Alexandra Spencer
Sarah Fay
Jeff Latimer
Eric Urena
Gun
Rights
Gun rights are a very controversial issue in our country
especially now that more regulations are being put in place. Our group agreed
that there should be some gun restrictions allowing for more safety for the
people owning the gun and for the non-owners. First there should be more education on guns.
Potential gun owners should have to go through intensive courses to be able to
obtain permits and to be able to have a concealed weapon on you. Having these
precautions will also help increase safety by guns accidentally going off and
will also increase the respect and knowledge for the dangerous weapon. A person
should also be 18 or older to be able to buy and/or carry a gun. A person under
18 needs to have a parent or guardian with a valid license with them when
hunting or shooting targets, etc. These rules are good for smaller guns like
hand held pistols or hunting rifles. Everyday citizens should not be able to
have access to large or military grade weapons only people who are in active
duty or retired military personnel with the proper credentials. In order to
obtain any weapon along with the classes, people should go through intensive
physiological screenings with references so that guns to not end up in the
wrong hands.
Many people argue that guns don’t kill people, people
kill people. While this is true, this belief severely downplays the fact that
guns are incredibly dangerous and can end a life in a split second. Guns should
be treated with a healthy balance of fear and respect. One might argue that if
guns are banned that a criminal would just find other means to their ends. This
ignores the fact that guns were created for the sole purpose of killing a
living thing, whether it is in defense or sport. While we do support the 2nd
amendment, we believe that there needs to be a solid education and medical
evaluations before handling such a potentially dangerous weapon. Lastly, every
human being has the right to defend themselves. Many of the steps taken in gun
control so far have only affected law abiding citizens. Whether it’s legal or
not, if someone wants to get their hands on a gun they will find a way. If making
things illegal actually stopped everyone, we wouldn’t be fighting a war on
drugs today.
The argument that there should be an intensive physiological screenings with references is a good point. In the points that are made in the beginning of the discussion contradicts the sentence towards the end that says "every human being has the right to defend themselves". If everyone has a right then why should there be screenings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda, that statement at the end of your post negates all your previous arguments. If you think everyone has the right to defend themselves then you wouldn't be for background checks and age restrictions on purchasing guns. These limit the amount of people who can purchase a gun and defend themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there should be more intensive courses to obtain a permit. Currently people only have to take a quick one day course to receive a pistol permit. I think a psychological evaluation should be the first step in the permit process. That way if a person fails, they can not advance to learning about the weapons or how to shoot them.
ReplyDeleteA good post, but you say that people should be more education on guns, but don't you think that that can contribute to getting more "skilled" killers in the society? If a person has a gun, and he decides to do a public shooting, if he's already educated in how to handle a gun, doesn't that increase the risk of him killing more people? He can be more efficient with the gun, and hit more people in fewer shots than he would without the education.
ReplyDeleteI DEFINITELY agree with the notion that their should be more education, training, and overall knowledge and experience with guns in order for people to respect and truly understand them. However, if I were to make one criticism: Military-grade weapons were banned from the public in 1986. Civilians are not able to own automatic weapons that were manufactured after that year. Semi-automatic rifles are just that: semi-automatic. They are not assault rifles and never will be. Other than that, solid post.
ReplyDelete