Students board the bus to Sandy Hook Elementary unaware of what tragic

event comes next. Adam Lanza connived to shoot the school after taking his
mothers weapons to get his revenge on her. Many of the students and brave
teachers faced tragic deaths because of the help he needed but never received and
the security measures that were not put on the guns he used. The grief of families
can never ameliorate from the fatality of their children. The tragic incidents caused
by the absurd actions of others should not be what we need to realize a change is
needed. Gun control in the U.S. needs to be strengthened in order to prevent
innocent lives from being put in the hands of the irresponsible.
Guns play a vital role in protecting civilians of the United States.
Understanding what the laws are for them will better insure why they are needed.
The ownership of guns to qualified citizens is essential to insure the public safety of
individuals. Several significant factors in the right to bear arms are all tied to public
safety. Research by the National Opinion Research Center taken in 2001 shows that
59% of people who carry guns do it because it makes them feel safer. This holds
true because concealed carry laws reduced murders by 8.5%, rapes by 5%,
aggravated assaults by 7%, and robbery by 3%. According to a data analysis done in
2000 from the FBI Crime data, it is calculated that 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes,
60,000 aggravated assaults and 12,000 robberies could have been prevented
between 1977 and 1992 if concealed carry laws would have been legal (Concealed
Guns). This evidence shows that guns deter crime.
In addition, the Supreme Court has ruled more than once that officers have
no legal duty to protect citizens from violent crimes. Although officers are meant to
protect citizens, it is improbable for an officer or any person to have their lives put on

the line for another person. Because of this, an average person might feel the
necessity for his or her own source of protection. Additionally, many times aid does
not come in the rigorous time that it is needed. A 2013 research article from the Wall
Street Journal reported that an average policeman takes 11 minutes to respond to an
emergency call. Also, in Detroit the average policemen respond to an emergency call
after 58 minutes. Although having a police force is highly beneficial, an exceeding
amount of critical events can occur during the time that a police officer takes to get to
the incident. Having a concealed handgun can help prevent individuals from being in
these type of situations and protect innocent civilians. In addition, an Arizona sheriff
Richard Mack said, police do little to prevent violent crime. We investigate crime
after the fact. Despite the fact that officers are always knowingly at risk of being in
danger, there are many occasions when they are not available in times of crisis.
These are the times when individuals will need their own source of protection.
Irrevocably concealed handguns are needed to help protect from the inevitable gun
violence and critical situations that the nation is grievously faced with (Concealed
Guns).
The current law that the nation has is a minimal effort to prevent gun violence.
Gun violence in the U.S. has to do primarily with a lack of precise background
checks. The federal law only requires background checks for sales by a licensed
gun dealer. Many gun purchases made are by private owners. This makes 40% of all
gun purchases not requiring background checks. This is where many of the
dangerous people unfit to hold a gun would go to be able to purchase one, allowing
dangerous people to skirt the law (2013 States Scorecard). The nations licensed
federal firearm dealers routinely conduct background checks but under current

federal law, gun transfers by people other than licensed federal firearm dealers are
exempted from background checks (Preventing Gun Violence). Allowing people to
be exempted from background checks is as useful as not requiring them at all
because this is where all people unfit to own a gun would go to purchase one,
allowing virtually anyone to have access to a gun. Furthermore, 42 states have the
shall-issue where police do not have discretion in issuing concealed weapon
permits as long as individuals meet minimum requirements (Concealed Guns).
Although the federal laws have been indolent in
strengthening gun laws, some states have taken actions on their own to strengthen
gun laws. Four states strengthened existing restrictions on military-style weapons,
also four states have added a requirement that owners report lost or stolen firearms.
Additionally, three states have enacted laws to strengthen record keeping and/or
background check requirements for ammunition sales. Five states have
strengthened regulation of unlicensed firearms sales by requiring background checks
on all gun sales or improved permit process. Five states have also added or
strengthened existing restrictions on large capacity ammunition magazines (2013
State Scorecard). This would be an assault rifle, capable of firing more than 30 or
more bullets in a mere second, they are available in most U.S. states because a
federal law banning them expired in 2004 and was never renewed. The FBI has also
conducted more than 150 million background checks in connection with gun sales
(Preventing Gun Violence). Despite the fact that states have been strengthening gun
laws on their own, the federal law must be innovated to insure a better policy.
To maintain a tracking record of states gun laws, states are ranked based on
thirty policy approaches to regulating guns and ammunition, this includes

background checks, reporting lost or stolen firearms, and prohibiting dangerous

people from purchasing guns or ammunition. Ultimately, every state is rewarded a
letter grade, which indicates the overall strength or weakness of states gun laws, A
being the highest and F being the lowest. Their letter grade is based of points. They
receive points for having effective laws in each policy area and they lose points for
irresponsible measures that increase the likelihood of gun violence, such as laws
that allow individuals to carry loaded concealed weapons without a permit. The law
center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
teamed up to evaluate and compare gun laws in all 50 states. A states gun laws and
the rate of gun deaths are closely tied, usually states with lenient gun laws have
higher gun death rates. Only states that have enacted several significant firearm
laws received enough points to acquire a grade in the A range. Five states have
earned an A grade. States that have earned a grade in the B and C range have
enacted fewer laws but have some significant gun safety laws. Twelve states are in
these ranges. States in D ranges have a diminutive handful of firearm regulations.
There are currently seven states in the D range. While states in F ranges have little
to no regulations at all; 26 states are currently in the F range. The grades that states
receive reflect much upon the states crime, according to the Brady Campaign, 24 out
of the 25 states that traffic the most crime guns to other states per capita or income
per person received grades of D+ or lower. The strength or weakness of a state's
gun laws correlates to the number of crime guns trafficked across state borders. An
example of this would be guns purchased in a state with loose gun laws are
commonly trafficked into states with stronger laws where they are found at crime
scenes. States have also decided to take it upon themselves to try to attend to the
problem. Six states have enacted in 2013 new laws that improved their grades

compared to the law centers 2012 publication gun laws matter (2013 State
Scorecard).
Deterring gun violence is essentially impractical without knowing the cause.
Congress failed to pass any new gun violence prevention legislation in 2013,
including legislation to expand background checks (2013 State Scorecard). States
have also been slow in providing records. Without states cooperation in submitting
records from background checks, individuals who are unfit and pose a threat to the
community will be able to obtain guns. The federal government has not required any
strict laws so states have been reluctant in providing because of how lenient the laws
are. Then states have omitted in providing any mental health records to the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System; 18 other states have submitted less
than 100 records since the creation of the system in 1999. Not only have the states
slacked in providing records but the FBI as of October 2011, have only submitted
12,023 records of known drug abusers to the records. Additionally, according to
Government Accountability Office, between February 2004 and December 2010
there were 1,119 instances when known or suspected terrorists on government
terrorists watch lists purchased gun or explosives from federal licensed dealers. This
is evidence that there is a lack of security and restrictions in our gun laws.
40% of gun transfers, who covers six million gun transfers, originate from
private sellers who often congregate at gun shows or sell guns online. Private
sellers are people who maintain that they are not engaged in the business of
selling guns are not required to perform background checks. Private gun sellers not
performing background checks is an easy opportunity for dangerous individuals who
are ineligible to possess guns under federal law like felons, persons labeled as

mentally ill, and other people prohibited to bypass a background check and obtain a
weapon with no questions asked. This becomes a problem because the most
dangerous gun users are violent criminals, mentally ill; those with a mental illness
committed drug abusers, and perpetrators of domestic violence and almost all major
shootings (Preventing Gun Violence). No required background checks allow them to
purchase guns from private sellers.
The toughest gun laws in the nation can be bypassed and not make the
slightest difference to a mentally ill young man who should have never been on the
streets in the first place. The two problems of this is that laws requiring background
checks are not put into action and no help given to those with mental illness. Onefourth of a million people with untreated psychiatric illnesses roam homeless, in our
jails and prisons which house ten times as many people with severe mental illness
than in psychiatric hospitals. The violent acts of those with mental illness come from
those mainly whose families struggled to get them the treatment they needed.
Treatment for people with mental illness falls into the hands of local and state
governments. Choices of array of laws, regulations, policies, and budgeting choices,
all of which vary from one jurisdiction to the next. These choices are the factors that
allow the person to receive help. The people with mental illness that do not receive
help are grossly overrepresented in the suicide and victimization statistics also in
local news of violent acts committed by the mentally deranged individuals (Gun
Control Won't).
A day of retribution the 137 page memoir manifesto of Elliot Rogers
plot to kill everyone in Isla Vista, and utterly destroy the wretched town. This is what
the police would have found along with three semiautomatic handguns, and dozens
of rounds of ammunition if they had sensed Rogers awry mood. His family went to

seek help from authorities yet it never came. Because of this carelessness six
innocent were killed and 13 were injured. Like most shootings he killed himself
afterward (Gun Control Wont). This is one of the many tragic shootings along with
the recent mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado and Newton Connecticut where
military grade weapons were used by those mentally ill who were not even supposed
to have them. On average daily shootings kill 33 Americans daily. Yet these go
unnoticed because it has become common. The recent mass shooting at Sandy
Hook elementary in which 20 children and six adults were killed was just one of the
school shootings that have occurred, the other known one that sparked the
controversy of gun control was the 1999 Columbine high school massacre. These
unfortunate events were because of a lack of security and background checks. Other
grievous incidents were the Christmas Eve ambush of firefighters in Webster, New
York which included an assault rifle, and Seung- Hui Cho, who killed 32 people and
wounded 17 others in a 2007 killing spree at Virginia Tech. between May 2007 and
March 2014 at least 14 law enforcement officers and 622 other people were killed
nationally by individuals legally allowed to carry guns. Terrorists shootings also
occurred in these following places the main entrance to CIA headquarters in Langley
Virginia, Brooklyn bridge, Observation Deck of Empire State Building, A U.S, military
recruiting office in Little rock Arkansas, and fort hood in Killeen, Texas. In 2008, the
department of defense excluded Jared Lee Laughner from service in the U.S. Army
because of him struggle with drug abuse. However they did not submit a record into
the FBI database. A little more that two years later on November 30, 2010 Laughner
purchased guns in preparation for him killing spree in Tuscan the following January.
He killed 6 people and wounded 13 (Preventing Gun Violence). These innocent
people lost their lives when it could have been prevented.

The innocent lives of many can be protected from future incidents by

enforcing the right laws and altering our currents laws. Three significant actions
targeted to prevent gun violence are improved background checks, military weapons
off of the streets and better data, coordination and enforcements. An effort should be
made to input all necessary records to the FBI National Instant Criminal Background
Check System (Preventing Gun Violence).
In behalf of congress failing expand background checks to cover even private
sellers in April of 2013 (2013 State Scorecard), the Fix Gun Checks Act would
provide for stronger incentives for state and federal agencies to submit all necessary
records about individuals who are banned from owning handguns in the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System. For this system to work better, states
would have to provide for the federal government with the names of all individuals
who are prohibited from owning firearms for inclusion in the nationwide database.
Enacting this would allow every gun seller to have access to information on anyone
unfit to have guns, this also prevents anyone unfit to have a gun to possess one.
Furthermore this adds pressure to congress to finish the job and expand background
checks to cover all gun sales including online and at gun shows. A poll don in April of
2012 by pollster Frank Luntz shows that 74% of members of the Gun Lobby National
Rifle association and 87% of non-NRA members supported background checks on
every individual seeking to purchase a gun. If not many people are in opposition to it;
all that is needed is congresses approval. To insure that states will not avoid this
states should be penalized for failing to provide to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System. Additionally, preventing convicted stalkers from
acquiring guns should be considered; the federal law should prohibit the sale of guns
to subject to a court order restraining him or her from harassing, stalking or

threatening an intimate partner. This is because disarming an individual convicted of

misdemeanor stalking may mean the difference between a victim who is put in fear
for his or hers life and one who loses it.
Congress is urged to follow the examples set by eight states
and prohibits gun possession by individuals convicted of misdemeanor stalking
crimes. Congress should also not let felons sell guns. Allowing this would be like
letting a drug addict work behind the counter at pharmacies. Also congress should
treat gun trafficking as a crime because that is how most massive shooters receive
their weapons. Senator Diane Feinstein from California plans to introduce a bill to
stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault
weapons and high capacity ammunition feeding devices to avoid any mass
shootings from occurring. In conclusion, gun control can be strengthened by
toughening penalties on states that do not provide records for the database,
requiring federal agencies to affirm that they have provided required records to the
database and clarifying the definition of mentally ill to insure that individuals with a
serious mental illness get help, and requiring a background check on every gun sale.
These checks will ensure that gun stay out of the hands of criminals, mentally ill, and
other dangerous people who are prohibited from gun ownership by law (Preventing
Gun Violence).
Although the nation struggles with gun violence, some people oppose
increasing gun control in the U.S. They believe that America is the land of the free
and we should be able to do what want freely. However, giving gun access to
everyone will surely increase the gun death rate and people would no longer feel
safe.

To prevent any incidents from happening the nation needs to improve the
background check systems, and promote better enforcement. Also, information on
potential threats should be in access to all gun purchases made. Therefore, an
increase in gun control is a necessity to ensure public safety.

Gun Control

Danielle Crasiuc
3/19/15
1st hour

Work Cited

1. Because Smart Gun Laws Save Lives. "2013 State Scorecard." 2013 State
Scorecard (n.d.): n. pag. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun V. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/2013-scorecard.pdf>.

2. Tanden, Neera. "Preventing Gun Violence in Our Nation." Center for American
Progress, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
<https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civilliberties/report/2013/01/12/49510/preventing-gun-violence-in-our-nation/>.

3. "Concealed Guns ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 21 Nov. 2014. Web.

25 Jan. 2015. <http://concealedguns.procon.org/>.

4. "Gun Control Won't Stop the Next Elliot Rodger." The American Spectator. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://spectator.org/articles/59335/gun-control-wont-stopnext-elliot-rodger>.