AbiCrandall

English11
Mr.Bradley
March13,2015
GunControl
Gunsareoftenboughteverydaybywhatseemtobeeverydaypeople,butwehaveno
ideaoftheirintentionsfortheneedorwantofagun.Thereisawidespanofreasonsastowhy
theneedorwantforagun,forexamplemanyhavetheminahometofeelsafeandprotectedin
caseofanintruder,orsomethingcompletelyoppositeliketocauseharmtothemselvesor
someoneelse.Somepeopleorgunenthusiastbelieveweshouldkeepguncontrolhowitisor
evenlessenit.Theythinkwealreadyhavetoomanylawsagainstguns.Thereneedstobemore
guncontrolintheUnitedStates.Gunrelatedcrimesstillcontinuetohappen
.
Gunviolenceisalwaysamajorconcernwhenguncontrolisbeingdebated.Amajorityof
reportedgunviolenceoccursinlargecitiesintheUnitedStates.

Whencomparingmajorcities
homicideratesintheUnitedStatestoothernationshomiciderates,Detroithas35.9ratejusta
bitunderElSalvadorsrateof39.9.ThatjustDetroitalone,thatsnotevenlookingatNew
Orleansrateof62.1,onlya6.3differencebetweenHonduras.

Alloftheothercitieratehave
similaritiesinratescomparedtonations.NewOrleansandDetroitareonlythetoptwooutof14
majorcitiesintheUnitedStates(Florida).

IfwehadmoreguncontrolintheUnitedStatesthese
rateswoulddecreasealot.Dontgetmewrong,Imnotsayingthatgunrelatedviolencewould
cometoacompletestop,butitwoulddefinitelyimprove.

Guncontrolneedstobeincreased,butnottoomuchwhereitisalmostimpossibletoown
agun.

ForexampleasurveydoneinMayof2013,showedthat41%ofadultssaidtheyhavea
gunintheirhome.Thesurveyalsostatesthatthestereotypicalmaleismorelikelytoownagun
ratherthanafemaleata40%to14%.However,atapercentageof22%to6%womenaremore
likelytoownagun.

Usuallywomenbuygunstofeelsafeandprotected.Alsomanypeople
wouldthinkthatthepercentageofblacksowningagunwouldbehigherthanwhites.

Actually
33%ofwhitessaidtheyownagunpersonallyandonly18%ofblacksownagunpersonally
(Drake).

Thepointisalotofthesepercentageswouldincreaseifguncontroldecreased.The
percentageswouldalsodecreaseifweincreasedguncontrol,butbyhowmuchthatsuptothe
government.
Anotherconcernwithgunsischeckingsomeone'smentalhealthstate.Simplymeaning
basedonapersonsmentalstate,shouldtheyownagunandaretheycapableofitwithoutbeinga
dangertothemselvesorothers.

InNewYorktheyhavecreatedadatabaseofcitizenswithinNew
Yorkthatarementallyunstabletohaveorcarryagun.Theincreasingnumberofpeopleentered
intothedatabasehavebroughtsomeconcernstosomementalhealthadvocates.Theythinkthat
toomanypeoplearebeinglabeledasdangerous(Hartocollis).

Mentalhealthprofessionalsin
thestateofNewYorkhavetoreporttoanauthorityifapatientisofdangertothemselvesor
othersaroundthem(Hartocollis).
Manypeoplecouldbeconsidereddangerous,butistheira
majorconcernabouttheirmentalhealthstate.

Anotherthingthatisbroughttoconcernispatients
onlygettheirgunstakenawayiftheyareadmittedtoamentalhealthcenter,orarelegally
diagnosed.
Thereisnowayofknowinghowmanymentallyunstablepeoplearestill
undiagnosed,andareinpossessionofagun.Wedonotwanttogiveanyonethatcanwalksinto

agunstoreagun.Moreguncontrolwouldmeanmoretesttobesuresomeoneiscapableof
owningagun.
AccordingtotheSecondAmendment,peoplehavetherighttoownagunhowever,its
iterationhasbeentakenthewrongway.TheSecondAmendmenthasbeenmisinterpretedfor
manyyears.

ManypeoplethinkwhenitsaystherighttobareArms,thatitmeansto
personallyownagun.However,thatisnottheoriginalmeaningbehindtheSecondAmendment,
themainreasonwastokeepcongressfromlegislatingawayastatesrighttodefendthemselves,
alsoknownasthecollectiverighttheory.

Whenitcomestoguncontrolprogunownersonly
careabouttherighttobareArmssectionoftheSecondAmendment,theydon'tlookatitasa
whole.
Therearemanythingsthatcometomindwhendiscussingguncontrol.Forexamplethe
mentalhealthofsomeone,gunownership,gunviolence,andtheSecondAmendmentareonlya
fewofmany.GuncontrolintheUnitedStatesneedstobeincreased.Dowe,Americancitizens
reallywantittobeeasyforanytypeofpersontoownagun?Noofcoursewedon't,butwedon't
wantittobenearimpossibleforpeoplewhoareeligible,toowngun.

WorkCited
TheBillofRights:ATranscription.
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ArchivesandRecordsAdministration.web.6March.2015.
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http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcripts.html
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SecondAmendment.
SecondAmendment.
CornellUniversityLawSchool.Web.6Mar.2015.
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https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment
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