Gun Control Essay, Research Paper

Jamie Scott

Tina Smeby

English Comp I

December 10, 1999

Law Making and Enforcement

There are new laws and regulations being made all the time in the United States these days. Politicians think that by making these new laws it will fix their current problems. This is the case right now with the problems they are having with gun control.

These new laws do help and prevent a lot of crimes and accidents from happening. This is mainly because of the fear punishment will bring by getting caught. Thus justifying the increases in punishment that we are seeing in many areas in the justice system today. For the most part these new laws have largely helped in fighting crime. We have some of the lowest crime rates in the United States than we have seen in a very long time. And a big help in this was the making of the new and harsher laws.

Though these new laws have helped fight crime and punish the people who commit these crimes. They have also punished the majority of the people in the United States who don?t commit these crimes. They limit our freedom to do many of the things that have been looked on as just natural in the past. They have made it harder and more costly to own and buy guns, otherwise known as the Right to Bear Arms. This being one of the first principles that this government was established on.

Other countries have already gone to worse laws than this; for example Australia?s new law prohibits pump shotguns and semi-automatics from being owned. The new law compensated the people for the price of the gun, then has the gun taken away, melted down and destroyed. For the majority of the people that do own guns see the price or cost of the gun as not the main issue, many of these guns destroyed were the hand downs from as far back as great-grandfathers, that were handed down over the years and can have no price set on them. Many of these guns are like family heirlooms to the people who they were taken from. And if you do decide to hide the gun or not turn it in to the government, it is considered as a crime. A crime that I consider justified because of the personal importance of the matter. Even the Olympic biathlons cannot train in the country because of the law. They are sponsored by Australia but have to do their practicing outside the country. Canada is another country not far from this and the United States could be next.

This way of thinking is being introduced into the United States now, and it is catching on especially fast with all of the attention that the recent school shootings that have been going on. It is not the gun that is the killer; it is the person who pulls the trigger who is at fault. One of the main problems going on with these shootings are not that there are not enough laws these days. The main problem is that the current laws that we have now are not being enforced. The kids at the Columbine shooting broke at least fourteen currents laws. Now why do we need more unnecessary laws that will hurt the majority of the good people that own guns if the current ones we have cannot and have not been enforced? The time and money should not be spent on how we can further limit the sales and possession of gun, it should be spent on the enforcing of the laws we have now. Most every person that use?s the gun or weapon for a bad or illegal purpose?s will not obey the law on how to purchase the weapon. They would rather find a way to get the weapon fast, cheap, and with out putting his or her name on the registration to later link them to the crime. And by the time these criminals get caught they most likely have already done the crime or crimes the have set out to do.

I am a gun owner and have been brought up in an environment that teaches respect for a gun, and realize they are not a toy, and should not be played with. Guns have a specific purpose and if not used right I do agree that they should be taken away or the person that misuses the weapon should punished. But the way it is happening right now it is not just the miss users that are being punished it is everyone. So I urge you who do not want a country with out guns for the general public, go out and do something about it. The least you can do is to urge you local, state, or national politician to vote no to harsh gun control laws, and work on enforcing the ones that are already there.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Gun Owner