The Pros And Cons Of Gun Control

“Yes, people pull the trigger - but guns are the instruments of death. Gun control is necessary, and delay means more death and horror”, said Former Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer. Many people assume that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”; however, it is guns that make it easier for people to kill others. There have been several different cases of assassinations and shootings in which people were killed for no reason. Gun control has and will always be a controversial debate among United States citizens and Congress itself. Many people feel that laws restricting firearms should not be regulated as it is used for a means of protection. On the other hand, others believe that there should be stricter laws to stop all gun violence. …show more content…
During the time of the Great Depression, Frederick D. Roosevelt was able to pass the National Firearms Act of 1938, which forced sellers to “record all sales in a national registry”. (“History of Gun-Control Legislation” par. 1) The article also mentions “it prohibits sales to individuals under indictment or convicted crimes of violence”. These laws may have worked for years, but in 1968 new laws were enacted due to the assassination of our President, John F. Kennedy and activist, Martin Luther King Jr. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed which “prohibited all convicted felons, drug users and the mentally ill from buying guns, raised the age to purchase handguns from a federally licensed dealer to 21, and expanded the licensing requirements to more gun dealers along with a required more detailed record-keeping.” (History of Gun-Control Legislation” par. 3) Even though these laws were passed, many people were upset because they felt that the government was exercising too much of its powers to enforce gun laws. The article included that many people even pushed to have laws forbidding the government “from creating a national registry of gun ownership” (par. 4) Finally, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 was approved in which it required sellers to perform a background check on gun buyers who may be prohibited from buying firearms. Sadly; however, there …show more content…
(Elkins, 2012 qtd. In Lemieux, 2014) Although, the Second Amendment allows people to have guns in their homes it is to be used only for their protection and nothing else. Unlike other countries, the United States never made any changes when it came to mass shootings or murders. For example even after a school shooting in Virginia Tech there were still no “new restrictive federal gun policy” (Fleming 2) However, there was a similar situation that happened in Montreal, Canada. After the massacre, “Canada took action in less than two years” that lead to the creation of the Gun Registry. (Fleming 2) The National Rifle Association (NRA) may have made it almost impossible for the United States to pass any gun control. However, that is no excuse as Canada also has the National Firearms Association, which is similar to the NRA. (Fleming 6) That did not stop the government from creating gun control laws. Since 2011, Canada experienced “a significant drop in the umber of homicides committed with a firearm, a decrease in 5% and 10%, depending on the province. (Blais, Gagne, & Linteau 2011 qtd. in Lemieux 76) With all that being said, Canada is not the only advancing country that has imposed gun legislations. Australia also passed gun control laws after a huge massacre in Port Arthur. Statistics showed

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