Gun control Essay

Submitted By Kittykatz24
Words: 1303
Pages: 6

Research Paper Outline
Family PHI103: Informal Logic (ABK1247C)
Instructor: Anna Morrison
Jeannette Loza
January 7, 2013 2nd, 2012

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution gives the citizens of America the right to bear arms. The amendment was adopted with the rest of the Bill of Rights. With that being said, there are people that take this literally and feel they should be able to have any kind of gun they want. There are guns that are specifically designed for military, some local or state law enforcement agencies, and which are illegal for the average person to own. There are a lot of Federal and state laws that have to be met prior to anyone purchasing firearms and, therefore, owning a gun. There are safety laws that have been put in place to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, children, and the mentally handicapped, as well as other irresponsible people that may have the ability to injure or kill another human being. Also, there are certain criteria a person will have to meet before the purchase of a gun will go through. A gun owner knows what it takes to kill and those individuals know there should be different forms of gun control measures to help prevent accidents from occurring. As the saying goes “Guns don’t kill people, people do." Isn't it obvious that America has strayed terribly far off course, that the gun violence now poisoning our society is nothing less than a threat to our national security and collective sanity?
America is not the only place in the world with violence perpetrated by people with serious mental illness. It happens everywhere—and comparing incidents serves primarily to highlight the reality and ever increasing severity of those with untreated mental illness in modern society. And, they do their twisted violence with guns, knives, bombs, arson, and vehicles driven into crowds of innocent people. However, what Americans can or will actually do about gun violence from the mentally ill is a far more complex issue than it is for the rest of the world—this for a number of reasons not understood by most foreigners and some Americans.
Until now
To begin with, if you're an American, how you think about guns is usually related to three basic factors: what part of our country you grew up in; what you learned from your parents, relatives and friends; and whether you served in the military. Whether you or your family may have also been a victim of violence can have "pro" or "con" effect on your view on guns, and it's easy to understand either reaction.

Perhaps ironically, our two largest political parties haven't had much to do with it, especially over the past few years; however, this is not without some major internal intricacies and oddities. For example: Far more Republicans are "pro gun" than Democrats, but many Democrats from the South and West are also "pro gun." And, far more Democrats from the East and West coasts (and the big cities) are "anti gun," as are some notable "big city" Republicans.
It is obvious that America has lost more than its innocence when children cannot go to school without being shot at, when domestic quarrels increasingly end in deadly gunfire, when young thugs roam the streets more heavily armed than the police, and when the mentally disturbed can vent their frustrations in a crowded town square or office building with an automatic weapon.
Lately, the United States has been debating what to do in Somalia where more than 30 Americans have been killed, and in other places. In the District of Columbia, for example, last year about 15 times as many people were murdered; in Los Angeles County, 1,530 people were gunshot homicide victims; and, in Mexico people are being shot at every single minute of every single day. What is more, young boys are being recruited to join the Mexican drug world at the mere age of 10 years old, while carrying hang guns to shoot people. It sounds crazy because it is, and