Guns A privilege or a right

guns in the US for every 100 people or simply a total of 393,347,000 guns in the hands of civilian Americans (Ingraham, 2018). Additionally, a majority of gun owners in America (66%) admit having more than one gun with 29% owning five or more firearms (Parker, Menasce Horowitz, Igielnik, Oliphant & Brown, 2017). This clearly shows that Americans appetite for owning guns is as big as an elephant. Consequently, this huge desire to own arms has led to gun-related violence becoming as American as an apple pie. The media has been always awash with news of people walking into public places armed with sophisticated weapons and openly shooting innocent civilians. So many more amounting to 500 sustained serious injuries (Swift, 2017). Fast forward to a year later and as sure as death itself and taxes, another mass shooting tragedy hit the city of Pittsburgh.

The gunman, one devil identified as Robert D. Bowers, burst into a synagogue armed with at least three handguns and an AR-15-style firearm and fired into the congregants while shouting offensive anti-Semitic slurs. This latest incidence claimed 11 victims and left other 6 wounded (Robertson, Mele and Tavernise, 2018). At most, the Second Amendment places the States with the inalienable right to assemble militias on the state level and effectively protects the National Guard. However, this has been misconstrued to mean that anyone can own a firearm. Stricter gun control restrictions have the potential of significantly reducing the number of deaths that originate from misuse of individually owned firearms. According to Street (2016), the total number of deaths related to gun violence between the years 1999 and 2013 was 464,033. Of all these casualties, homicides accounted for 174,773, suicides committed using guns totaled to 270,237 whereas 9,983 were as a result of gun accidents.

Congo and others that have been overrun by ruthless, drug trafficking cartels such as Colombia and Mexico in terms of guns per capita data (Chalabi, 2012). Therefore, there is a huge concern when citizens of a nation are more inclined to staying armed than people who reside in failed countries with an average life expectancy of fewer than 50 years – as huge as an elephant and perhaps it is time Americans took it as slow as a tortoise when it comes to their appetite for owning guns. A majority of the massacres orchestrated have been committed using legally acquired firearms. The US has had approximately 62 mass shooting incidences between the years 1982 and 2012. However, this is beside the point. Those who are against strict laws for gun control tend to float the argument that they use their guns to participate in sporting activities that require rifles and thus prohibiting ownership of these guns is unfair and in violation of their right to bear arms.

If indeed they were just about their sports such as hunting, they would be better off using alternative weapons such as cross-bow arrows. This would be more fun for them since it would accord the prey reflex time as opposed to assault rifles which are instantly fatal. Assault weapons are not for sport. With as much honesty as the sand in the beaches of Miami, there are very few if any of pro-gun control advocates who wish for a total ban on guns absolutely. percent of successful civilian intervention in all mass shootings that have happened since the year 1980. When this is put as simple as A B C it implies that in over 30 years, only once has an armed civilian been able to save lives during the unfortunate tragedy of a mass shooting.

In other instances, the armed civilian was only able to ground the killer bearing arms only after the damage had already been done. Gun enthusiasts may defend this by saying it is still a good thing. However, there are several instances where people who attempted to get involved during a mass shooting ended up being victims themselves and added to the number of fatalities in those incidences. In case a secondary gun-user gets his or her permit revoked, the primary buyer must convince the relevant authorities that the said weapon will be stored in a safety locking device that must be approved by the government. In addition, the buyer must also prove that secondary access to the firearm won’t be possible by any means whatsoever. The gun show ambiguity should be terminated indefinitely in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the current proposed gun policy amendments.

La Valle (2013) accurately outlines the most popular reasoning of advocates of gun rights and proponents of gun control; that those with mental illnesses ought not to own guns and the call for greater responsibility on the side of owners of firearms. It is quite vital to understand and appreciate the thoughts of the greater population on the issue of gun control, more so with the ongoing political rhetoric being as loud as a thunder. Retrieved from https://www. theguardian. com/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership- world-list Follman, M. More Guns, More Mass Shootings—Coincidence? Retrieved from https://www. motherjones. html La Valle, J. “Gun Control” vs. “Self-protection”: A Case against the Ideological Divide. Justice Policy Journal, 10(1). Retrieved from http://www. The demographics of gun ownership. Retrieved from http://www. pewsocialtrends. org/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/ Robertson, C. Mele, C.

Gunman’s Girlfriend Arrives in the U. S. and Is Expected to Be Questioned. Nytimes. com.