THE FUTURE OF GUN CONTROL Essay, Research Paper

THE FUTURE OF GUN CONTROL

This report is about the future of gun control.

The future of gun control is basically that guns will soon be

very hard to get your hands on and even after you get them then

you will be very restricted on where, when, and how you will be

able to use your firearm.

The types of guns that most people are against are already

banned. People do not take the time to do the research to find

out that the types of guns that are used for hunting are not most

commonly used in armed crimes. Also the types of guns used

in most crimes are not those which are purchased in a gun shop

but those which are bought on the street. If people want to

control guns then they should focus on supporting more police

and training to get guns off the street, rather than make the

people who use firearms for sporting and hunting use pay the

price for the few people who use firearms to commit crimes.

One gun control strategy centers around high-risk guns.

Since 1934, federal law has severely restricted machine

guns(weapons that fire many founds of ammunition with a

single pull of the trigger) and sawed-off shot guns. The

Congress of the United States Judged these to be high-risk

weapons. Since the late 1980?s, many people have proposed

adding some semi-automatic rifles and pistols to the list of

restricted high-risk weapons. These guns require a separate

pull of the trigger to fire each found of ammunition but can

quickly fire many rounds. Restrictions on the sale of some

semi-automatic guns, which are called assault weapons in the

legislation, became federal law in 1994.

There have also been proposals to treat handguns

(revolvers & pistols) as special high-risk weapons that ordinary

citizens shouldn?t own. These proposals are controversial.

Their backers argue that handguns are easily concealed and are

much more likely to be used in crime thane rifles and shotguns.

Opponents of handgun restrictions argue that taking handguns

from law-abiding citizens would not prevent the possession of

guns by criminals. Despite this controversy, some localities and

states have laws that strongly restrict private ownership of

handguns.

Other strategies for controlling guns require the licensing

of guns or waiting periods before purchasing a gun. These

strategies are designed to allow time for law enforcement

officials to make sure that the person buying the gun is not

prohibited from owning a gun. Some U.S. states have adopted

laws based on these strategies, and in 1993, after a seven year

fight, the U.S. Congress passed the Brady Bill, named after

former White House press secretary James Brady. Brady and

his wife, Sara became supporters of gun control after Brady was

shot and seriously wounded during a 1981 assassination

attempt on the Ronald Reagan.

The so-called ?Brady Law which went into effect in 1994,

provides a five-day waiting period to allow local law enforcement

officials to ensure that the buyer is qualified to own a handgun.

The was also established a $200.00 federal firearm license fee

and a $90.00 annual license renewal fee. People who oppose

such licensing and waiting periods argue that legitimate gun

owners pay the cost of the procedures and bear the

inconvenience of waiting periods.