The second amendment written by our founding fathers states that “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”. Although our founding fathers were brilliant in their own right. The constitution was written over 200 years ago, that’s a pretty old piece of paper. Unless our founding fathers had the ability to time travel, they couldn’t have possibly foreseen all of the issues we would be dealing with today. In the world we live in now, we are subjected to uphold the constitution even though we are dealing with different and real problems that have not previously been thought of.
The technological advancement of guns in this day and age is superb to 200 years ago. Originally the second amendment was used for people to protect themselves against the government, in case the government were to become hostile. The idea of people trying to protect themselves from the government would be like asking a Pee Wee football team to play the Kansas City Chiefs. Although most people tend to root for the underdog, the result wouldn’t be so good. Guns in this day and age contain semi and automatic guns. Most journalists and politicians refer to Semi and automatic guns as assault weapons. In an article by Just Facts “Supporters of gun rights generally object to describing semi-automatic firearms as ‘assault weapons.’ Instead, they call them ‘modern sporting rifles’ or by their styles and models, such as AR-15”. Regardless of the preferred term, guns such as AR-15s are legal to purchase in the United states. These are the same type of guns that are used for military use, while also have become more popular in recent years for mass shooting.
There are more guns in America than there are people. That is enough for every man, woman and child. However only 40 percent of Americans are gun owners, which probably means there are a few of us hunkering down, getting ready for the next apocalypse. If Americans are not hunting or heading to the shooting range most of them purchase guns for protection. The logic is a good guy with a gun would beat a bad guy with a gun, but we do not live in the wild west, and this isn’t a Clint Eastwood movie. In an article by NPR “The United States average gun violence per 100,000 people is 4.43 percent”. We are ranked number 28th in the world with the percentage of gun violence per 100,000 peeple. Also consider that the United States is a developed and wealthy country. When compared to other countries who match our development we stick out like a very sore thumb. The NPR article stated “Prosperous Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan boast the absolute lowest rates, though the United Kingdom and Germany are in almost as good shape”. In countries like the United kingdom their rate is .06; Japan, 0.04; South Korea, 0.05; and Iceland, 0.07. In all of these counties gun usage is less common among the people, but they are still safer compared to United States citizens. This means that guns may actually be more dangerous than they are safe.
In a look at different states, some have stronger gun control laws than others. In an article by the Violence policy center, it was mentioned, states with the highest rates of gun violence also have been correlated to have the most gun violence incidents. States like Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming, Missouri and Louisiana have rates going from 22.80 gun deaths per 100,000 to 21.27. In contrast the states with the more intense laws have the lowest gun violence deaths. States like Rhode island, Massesttucetts, Hawaii, New York, and New Jersey have stats going from 3.50 to 4.71. If gun control has already proven to be effective to minimize gun violence, then eliminating guns entirely from the public could minimize gun violence even more.
Politically, as to why Americans have higher rates of gun violence, the democaratic party and republican party tend to differ. An article, by William A. Galston and Clara Hendrickson cited “Democrats are substantially more likely than Republicans to cite factors such as access to guns, anti-immigrant sentiments, and the rise of white nationalism, while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to cite inadequate parenting and violent video games”. All of these issues may very well be valid, they could all be right, but if access to guns were eliminated from the public population, we can assure that Americans will be safer.
Imagine a world with no guns, I’m sure rates of knife stabbing would go up, but the ease of killing someone with a gun would be gone. Maybe we would have to hunt with bows and arrows, but who wouldn’t want to be like Katniss Everdeen. Accidental shootings would go down, so maybe hospitals would thank us. And if someone missed their hobby of going to a gun range, maybe they could pick up knife throwing, you never know until you try.
Martinellie, S. (2020, February 24). States with Weak Gun Laws and Higher Gun Ownership Lead Nation in Gun Deaths, New Data for 2018 Confirms. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://vpc.org/press/states-with-weak-gun-laws-and-higher-gun-ownership-lead-nation-in-gun-deaths-new-data-for-2018-confirms/
Galston, W., & Hendrickson, C. (2019, August 22). Getting beyond the myths: What Americans really think about mass shootings and gun legislation. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2019/08/22/what-americans-really-think-about-mass-shootings-and-gun-legislation/
Agresti, J. D., Smith, R. K. & Reynolds, W. T. (2020, October 9). Gun Control Facts. Just Facts. Retrieved October 12, 2020 from www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
Aizenman, N., & Silver, M. (2019, August 05). How The U.S. Compares With Other Countries In Deaths From Gun Violence. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/08/05/743579605/how-the-u-s-compares-to-other-countries-in-deaths-from-gun-violence