Gun Control

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a very powerful organization with huge financial backing; it wants laws already in placed to be used more forcefully to control the use of guns in committing crimes. However, people are still dying; something more must be done to take guns out of the hands of those who plan and execute criminal behavior.

The NRA makes valid points when arguing the topic of gun control; however, I do not agree with the majority of their argument. The organization has millions of supporters; it is a composition of a wide variety of law-abiding citizens, hunters, and sportsmen.

http://www.nrahq.org/transcripts/brandeis.shtml. On March 28, 2000, Charlton Heston, the NRA president, addressed students at Brandeis University and stated that he believes strongly in the Bill of Rights, and its Second Amendment provision to keep and bear arms as one of those rights. I agree, but it was taken to the next level when the NRA suggested that gun control should not apply to law-abiding citizens. How are we to determine who the law-abiding citizens are? Since there is no definite way to establish this, some form of standardized gun control would be very necessary.

http://www.ccnet.com In 1996, the U.S. had an incidence rate of gun related violence of 9,391 deaths by handguns, compared to 211 in Germany, 30 in Great Britain, and 15 in Japan. Street and gang related crime is a fact of life that occurs everyday. Guns, in their version of reality, play an important role, but wreak havoc in the lives of those who don t function in that world.

While under a program called Project Exile, felons with firearms were sentenced to five years in prison with no plea-bargaining. Due to this, gun murders in Richmond Virginia were cut in half. Street and gang related crime, robbery, and burglary that take place with guns could be reduced with Project Exile. Kids with guns are different; the only way to correct this problem is for the children to be punished. They know right from wrong at an early age and should be able to take responsibility for their own actions; however, if the gun is obtained through a parent, then the parent should suffer the consequences.

The NRA is not going to agree with the government anytime soon. Until there is a better means to deal with the situation, gun control is necessary for survival. Eight percent of the population commits all crimes. This is enough to know that this country can t handle the Second Amendment right. Everyone will not accept the responsibility that comes with the right to bear arms.