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  • Essay / Against Gun Control: Analyzing the Balance Between Rights and Safety

    Gun control/gun regulation are policies/laws passed to regulate the use, sale , manufacturing, modification, possession or transfer of firearms by civilians. In most countries there are strict rules regarding the possession of firearms by the civilian population. Sometimes supporters of the legislation, who prefer to use terms like gun safety, gun violence prevention, or illegal guns, have politicized the term gun control. Firearms are classified into three types, namely short guns, handguns and rifles. In 2014, the United States had a population of 319 million, of which 371 million firearms were owned by either law enforcement or private citizens (Just Facts, n.d.). Of the 14,249 murders committed in the United States in 2014, 68%, or 9,675, were committed using firearms. Such statistics have increased pressure from gun control advocates in the country. However, guns should not be controlled because the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution through the Second Amendment, while owning more guns will prevent deaths. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to bear arms. Many attempts have been made to change the law to limit gun ownership among civilians. In the case of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, the Supreme Court, in a split 5-4 decision, ruled that bearing arms was a constitutional right (Phillips, 2015). However, the ruling was only applicable to federal laws and not state laws. A subsequent Supreme Court decision in 2010 included this right in federal and state law. Such a case is one of many pitting pro-gun control movements against anti-gun control groups. Some data from states with stricter gun laws show there have been fewer gun deaths. Once suicides are removed from the final data, which accounted for more than 60 percent of gun-related deaths, half of the ten states with the lowest gun death rates have few gun deaths. restrictions (Phillips, 2015). For example, Chicago, a state with some of the most restrictive gun laws, experienced 2,089 shootings and more than 390 murders in 2014. Clearly, support for no gun control by the law is justified. It is difficult to know what would have happened if there had been more armed citizens during mass shootings. Additionally, shooters tend to choose easy targets where they know people are unarmed; therefore, carrying weapons acts as a deterrent to attacks. A survey of inmates found that most would not attack a civilian if they knew he or she was armed (Phillips, 2015). According to the former Republican presidential candidate and respected neurosurgeon, if the teachers involved in the Oregon shootings were trained and carried a gun; they may have fought the attacker (Phillips, 2015). The majority of Americans, including independents, are opposed to stricter gun laws. A 2014 Pew study showed that for the first time in more than two decades, opinion had shifted and more people favored gun laws than gun control (Phillips, 2015 ). Conversely, reducing the number/