Per. 1
Ap English
Ms.Carter
Gun Control Chris Rock once said “Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars, because if a bullet cost five thousand dollar, we wouldn't have any innocent bystanders,” (Brainy Quote). This means that if a bullet was that expensive then people would think twice before committing a crime. Increasing the cost of bullets may not be our best option, but he has the right idea that guns should not be banned. “Criminals will always find a way to conceal weapons, but if guns are restricted, citizens will not have a way to protect themselves against other people who get guns illegally. Also, the second amendment gives us the right to conceal a gun,” (civilian possession). Guns are a way to protect ourselves from criminals who get their guns illegitimately and use them to assault law abiding citizens. “Women, children, and people with disabilities may not have other ways to protect themselves from rape, theft, or other crimes. With guns in our possession, citizens have a way of protection against government tyranny,” (civilian possession). Without guns we would be defenseless as a country and individuals. “With guns being banned people would develop other ways to get guns; hence more black markets would be built. Getting rid of fire arms would just make our country another step closer to socialism and totalitarianism,” (civilian possession). If gun control is taught in school it could prevent guns from being utilized in the wrong manor. “In the past 20 years, studies have proven that the more gun sales rate that increases the fewer the death rates get. A researcher from the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy discovered that nations that have more guns tend to have less crime. The nine European nations with the lowest rate of gun ownership rate have murder rate that is three times greater than the nine European nations with the highest rate of gun ownership. Almost every mass shooting that has occurred in the United States since 1950 has taken place in a state with strict gun control laws. The United States is number one in the world for gun ownership, yet it is only 28th in the world in firearm murders. The violent crime rate in the United States actually fell from 757.7 per 100,000 in 1992 to 386.3 per 100,000 in 2011. During that same time period, the murder rate fell from 9.3 per 100,000 to 4.7 per 100,000. Approximately 200,000 women in the United States use guns to protect themselves against sexual crime every single year. The number of unintentional fatalities, due to firearms, declined by 58 percent between the years 1991 and 2011, because of gun rates increasing. Overall, guns in the United States are used 80 times more often to prevent crime than they are to take lives.” (18 Little-Known Gun Facts)
One situation in which guns have helped protect society was when “a Chicago store clerk refused to be a victim yesterday evening. According to a Chicago Tribune article, 25-year-old Demarcus Brandon tried to rob a cell phone shop using a firearm sometime after 6pm yesterday. The clerk, also armed, got into a gunfight with the suspect, which resulted in the suspect being shot and killed,” (Chicago Clerk Shoots). Another case would be “in July of 2012, James Sorensen was openly carrying a handgun as he attended a gay pride event with his partner in Colorado Springs, CO. During the event, officers confronted Sorensen, threatened him with physical violence and then finally arrested him. The charges against Sorensen were of course dropped since open carry has been legal in Colorado for years now. Now, Sorensen is making the city pay for their