Luis Gallego
Julia Bruneau
Micheal Grava
Kyle Broderick
Gun Control
The individual interest in gun ownership varies greatly
amongst our society. Individuals are
interested in owning guns for self-defense, recreation, and hunting. In the case of self-defense, individuals want
to be able to protect not only their own life, but their property as well. This has been in the American culture since
the birth of the nation. For recreation,
individuals buy guns to compete in shooting events which test an individual’s
ability with a gun. Hunting is more of a
tradition, especially in rural areas.
In our group we feel that we must do more to control the
access to guns to individuals who are not fit to operate one. One of the main controls that we must enforce
is the psychological fortitude of an individual. We should not allow people that have serious
mental health problems to purchase weapons.
The problem is, what do we classify as mental health problem? Is someone who suffers from depression really
a danger to society or a danger to themselves?
It seems like in today’s age we have this social stigma that depressed
people are dangerous. So the question is how far do we go? How about those people that go on with their lives,
and then one day just happen to snap? A
person like this would surely go unnoticed until it is too late. So is testing for psychological disorders a
proven science that we can rely on to weed out the good from the bad? I think it would help the overall cause, but
not eliminate it completely.
Some other controls that we can implement would be to
improve the technology in weapons. One
idea would be to have some sort of identification system in the actual weapon
that will render the weapon useless unless it is the actual owner of the weapon
who is using it. For example, have some
sort of technology that requires something tailored to you, like a finger
print, in order to use the weapon.
Mandatory training should also be enforced for anyone to own a
weapon. There are a lot of deaths in
the US due to negligence in the handling
of weapons. Having more training would
help curb some of the accidental deaths caused by firearms.
The last control is the fact of limiting the size of
magazines. We believe that magazines
should be limited to about 12 rounds.
There is no logical explanation that I can think of, on why an
individual would need so many rounds at one time. In hunting you are not going to shoot the
animal 30 plus times; one well aimed shot is all it takes. Luis, served in the military, and because of
his training he claims that anyone could change magazine in less than two
seconds with enough practice. However,
most people that go on shooting rampages might not have this skill, and those
two seconds while they reload is enough time for someone to stop an individual.
The fact that the US is a stable country allows our
society to discuss such issues. I agree
with the fact that we cannot pass one piece of legislature that will get rid of
all gun violence. The problem I believe
lies within our society. Our kids are
being exposed to violence everywhere they go.
One of the biggest causes has to be video games. How many video games are out there that are
all about shooting guns? All those video
games have a mature rating, which means you must be over 18 years old to
purchase them. However parents still buy
them for their kids. So the real issue I
think is that we as a society are losing our moral, and must make an extra
effort to educate our children and instill in them that guns are dangerous, and
they are not to be thought of simply as an object used for “fun.”
Based on the definition, “the state and taxation should
be as small as possible since the only purpose of the govern is protecting our
lives and property” our argument leans more towards a libertarianism tendencies
in that we do not feel that the government should be able to restrict access to
gun. Liberationists do not believe that drugs should be regulated by the
government therefore they would feel the same way about gun control.
When it comes down to it, an individual’s right to own a
firearm is important for more than say, protecting yourself from a home intruder,
for more than sport shooting or hunting a free meal for your family. It is this amendment which allows every
single person, with exception to those mentally ill or drawn to crime, to be
given just as much power over another’s life as those which may choose to do
them harm. Having this sort of power and choosing not to use it is what needs
to be taught to each and every gun owner, in order for gun laws to be respected
and used as they were intended.
"Some other controls that we can implement would be to improve the technology in weapons. " This. Technology has increased the accuracy and strength of weapons, how come it hasn't dome much for safety? Anyone can operate a gun, even children. Pick it up, aim and fire. How are individually owned weapons not lock to one user? specifically the owner. How about identifying the most recent user with finger prints?
ReplyDeleteProps to this group. Excellent argument.
I enjoyed reading your essay but I disagree with several of your points. First of all I do agree that we must limit the access of guns to people who aren't qualified to carry guns, but having a finger print system would cost millions of dollars to equip the guns. It is a good idea in principle but it doesn't get at the root of thee problem. In my opinion, certain types of guns should not be allowed to the public. Video games are not the threat that people think it has on our youth too. I don't think that little kids should be playing such violent games but these video games are played all throughout the world and America by far has a higher gun related deaths than all of these other western countries that have these video games. Is it because these countries are more homicidal by nature, I don't think so. No gun laws will ever save everyone but our government can make several laws that will certainly help the situation.
ReplyDeleteI love a lot of these arguments, and the blog was very well organized. I would like to have a more specific answer on whether or not people who are depressed, or have been in the past, should be able to conceal a weapon. I believe you point on magazines is extremely on point and would be effective. Your point about video games is absolutely true, parents NEED to monitor their children. Many people believe it is untrue that video games increase violence, but they are wrong. There is scientific evidence, including brain scans, that violent video games activate the same parts of the brain as violence being experienced in person. Well done, great blog.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very well organized blog post and you made very clear arguments. I enjoyed reading it and I agree with everything you said. You pointed out a lot of critical issues, especially the fact that video-games play a MAJOR role in influencing kids. Children spend so much time either watching TV or playing video-games and the shock value in America keeps rising which allows incredibly graphic and gory pictures to become more acceptable which is something that needs to be changed. Great job!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this there were many good points and also touchy topics, like mental illness. I think if you are depressed, or bi polar, or going through some bad patch that needs therapy or medication the LAST of your worries should be getting a gun permit. Unfortunately the brain is an amazing yet unpredictable partof humans. If your operating system is having some problems you should definetly not be operating a gun.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good point on to talking about mental illnesses and to make sure they are in a good state of mind. In our blog we talked about the same thing. I think its important to know with what kind of people want a gun and why if and only its not for personal safety. It is important to acknowledge that there will be no way to getting rid of guns complete, but I do hope things change!
ReplyDelete