Guns or Glory?

Hillary Clinton has shown that she is against the idea of the right to bear arms, our Second amendment, and that strict guidelines should be laid out to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people. And with such a strong opinion comes strong political ads that want to counter that argument.

One such commercial produced by the NRA represents this perfectly. In this ad, named “Don't Let Hillary Clinton Leave You Defenseless”, portrays a break in. Intense music plays in the background, and the women flies out of bed, calls 911, and opens her safe containing a handgun. But just as she is about to reach for the gun, it disappears, leaving her defenseless.

So why does this add give us this feeling in our stomach that is indescribable? The almost nauseating feeling?

It all comes down to the effect of pathos; or the ability to evoke fear or sadness. When the ad begins and the intense music plays, it immediately strikes fear into us, without knowing what it's about. And then the sound of broken glass, and heavy footsteps penetrate us with an almost horror movie type feel. As she unlocks the safe, there is a scene of relief, a feeling of safety. All of that changes though, as Hillary herself, steals the gun, as if she is the intruder. This is one of our worst fears: Being left defenseless. And this is what the ad is saying : “You vote for Hillary, you are defenseless in a world of bad people”.

There is a legitimate reasoning for Hillary's hate of hand guns.  In the United States, people do not have to pass a back ground check before obtain a firearm.  So people with a criminal record and people with a history of serious mental diseases can easily obtain a gun.  Along with this stat, 50% of people who have committed suicide have used a hand gun, so they hurt just as much as they help.  These points all point to having stricter rules for guns, or just the straight out ban of guns all together.

The right to keep and bear arms, who has it?

Although we are given the right to own and carry guns through the constitution, guns cause more violence than they do good, even though they can be used as a form a self defense. In the constitution it is the "right of the people to keep and bear Arms," but what does that mean exactly? Is anyone allowed to carry a gun and if only certain people can who can't? Secondly, what does arms mean exactly? Are people allowed to own and carry any kind of gun imaginable? These are the kinds of questions that are should be considered and are the ones that are being asked.
In the wording of the constitution, it is worded in a way that means all people have the right, did the founding fathers intend on giving this privilege to violent criminals and the mentally unstable? No, the second amendment was written for the common man. So I believe that people should have the right to bear arms, except for the mentally unstable or anyone who has committed a violent felony.
What type of guns should be available to the common man to own? Order to answer that question we need to ask a second question which is, what is the purpose of owning a gun? There are simply three answers: for recreational purposes, like a shooting ranges; for self defense, and for hunting. For each of these things, automatic and semi-automatic are not necessary. Automatic guns are made to kill efficiently, not to protect. Because of this, people should not be able to own automatic or semiautomatic guns, but rather guns like a pistol or hunting rifle.

18th Century Guns ≠ 21st Century Guns

War is one of man’s earliest creations, and war has evolved throughout the history of our world.  Around the 13th century, war evolved to include cannons, and not much later to include guns as well.  By the time the United States were established in the late 1700s, flintlock pistols and rifles were common firearms used by armies.  It was at this time when the second amendment to the United States constitution was passed that gave Americans the right to bear arms.  This amendment put instruments of war into the hands of the American people, but after all, those weapons were only simple muskets and small pistols that took a minute to load each bullet.  Now, in the 21st century, this amendment allows for Americans to own weapons that can shoot 400 bullets per minute.

Over the past few years, the sides of the gun control debate have become clear.  One side believes that as Americans, we have a right to own any and all firearms that we choose to own.  While the other side believes that guns continually lead to tragedies and that they need to be heavily controlled by the government.  When I look at this debate, the staggering statistics fully convince me that guns cause great amounts of death and fear in the United States.  But aside from the statistics, I cannot imagine that 200 years ago our forefathers knew how much guns would evolve by the year 2016.  Surely they did not foresee that gun violence would become such a scar on America’s history.  But many Americans have gotten so entrenched with guns that it would be almost impossible to take them away now, so a compromise is the only solution.  

I believe that the only compromise that would work in the long-run is to restrict Americans to only own hunting rifles and handguns.  Fully automatic rifles are in no way necessary for Americans to guard their households, and should only be used by the United States Armed Forces.  Along with those restrictions, many stages of gun safety classes and tests must be passed for any adult to own a firearm.  If we let anybody get their hands on a gun with no training and no background check then the tragedies that we are now used to seeing will just keep coming.  One thing to remember: guns have been and will forever be deadly and effective instruments of war.

Are Guns the Enemy?

Gun ownership is a sport for some. Concealed carry allows them to feel safe and target shooting serves as a fun hobby. Taking away guns would be stealing a way of life from these people. However, those who own guns turn a blind eye to the numbers of people that die in the United States due to gun violence.



I've heard many people defend their artillery with the statistic that the U.S is far behind a lot of countries in terms of gun violence. However, in terms of developed countries, the U.S is in the #1 spot by a ridiculous margin. People who own guns are vapid dissenters to the gun control movement because it disrupts their daily life. Kids dying in urban concrete jungles might not be in their backyard, but getting rid of guns is. Gun owners represent an overbearing majority that cannot be overpowered until the number of Americans with guns drops. It has been steadily dropping over the past 10 years, so strict gun control and possibly, far in the future, the repeal of the second amendment, could happen. Until then all Gun control enthusiasts can do is compromise.
 

Gun Violence: Can It Be Stopped?

Gun violence is a very prevalent threat in today's societies. Mass shootings are occurring at an alarmingly high rate, and it's sparking very heated debates on what to do with the weapons themselves. Some will say that getting rid of civilians' access to guns is the only way to go, while those on the other end of the spectrum say that gun laws should be more lenient. Both of these types of people, however, often overlook or avoid looking at a piece of information that could change the course of these types of debates and provide a solution-- that gun violence CAN'T be stopped.
I believe that, as long as people with the intent to commit these horrendous crimes exist, there isn't a way to stop them. However, I do believe that there is a way to lessen the toll that these types of tragedies have on the U.S. By increasing the restrictions on military-grade weapons, such as rifles, while allowing more concealed carry licenses to be issued, I believe that we can decrease the amount of casualties that occur during shootings. An argument that some will use to argue for this is that if someone is thinking of going into a theatre and shooting as many people as possible, they'll consider that people in that theatre will be carrying some sort of firearm. In some cases, this could be true. However, research shows that most people who commit these crimes have mental illnesses that affect their ability to reason. This means that the majority of times that someone wanted to shoot up a theatre, they wouldn't have the capability to consider that people inside are carrying weapons. This, sadly, means that there is no surefire way to completely stop these types of crimes-- we can only lessen the casualties and detrimental impacts that they cause.

An Epidemic of Gun Violence

The epidemic of gun violence that has spread in America is one that must be put to a stop. The frequent appearance of some act of gun violence in the news has created a culture in which Americans are not surprised by these acts of violence. American culture has also become filled with violent movie, television shows, and video games that have further desensitized its viewers. Gun violence is a serious problem in America and has killed so many people but the access to guns remains the same. Wide spread access to guns and the use of them by the wrong people are what has made gun violence increase in America. 

The solution to ending the epidemic of violence is to limit who is able to get a gun in America. Tougher laws should be put in place to prevent dangerous people from obtaining a gun. Screenings and background checks on those who want to obtain a gun would help decrease the number or guns falling into the wrong hands. Some may view these screenings and background checks as invasions of privacy but that would be a small price to pay if it meant preventing someone else from being a victim of gun violence in America. While these laws may make the process of obtaining a gun take longer because of the increased vigilance on whom the gun is being given to, it will help prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. While increased vigilance and tougher laws are not ways to completely end gun violence, they are stepping stones that will help end the epidemic of gun violence in America.

Put the Guns Down

Chicago is a beautiful and busy city. There is much to do and see in the city of Chicago. People are usually attracted to the food and the beautiful architecture. There are many positive upsides to this beautiful city but, the gun violence overlooks all of those upsides. Gun violence has been a major problem in Chicago for many years. Year after year, the violence in the streets of Chicago only seem to get worse.

There are too many illegal guns in the streets of Chicago. Majority of the guns used to commit these crimes are not registered. If gun laws were enforced, the percentage of murders and shootings in Chicago will most likely decrease. If guns become harder to retrieve, the amount of crimes committed with them will decrease. Because of the easy access to guns, they fall into the wrong hands. There have been multiple incidents where children of young ages have found guns in their households. Some of these children play with guns as if they were toys and have been killed because of the carelessness of some gun owners.

In order to fix America, people must begin with their own communities. If they do not try to better their surroundings first, they will make no progress with America. Gun control must be enforced in America. If this streak of gun violence continues, there will be no hope of bettering our environments.

The odd ones out.

Here in America, the second amendment of the Constitution states that we as citizens have a right to bear arms. Now, as Family Guy has once joked, this does not mean that we have a right to have a pair of bear's arms on display within our homes. What it does mean is that we have a right to have a firearm within our possession, presumably for self-defense. Now a large debate within our country (and a hot topic for presidential debates) is what we are to do about our gun laws, as there are some people who decide to use this right for more than self defense. There are people who use it to take over government buildings (Bundy Militia in Oregon), and plenty of mass shootings that take place in the US, which, as you can imagine, is not the intent of the second amendment. Now, the question is what are we going to do about it?

In all honesty, America's officials need to crack down on gun laws and background checks immediately. Guns are useful for a lot of things for a lot of people, hunting, self defense, etc., and they should definitely continue to be used for those things, but for those things only. America needs to put in place more in-depth background checks onto whoever is looking to buy a gun, in order to assure that whoever is buying it is mentally and criminally sound. This is exactly what Australia does, and they haven't gotten a mass shooting since 1996, because their minister completely cracked down on who could buy and sell guns.Why America hasn't taken the hint yet? I'm not entirely sure.