-and-carry laws for firearms. I will present the problems a lack of conceal-carry laws presents, the causes to these problems, and practical solutions to this hotly debated argument. To understand the controversy surrounding conceal and carry laws, one must realize the problems that arise from the lack of such laws. To paraphrase the often cliché adage, if concealed weapons are outlawed, only the outlaws will have concealed weapons. There appears to be no reason to make carrying a concealed weapon illegal, if criminals are already walking around with concealed guns. But because of this lack of logic by law-makers, innocent, law-abiding people walk the streets, next to and at the mercy of violent, gun-toting criminals. Another problem with infringing on people’s right to carry a concealed weapon is that it promotes high crime rates. If these gun laws didn’t work, there wouldn’t be such a dramatic fall in crimes once they were enacted. According to John R. Lott Jr., professor at Chicago University, author of “More Guns, Less Crime” and co-author with David Mustard on “Crime, Deterrence and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns,” counties that enacted right-to-carry laws between 1977 and 1992 saw a 2.2% drop in robberies, a 5.2% in rape, 7% fall in aggravated assaults and a whopping 7.6% drop in murders. When expanded to a rational number, this would calculate to 1,414 fewer murders, 4,177 fewer rapes, 11,898 fewer robberies and 60,363 fewer aggravated assaults. All of this missed out on in states where conceal-carry laws are illegal. This information, coupled with the FBI data from 1992 to ‘97 that said that the nation dropped 19% in violent crimes, while Missouri (which enacted a right-to-carry law in that time dropped almost 25%. Even government officials recognize the importance of conceal/carry laws. In the wake of the devastating school shooting at Columbine 2002-10-09T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/An-Argument-for-Conceal-and-Carry-Gun-Laws-5038.aspx Gun Control Since the American Revolution and the creation of the Second Amendment of the Bill Of Rights, America has been given the right to personally own and bear arms. In the past decade, we, the responsible citizens have seen the number of individually owned guns skyrocket out of control. The possession of guns in a home brings a false sense of security which can endanger lives, and not only to those whom the gun is licensed to, put people at risk, and set bad example to those that see the results of crimes and the easy access to weapons. But do people really need guns? In the 90’s we saw many incidents caused by accidental shootings, many of which were by children whose parents had not taken proper care in storing their guns. Mistakes like these are unacceptable. The lives of those innocent people were taken away due to the exorbitant number of people owning guns. Many other American citizens have been killed due to the inexperienced use of guns in a moment of panic; those who do not have easy access to guns could have prevented these accidents easily. So do people really need guns? Do you need really need guns? Do you really need to protect yourself against evil and others that drastically? Some people say they need to have guns to protect themselves. Some say they need them because they live in perilous environments. You should not have to feel the need to own a gun for defense… it is a violation your freedom, and others’. Do you need guns? Owning guns is completely uncalled for. They are a hindrance in our lives and are the biggest detriments to society today. People must realize that the second amendment was not calling and permitting personal ownership ship of guns but the right to own weapons if it is necessary to start a militia. Due to the strength of the Police, The State Guard, National Guard, and this amendment is now out dated. If people would take pride in the knowledge that the possession of guns is not about social status or wealth, rather than bringing out the cruelty in people then may be, Gun Control would not be such a calamitous issue that is part of every day life. Do you still need guns? This country was built upon the want for freedom, that liberty includes the sense of security one needs in 2002-05-15T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-4765.aspx Are Current Gun Laws Sufficient for a Safe Society? This question can be easily answered with a resounding “no”. No gun background check, weapon ban, or gun buyback will ever prevent weapons from getting into the hands of criminals. Even with the hundreds if not thousands of gun laws already on the books, gun crime is still prevalent in our society. Why? Simple, all you have to do is look at our lax laws regarding punishment for criminals. Prison should be hard work, not sitting in a cell working out and eating well. Criminals should be forced to work for their food and board. If we continue to allow criminals to sit back, relax, and wait for probation, whom are we really protecting? Legally owned guns account for two percent (2%) of all gun crimes. This should show you as it shows me that gun laws can only prevent two-percent of all gun crimes in the first place. Is a two-percent decrease worth the loss of our freedoms? This tells me that instead of trying to create new laws, we should try and enforce the hundreds (if not thousands) we already have. This also leads to what I would like to focus on- pointless gun laws. As I pointed out earlier, we already have too many gun laws and to try and add more restrictions will not reduce crime. Take the following proposal to the House Committee of Ways and Means. <b>Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of 1999 </b> Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of 1999 (Introduced in the House) HR 2127 IH 106th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2127 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate certain 50 caliber sniper weapons in the same manner as machine guns and other firearms. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 10, 1999 Mr. BLAGOJEVICH (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to regulate certain 50 caliber sniper weapons in the same manner as machine guns and other firearms. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of 1999'. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that-- (1) certain firearms originally designed and built for use as long-range 50 caliber military sniper weapons are increasingly sold in the domestic civilian market; What relevance does this have to anything? Almost all military gear 2001-11-19T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Are-Current-Gun-Laws-Sufficient-for-a-Safe-Society-4066.aspx Gun Control & Schools If you recently picked up a newspaper or turned on to see the news you may have question what is happening in our schools and begin to think whether our schools are still safe places for children. Recent school shootings have set feared in many parents about their children’s safety in our schools. Since last year number of school shootings by students have occurred regularly. On Tuesday February 29, 2000 in Mount Morris Township, Michigan a six-year old boy shot his classmate to death in their first grade classroom. Police reports show that the two youngsters had an argument the previous day. A single shot was fired inside the classroom at Buell Elementary School around 10 a.m. The young boy said he brought the gun to school to frighten her but accidentally fired a shot. "We've had other schoolchildren take guns to elementary schools before… but it never went this far with it. "Society refuses to take responsibility by locking up their armed weapons." Said by a schoolteacher. Since last year there have been fifteen different school shootings in which many student have died without any reason. Who should we blame for this? Should we blame the parents, teachers, schools or our government? Before blaming anyone we must hear what two sides of gun control have to say. It is very wise to debate on a topic that have concerned all of us since last few years before making our decision. In doing so, we must answer series of questions. Therefore our group has come up with some questions to which we will try to tackle. Since this is a debate paper we have try to present both side of the issue through our answers. Very first question that arise in peoples minds after witnessing the horrible tragedies is should we have more gun control laws? Many of us differ on this issue. We have found lots of argument on this question. Proponents of gun more gun control laws feared that until stronger gun control measures are taken there will be future tragedies like horrors that took place at schools all over US. Over 76% of Americans favored more gun control laws (LA TIMES). On the other side people who are against more gun control laws argue that issue of guns is not really the problem. They say more gun control laws wouldn’t prevent future tragedies because people who are intended 2001-06-17T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-Schools-3512.aspx Gun Control Americans are faced with an ever-growing problem of violence. Our streets have become a battleground where the elderly are beaten for their social security checks, where terrified women are viciously attacked and raped, where teen-age gangsters shoot it out for a patch of turf to sell their illegal drugs, and where innocent children are caught daily in the crossfire of drive-by shootings. We cannot ignore the damage that these criminals are doing to our society, and we must take actions to stop these horrors. However, the effort by some misguided individuals to eliminate the legal ownership of firearms does not address the real problem at hand, and simply disarms the innocent law-abiding citizens who are most in need of a form of self-defense. To fully understand the reasons behind the gun control efforts, we must look at the history of our country, and the role firearms have played in it. The second amendment to the Constitution of the United States makes firearm ownership legal in this country. There were good reasons for this freedom, reasons which persist today. Firearms in the new world were used initially for hunting, and occasionally for self-defense. However, when the colonists felt that the burden of British oppression was too much for them to bear, they picked up their personal firearms and went to war. Standing against the British armies, these rebels found themselves opposed by the greatest military force in the world at that time. The 18th century witnessed the height of the British Empire, but the rough band of colonial freedom fighters discovered the power of the Minuteman, the average American gun owner. These Minutemen, so named because they would pick up their personal guns and jump to the defense of their country on a minute's notice, served a major part in winning the American Revolution. The founding fathers of this country understood that an armed populace was instrumental in fighting off oppression, and they made the right to keep and bear arms a constitutionally guaranteed right. Over the years, some of the reasons for owning firearms have changed. As our country grew into a strong nation, we expanded westward, exploring the wilderness, and building new towns on the frontier. Typically, these new towns were far away from the centers of civilization, and the only law they had was dispensed by townsfolk through the barrel of a gun. Crime existed, but could be minimized when 2001-04-14T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-3208.aspx Gun Control: the Real Issues “Misuse or theft prohibited by law”. This was the warning printed on a milk-carrying container at the local grocery store where I work. The use of the word “prohibited” intrigued me, so when I got home I looked it up in Reader’s Digest’s Great Encyclopedic Dictionary. I found two definitions: “1. To forbid, especially by authority or law; interdict.” and “2. To prevent or hinder.”. (1077) Now, which definition was being used in the warning? Was is possible to forbid misuse or theft by passing a law? Certainly it was. Was is possible to actually prevent misuse or theft by passing a law? Well, not totally. If somebody was a moral, upright, and law abiding citizen he would probably not misuse or take the container. In fact, such a person would probably not have misused or taken it in the first place. On the other hand, if the person in question did not have such a desirable world view, if he, in fact, did not care if it was right or wrong, or if he had malicious intent, then a law would not necessarily prevent him from misusing or taking the carton. He might be dissuaded if he knew he would get caught and would suffer consequences. If, however, he did not think that he would get caught, or he knew that he would not suffer any consequences, then why would he care? On this thought I would like to turn your attention to the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America and the directly related and very relevant subject, that of gun control. I think that you will see a connection. Let us begin with the question, “What does the amendment mean?”. It was concerning this question that award-winning author, president of SoftServ Publishing, and founder of the Committee to Enforce the Second Amendment, J. Neil Schulman contacted Roy Copperud. (Shulman 4) Roy Copperude is, among other things, a 30 year veteran newspaper writer, a 17 year veteran professor of journalism at USC, and author of the award-winning book American Usage and Style: The Consensus. (1) Schulman compiled several questions on the Second Amendment for Copperude. In one part of his written reply, Copperude said “The right to keep and bear arms is deemed unconditional by the entire sentence." (2) (The entire amendment is contained in one sentence: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary for the security of 2000-11-25T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-the-Real-Issues-2568.aspx Gun Control Laws - Should they be altered? While many people believe there should be more gun control and the possibility of banning guns all together, I believe the gun control laws should not be changed. Although there are many reasons that may persuade people to choose to ban guns, I believe that there are several other reasons that lead to all the tragedies with guns in America. Banning guns is not an answer the gun problem in America, there are a few other things that could be done to stop gun violence. In this essay I will tell about why I believe gun control laws should not be changed. After the many shootings in schools over the past two years, many people believe guns should be made illegal for civillians to posses or purchase guns. While this may make it difficult for minors, drug addicts, and people with mental deficiencies to get hold on a gun, The Constitution allows all citizens to possess arms to defend themselves, their families', and their property. However if guns were made illegal, there would still be people who would smuggel guns. If a burgular were to smuggle a gun in to someone's home, that man or woman should be allowed to posses a gun to defend theirself. And if guns were illegal, mostly only people who do not abide the law would smuggle them, leaving all the law-abiding citizens unarmed and more prone to attack with a gun. Some people suggest making a longer waiting-period and deeper background check to purchase a gun would reduce the amount of violence with guns. While once again that would make it more difficult for minors, drug addicts, and people with mental deficiencies to obtain a gun, it would not prevent many people who wish to have a gun from getting one. Also, many people obtain guns from stealing it from another person, or buying it off a citizen who is unknowledgable or uncaring for the law, or the temperment of the buyer. Besides, if a person who is of age, and has a clear record wishes to buy a gun to be violent with it, there is no way of preventing him or her. Anyone who believes strengthening the gun control laws would reduce gun violence is correct. However, if someone wants to kill someone, not having a gun is unfortunately not going to stop him or her. If a gun is not accessible, a person who 2000-06-08T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-Laws-Should-they-be-altered-2077.aspx The Consequences of Guns Handguns and other firearms have a long tradition in American civilization. The right to bear arms is an American right featured in the second Amendment of the Constitution. In the 18th century, when the constitution was written, times were different; there was a need for armed citizens to insure the safety of the society as a whole. Contemporarily the police department preserves the safety of society and the need for armed citizens is out of date. The founding fathers of the Constitution could presumably never imagine the horrendous outcome of their actions. Every year too many lives are claimed as the result of the American government’s inability to fully face up to effects of the issue. Compared to other western countries that have considerably stricter gun control laws America is still viewed as “The Wild-Wild West”. The growing gun related death toll in the U.S. has to come to a turning point. Stripping away the constitutional right to bear arms might have the effect that only criminals will have access to guns. It is important to understand that in a society where both criminals and law abiding citizens have access to guns the likeliness of an innocent person getting shot, when both parties are waving guns, is probably greater than if only criminals have guns. A ban on firearms might not be appealing as a short-term solution but it is important that people don’t limit their thinking to their generation and not think about the safety of their children, grandchildren and the society people are creating today for them to live in. The main obstacle in removing firearms from citizens in the U.S. is the second Amendment of the Constitution. It 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.” The second Amendment can be interpreted as every citizen right to bear arms. However the key word is “Militia”, meaning soldiers or defenders of the State. In the late 18th century, when the Constitution was written, times were very different than those of contemporary America. People were scared of possible invasions from Native Americans, the English, and other nationalities. By “a well regulated Militia…” the founding fathers probably meant that citizens could have a muscot standing in the corner just in case anything would happen. Note that the writers of the 2000-03-21T13:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Consequences-of-Guns-1784.aspx Gun Laws Dear Legislator, I am writing on behalf of my thoughts and myself about gun control laws. My position on this topic is neutral leaning towards the "No Gun" law. The idea of a federal law to ban these guns is a good idea, but it could be better. I believe strongly that guns should be banned from our country in some kind of way, but there are exceptions like for law enforcement and hunters. This law could lower the murder and death rates drastically. The US would be a whole different and safer country to live in. No one should live in a society where they are afraid of being killed by a gun, we should try harder to make this society in the US a better place. I have many reasons to back my views on this topic, and here are some main reasons that you should really think about. Firstly, I know you think no guns should be allowed to anyone at all, but I beg to differ. I have read somewhere that without alligator and crocodile hunters we would have such a large amount of these dangerous creatures around it would take over the states of Louisiana and Florida. The alligator and crocodile season for hunters maintain and keep the population and growing rate of these creatures stable. To do so, the US could pass a federal law where hunters take some kind of training college for hunters. It would be harder for hunters to get their gun licenses. Next, there should be no gun stores for anyone including hunters. Instead, there should be federal gun depositories in the capital of every state where there are guards to protect the guns from falling into the wrong hands. Hunters could come where they would receive their guns. Secondly, no citizen should have guns. I think if citizens that believe guns should be allowed because of our Constitution's 2nd amendment about "The right to bear arms" they are wrong. The 2nd amendment was part of the Bill of Rights (First 10 amendments) in September of 1789. In 1789, the US was different, people could bear arms because there was no police, there were wars, and they needed to hunt for their food. Back than they even had laws about Housing Soldiers, now the situation has changed and we need to realize that. Maybe one of the first steps to ban guns from 1999-10-11T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Laws-1048.aspx Gun Control I think your gun control views are the views of some-one that does not hunt, probably has never hunted, and maybe has never target practiced with a gun. I am 19 and have had a great fascination my whole life with firearms. I really enjoy hunting and target practice. In the great rush to prohibit firearms from "bad" people (felons), MY rights will be trampled on if any more gun control is passed on a federal or state level. I do not want to give up my right to own an ak-47 because some dumb-ass gang member strung out on drugs shoots his neighbor. You need to see through the pure bull-shit of ANY gun control measure, because the biggest proponents of gun control (HCI) will openly admit that the main purpose of any gun control is the eventual total prohibition of firearms out of the civilian population of the united states. And for what end? The reduction of crime? We waste billions on the war on drugs to keep them out, and that doesn't work. Gun prohibition wouldn't work either. I 1999-09-14T14:00:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-921.aspx Gun Control Americans are faced with an ever-growing problem of violence. Our streets have become a battleground where the elderly are beaten for their social security checks, where terrified women are viciously attacked and raped, where teen-age gangsters shoot it out for a patch of turf to sell their illegal drugs, and where innocent children are caught daily in the crossfire of drive-by shootings. We cannot ignore the damage that these criminals are doing to our society, and we must take actions to stop these horrors. However, the effort by some misguided individuals to eliminate the legal ownership of firearms does not address the real problem at hand, and simply disarms the innocent law-abiding citizens who are most in need of a form of self-defense. To fully understand the reasons behind the gun control efforts, we must look at the history of our country, and the role firearms have played in it. The second amendment to the Constitution of the United States makes firearm ownership legal in this country. There were good reasons for this freedom, reasons which persist today. Firearms in the new world were used initially for hunting, and occasionally for self-defense. However, when the colonists felt that the burden of British oppression was too much for them to bear, they picked up their personal firearms and went to war. Standing against the British armies, these rebels found themselves opposed by the greatest military force in the world at that time. The 18th century witnessed the height of the British Empire, but the rough band of colonial freedom fighters discovered the power of the Minuteman, the average American gun owner. These Minutemen, so named because they would pick up their personal guns and jump to the defense of their country on a minute's notice, served a major part in winning the American Revolution. The founding fathers of this country understood that an armed populace was instrumental in fighting off oppression, and they made the right to keep and bear arms a constitutionally guaranteed right. Over the years, some of the reasons for owning firearms have changed. As our country grew into a strong nation, we expanded westward, exploring the wilderness, and building new towns on the frontier. Typically, these new towns were far away from the centers of civilization, and the only law they had was dispensed by townsfolk through the barrel of a gun. Crime existed, but could be minimized when 1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Gun-Control-518.aspx