Should There Be More Gun Control?
Guns have helped and destroyed people, societies and civilizations throughout time. Freedom is sometimes obtained with guns, but often times so is terror.
Gun control is one of the most talked about issue and one that is set to divide the country for years to come.
According to ThinkProgress "The rate of people killed by guns in the US is 19.5 times higher than similar high-income countries in the world. In the last 30 years since 1982, America has mourned at least 61 mass murders (thinkprogress.org)." While on the other hand Criminologist Gary Kleck estimates that "2.5 million Americans use guns to defend themselves each year. Out of that number, 400,000 believe that if it wasn't for their firearms, they would have been dead."
Although this is an estimate, this could be a strong point that guns could possibly save many more lives than they could take away. However, this does not mean there shouldn't be more restrictions to those who want to obtain a gun but also have a criminal record. In my opinion we could have both, freedom to bear arms, as well as more strict restrictions for those who do choose to bear arms.
One thing that Think Progress fails to account for is how many of those killed by guns are by illegal guns. If you look at Chicago, the murder rate is very high while legal gun ownership is almost non-existent. Yet murder rates in rural areas where gun ownership is much higher are much lower. I agree that if guns were outlawed, criminals would still be able to get them. Mexico and Jamaica are two countries which have extremely strict gun laws. Yet their murder rates are far higher that the United States.
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