GUNS IN TEXAS

Gun control consists of the government restricting the ability of individual citizens to purchase weapons. In recent years many laws have been passed to assist with keeping guns under control, and this has become a topic of significant interest among politicians and US citizens. In recent years law passed have assisted in making more strict penalties for those who abuse the law, less gun related crime, and helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

We are now sending a clear message to those who choose to use guns to commit crimes, that gun crime means hard time. A mandatory jail sentence - or additional time is added to the usual punishment for a crime if guns are involved. Also the minimal sentence for a gun crime in Texas has been upped from two to now three years in jail for abuse of the law. Penalty also includes higher fines if caught with a gun in the state of Texas. Now the criminal will also loose their constructional right to bare arms.

The creation of strict gun control laws has resulted in less gun-related crimes. Greater certainty of apprehension and conviction has been an effective deterrent to robbery, assault, and most other serious gun crimes. This in turn has cut down on gun-related crimes by 47% in the last two years. Another practiced technique to lowering gun crime and preventing dangerous firearms from killing honest people has been the ban of assault weapons. The most recent being the AK-47. Assault weapons account for 36% of guns traced to crime by the Treasure Department s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The state of Texas laws have assisted in keeping guns out of the wrong hands. Gun purchasers can not go to a gun show and just buy a gun with out going through a simple yet effective process. There is now a waiting period method of gun control that is a two-step process. The first step in the procedure is that the person in question of purchasing a gun goes to his/her local shop to place the initial order. Then he/she must wait a two week waiting period while the government performs a background check, for past criminal activities, disorderly conduct, or lack of mental/emotional stability. This is done so that so-called high-risk people can not purchase through legal channels.

Because of gun control the effect has been the passing of more strict penitalies for those who abuse the law, less gun related crime, and helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands. We have done a lot for our state of Texas on the topic of gun control, but there is still more to be done, the battle is not over yet.