Gun Control In America Research Paper

Words: 1915
Pages: 8

America is known to be one of the most well-armed nations in the world. Americans own about 20% of the world’s stockpile of firearms, with 265 million being privately owned by Americans and 133 million being concentrated in the hands of Americans called, “super- owners”, who own an average of 17 guns each. The reason why Americans own so many guns is because of the second Amendment in our constitution, which guarantees American citizens the right to possess firearms, it states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” However, the second amendment is relatively vague and is a frequently discussed controversial topic in American politics. …show more content…
Gun control in America is a national conversation at the intersection of guns, mental illness, safety and civil rights. There are always competing ideas about the nature and causes of the problem and how can we solve it. Public health experts focus on the broader complex problem of firearms, the related injury and mortality in the United States. Each year in the United States, approximately 32,000 people are killed with guns, 19,000 of them by their own hand and another 74,000 are injured in nonfatal gunshot incidents. These public health experts recommended various prevention policies which included universal background checks for gun purchasers, a ban for military style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines and increased enforcement, penalties and loosened evidentiary standards for prosecuting those charged with illegal gun sales. By reinforcing these policies, we can prevent further deaths, with better background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is a database where the names of people that have committed misdemeanors, are mentally ill, or drug abusers is kept preventing them from attaining firearms, can help reduce crime and violence. According to Christine Watkins, who is an educational project consultant and writer based in Chicago, states “Every day 34 Americans are murdered with guns, and most of them are possessed illegally.” Gun are involved in a high percentage of violent crimes, including murder, robberies and school shootings, it is horrible to think that we can live in a country where so many people die and are taken from their families so violently, and the amount of blood spilled because of the wrong people having possession of such dangerous weapons is