Gun Control Policy example essay topic
On April 20th, 1999, 2 friends from Columbine, Colorado came to school. They had a diabolical plan to try and kill as many people as possible. They were well prepared and had thought out their plan carefully. Together they had 4 guns with them when they began their "operation".
It resulted in the biggest gun issue in the U.S. to date. 12 students and a teacher were killed, that's not including the 2 killers who committed suicide shortly after the murders. Around 20 others were injured. This single act at Columbine high school sparked a question in American society, is our gun control policy strong enough? I say it isn't, with all the deaths and or related to violence in our country today, it's nearly nearly impossible to ignore it. I say we need a very strict gun control policy.
An after disasters like Columbine, a lot of people agree with me. Unfortunately, the government just can't snap their fingers and automatically have a gun control policy. Like all laws and regulations, it must go through congress and if it gets through that, then it has to be signed by the president. Many gun control policies and been proposed in congress and most haven't even made it through a committee. According to the article "Gun Control vs. Gun Rights", on web the government only takes action on gun control when a diaster occurs or when a well known figure is killed. In my eyes, this is entirely true considering that when a "normal everyday joe" is killed, he doesn't make national headlines.
It makes sense however, the people aren't going to make a big deal out of a guy that they don't know. Also it's a known fact that when it comes to gun control, democrats and republicans, split right down the middle when it comes to gun control. Democrats favor heavy restriction on guns. Republicans sway towards gun rights and tend to hide behind the 2nd amendment.
This results in gridlock (when the government can't get anything accomplished because of differences in the numbers of the 2 dominant political parties) and is why it's so hard to get anything passed concerning guns. Another big issue is children and teens getting hurt or killed with guns. One reason why Columbine was so big was because of the killing of so many harmless teenagers. It breaks the hearts of Americans when a child or teenager gets killed by a gun. For example, in a poll done by The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 out of 5 adults knows or knew a child who was shot by another child, and 12% of adults knows or knew and child who accidentally shot themselves. In another study by "ABCNEWS. com", an estimated 34,000 people die of gun related deaths every year.
In that same study it says that around 13 children are killed daily, guns kill teenage boys annually than any other cause, and teenagers are twice as likely to commit suicide with a gun accessible to them. All of this has become too common and accepted by today's world. More often we are seeing gunlocks and gun cases, preventing children from playing with the guns. This is a big step in prevent deaths among kids but it won't be big enough until children are totally safe from finding a loaded gun and decide to play it. 13 children a day is way too many, 1 is too many let alone 13 children.
I did a little study of my own at watched my 2 favorite TV stations back and forth for 2 hours. I saw one guy get shot in the head and then an hour or so later 3 dead bodies on a commercial. That's 4 people per 2 stations in 2 hours. Soil a child watches 4 hours of TV everyday for a year, he or she will see 730 killings and 2190 dead bodies.
I'll bet it didn't seem that much but it's a sad reality that's hard to swallow. Children are highly influenced by what they see. Only 3 big milestones laws have been passed since 1934, concerning gun control. If Were to run for president my main goal would be to try and get my own personal policy into effect. Since my generation is used to seeing and hearing about violence, I'm certain that, later when we became a voice that is heard in the government, we will want a better gun control law.
I would hope that it would be similar to the one I have devised. My gun control policy would try to get rid of all guns owned by regular people. I would only allow the armed forces and police to keep their guns. I would start in the south and workup through major cities and towns until up at the northern border.
If the law was to get passed I'd would like a 3 month warning until the actual removal of the guns. A 6 month period would be given for everyone to return their guns and they would receive full face value for them if they returned them in the 6 month time. After that time, all known owners that didn't turn their gun in will be penalized with jail time and or a fine and the removal of the gun. After collecting the guns, the guns would be destroyed. Hunters would also be made to turn in their guns but "rental" stores would be set up so that they could pay for a gun and ammunition and take it out for a limited time. Full background checks would be required and some way on contact in case of shooting.
All gun companies would be forced to stop manufacturing guns and unfortunately the workers would have to find other jobs. Gun museums or vast gun collectors would be forced to give up all ammunition and never unlock the guns from a safe keeping. Though the results wouldn't be seen right away, the removal and basic abolishment of guns would greatly reduce the number of deaths in the U.S. I'm a big realistic person so I pretty much know that reaching this goal is nearly impossible considering that since the demand would go up and the supply would go way down, some people would be able to smuggle them in from other countries from lots of money. Also I understand that the hunters in particular wouldn't be happy with this policy. I myself am not a hunter, I don't believe in killing something for fun. I do, however, understand that I'm from an urban society and wasn't raised remotely close to how most people who hunt are raised.
Some hunters argue that it's a source of food but it's not "survival" food and therefore I wouldn't let hunters keep their guns. I know that I'm being extremely bias, but I feel very strongly against guns and what they are capable of. Don't get me wrong, I know that guns have probably helped us war most of war we " ve fought and saved some families from starvation but it's today world there's just no need for them. I love to argue my point. I also love a challenge. That's why I've decided to debate someone standing by his own opinion, our founding fathers, and the 2nd amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The that I'm going to rip apart, is "Gun Control Isn " about Guns, It's About Control" and "43 to 1", by Mark Howerter.