Handguns – Vital Weapons Or Deadly Killers Essay, Research Paper

Firearms; Vital Tools for Self Defense

or

Deadly Killers?

Introduction

There are presently in excess of 200 million guns in the United States, according to

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Each year this number grows by 4 to 5

million. There are 60 to 65 million legal owners of one or more guns.1 There is a firearm

on the premises of more than half the households in America. Most of them keep guns for

protection. The others keep them for hunting, target shooting, collecting, and similar

pursuits.

In recent years nearly 35,000 people have been killed annually by guns in the

United States. These deaths include 15,000 murders, 18,000 suicides, and 1,500

accidents.2 It is because of these statistics that many would like to ban guns altogether.

But is that really in your best interest? Would it really benefit this country, or reduce the

number of murders in this country? Consider the evidence in this article and you will see

that guns should not be outlawed and that less gun control in necessary to preserve what

the founders of this country believed in.

Guns are Beneficial

Guns can help prevent crime. This is a view held by many opponents to gun

control. The criminals themselves agree. As part of a three – year study by the U. S.

Department of Justice, criminals in prisons across the nation were interviewed. Sixty

percent feared being shot by an armed citizen more than being shot by the police. fifty -

three percent did not commit a specific crime because they were afraid the victim was

armed. Fifty – seven percent of them were scared off by an armed victim who either

brandished a gun or actually fired it.3 This alone shows that crime would drop if more

citizens owned, carried and knew how to use guns.

One such case involved eleven – year old Jason Green of Houston, Texas. Home

alone one night, he heard noises in the house. Arming himself with his father’s shotgun he

investigated and caught a burglar in the act. Just then his mother pulled up outside in the

family car. Fearing the burglar might harm his mother Jason fired. His mother reacted by

bursting into the house and firing her revolver. Hit by bullets from both guns the burglar

died.

Jason’s mother, like Jason, was defending her house against an intruder. There are

about 645,000 defensive uses of handguns each year, according to Gary Kleck, a

professor at Florida State University. He bases his figure on several surveys on handgun

use, including one done for an organization that favors banning all guns. Kleck also

concluded that hand guns used in self – defense, or some other legally justified cause kill

1,500 to 2,800 criminals every year. If other types of firearms besides handguns are

included, then over 1,000,000 law – abiding citizens use guns for self – defense annually.

Guns also provide vulnerable women with some form of protection against rape

and other violent crime. Recently, Orlando, Florida saw an increase in the number of

rapes over a twelve – month period from 12.8 per 100,000 to 35.9 per100,000. Women in

Orlando were afraid to go out alone, even in the daytime. Citizens of Orlando demanded

that something be done.

Something was done. the Orlando Police Department set up a program to train

women to use handguns. Over three thousand women armed themselves and took

training courses. As a result, Orlando’s rape figure dropped to 4.1 per 100,000 – a 90

percent drop from the previous high. Similar programs in Detroit and Highland Park,

Michigan, and Montgomery, Alabama saw impressive reductions in crimes against women,

including both rape and robbery.

One woman victim decided on her own that she had enough. A fifty – one year old

woman of Los Angeles, California, twice raped by the same man, purchased a handgun

and took lesions to learn how to use it. When the man return a third time she shot and

killed him.

These are just a handful of examples of why handguns help prevent crime. There

are literally thousands of these stories. The bottom line though is criminals will have guns

and other weapons whether the government takes them away from law – abiding citizens

or not. The plain and simply fact is guns give people an effective way to arm yourself and

protect yourself when the police aren’t around. Whether or not proponents of gun control

want to admit it or not this is a proven fact.

Is Banning Guns a Good Idea?

The answer is clear, NO. Why not you may ask? Ask yourself this, if the

government were to ban the sale and use and ownership of guns would criminals comply

with this law? The problem with most gun control measures is that gun violence relates

not to the number of guns but to who owns them. A person who is willing to commit a

crime is not likely to abide by gun registration laws or even bans. James D. Wright a

professor of sociology at the university of Massachusetts asks, Why should we expect

felons to comply with a gun law when they readily violate laws against robbery, assault

and murder?”4

For this reason, many people argue, restrictive laws will not reduce crime because

criminals will still have guns. And if criminals still have guns violence will continue. New

York City, for example, has very tight handgun restrictions. To buy a handgun, city

residents must apply to the police for a permit. Very few permits are given out. They

primarily go to active duty and retired police officers, security guards and bodyguards. In

addition anyone caught carrying a concealed handgun without a permit faces a felony

charge and a mandatory prison sentence. Because of these restrictions, as of April 1991

there were only 61,497 legally owned handguns in New York City, a city of nearly 8

million people.5 Yet research indicates that there are at least 750,000 hand guns in the

city and gun – related crime remains high. In 1989, 70 percent of the city’s twenty – two

hundred homicides were caused by gunfire. The BATF says that 96 percent of all

handguns used for criminal purposes come from outside the city. This means that

criminals still obtain handguns for illicit purposes despite New York’s tough laws. But

should the government have the right and the power to take guns away from citizens?

This will be discussed in the next section.

The Second Amendment

The second amendment is a very simple idea that many people will try to

complicate. Why? Because they try to twist it’s concept to support their own ideas. But

the second amendment to the constitution is a very straight forward, simple statement.

The second amendment simply says ” A well – regulated militia being necessary to the

security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be

infringed.” Gun control proponent argue that this only applies to a state militia and not

the right of an individual to own and carry a gun. Let us examine the constitution to see if

this is indeed the case.

Let us begin by examining the first amendment. It states ” Congress shall make no

law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to

assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Notice first of all

that in this single amendment to the constitution there are actually six rights guaranteed to

the “people”. This will be significant in later discussion. Next, notice the significance of

the word “people”. This word simply means “the persons composing a community or tribe

or race or nation.” or “the subjects or citizens of a state”. Notice that it doesn’t mean the

public as a whole or one but rather it means each individual.

With that said let us move on to the amendment in questioned, the second. ” A

well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people

to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Let us examine this one part at a time. “A

well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state comma”. This is

ensuring the right of each state to have and regulate it’s own militia. At the time of the

writing of the constitution people were afraid of an over powering, dominating

government like the government of England that they overthrew. This right would ensure

that the Federal army wouldn’t have total power as in the case of England. This would

also give the states the independence they wanted while maintaining the unity of the whole

country. Again, notice the comma. A comma is used to indicate the separation of ideas in

a list. This comma can only mean one thing. This is were the idea of more than one right

in an amendment come into play. Similar to the first amendment, this amendment

guarantees more than one right. What is the second right guaranteed in the second

amendment?

The amendment continues ” the right of the ‘people’ to keep and bear arms shall

not be infringed.” Here it is spelled out in black and white, in a simple statement. The

people or each citizen has the right to keep and bear firearms. Proponents of gun control

seem to forget this simple statement. They try to twist these simple idea to get people to

believe that this only applies to the state militia. As we see here though, from a simple

discussion and a little reasoning we can see just how simple an idea this is.

Conclusion

In this paper it was shown just how regular citizens were able to defend themselves

with the use of a gun. This was because they were trained in the use of the firearm as well

as the safety aspects of its use. It has been shown that criminals are afraid of citizens

armed with a gun. It has been shown that arming one self with a firearm can not only be a

deterrent to crime but a successful defense. It was shown that if guns were outlawed then

only outlaws would have guns. It has been shown that owning and caring a gun is your

constitution right as laid out in the second amendment. Whether you agree with the

evidence presented in this paper or not this are the facts. Some gun control proponents

will try to distort these facts to hide the truth. But this is the truth. It is because of public

option, fear and a misunderstanding of guns that many people feel that guns should be

made illegal. But outlawing guns is not the answer. Alleviating the fear and

misunderstanding about firearms is. It is only then that many people will see the benefit of

the firearm. Taking guns away from law – abiding citizens while felons continue to use

them is not the answer. It is your constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Clearly we

have seen that outlaw guns would not be in our best interest. We have seen that doing so

would not reduce the number of innocent people killed each year. This is why guns

should not be outlawed and less gun control in necessary to preserve the idea and

philosophies set out in the constitution of the United States.

Endnotes

1. Ted Gottfried, Gun Control and The Right to Bear Arms (Brookfield, Ct.:

Millbrook Press, 1993 ), pg. 13

2. Ibid pg 17

3. Ibid pg. 48

4. Neil Bernard, Gun Control ( San Diego, Ca., Lucent Books, 1991 ) pg 68

5. Ibid pg. 56

Aitkens, Maggi. Should We Have Gun Control. Minniapolis, Minn: ., Lerner

Publications. 1992.

Bernard, Neil. Gun Control. San Diego, Ca.: Lucent Books. 1991.

Gottfried, Ted., Gun Control and The Right to Bear Arms. Brookfield, Ct.: The

Millbrook Press., 1993

Gottlieb, Alan. Gun Rights Fact Book Bellevue, Washington: Merril Press, 1988.

Robers, Joseph Jr.The Armed Citizen. Washington D.C. : The Nation Rifile Association

of America. 1989.

Firearms; Vital Tools for Self Defense

or

Deadly Killers?

Introduction

There are presently in excess of 200 million guns in the United States, according to

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Each year this number grows by 4 to 5

million. There are 60 to 65 million legal owners of one or more guns.1 There is a firearm

on the premises of more than half the households in America. Most of them keep guns for

protection. The others keep them for hunting, target shooting, collecting, and similar

pursuits.

In recent years nearly 35,000 people have been killed annually by guns in the

United States. These deaths include 15,000 murders, 18,000 suicides, and 1,500

accidents.2 It is because of these statistics that many would like to ban guns altogether.

But is that really in your best interest? Would it really benefit this country, or reduce the

number of murders in this country? Consider the evidence in this article and you will see

that guns should not be outlawed and that less gun control in necessary to preserve what

the founders of this country believed in.

Guns are Beneficial

Guns can help prevent crime. This is a view held by many opponents to gun

control. The criminals themselves agree. As part of a three – year study by the U. S.

Department of Justice, criminals in prisons across the nation were interviewed. Sixty

percent feared being shot by an armed citizen more than being shot by the police. fifty -

three percent did not commit a specific crime because they were afraid the victim was

armed. Fifty – seven percent of them were scared off by an armed victim who either

brandished a gun or actually fired it.3 This alone shows that crime would drop if more

citizens owned, carried and knew how to use guns.

One such case involved eleven – year old Jason Green of Houston, Texas. Home

alone one night, he heard noises in the house. Arming himself with his father’s shotgun he

investigated and caught a burglar in the act. Just then his mother pulled up outside in the

family car. Fearing the burglar might harm his mother Jason fired. His mother reacted by

bursting into the house and firing her revolver. Hit by bullets from both guns the burglar

died.

Jason’s mother, like Jason, was defending her house against an intruder. There are

about 645,000 defensive uses of handguns each year, according to Gary Kleck, a

professor at Florida State University. He bases his figure on several surveys on handgun

use, including one done for an organization that favors banning all guns. Kleck also

concluded that hand guns used in self – defense, or some other legally justified cause kill

1,500 to 2,800 criminals every year. If other types of firearms besides handguns are

included, then over 1,000,000 law – abiding citizens use guns for self – defense annually.

Guns also provide vulnerable women with some form of protection against rape

and other violent crime. Recently, Orlando, Florida saw an increase in the number of

rapes over a twelve – month period from 12.8 per 100,000 to 35.9 per100,000. Women in

Orlando were afraid to go out alone, even in the daytime. Citizens of Orlando demanded

that something be done.

Something was done. the Orlando Police Department set up a program to train

women to use handguns. Over three thousand women armed themselves and took

training courses. As a result, Orlando’s rape figure dropped to 4.1 per 100,000 – a 90

percent drop from the previous high. Similar programs in Detroit and Highland Park,

Michigan, and Montgomery, Alabama saw impressive reductions in crimes against women,

including both rape and robbery.

One woman victim decided on her own that she had enough. A fifty – one year old

woman of Los Angeles, California, twice raped by the same man, purchased a handgun

and took lesions to learn how to use it. When the man return a third time she shot and

killed him.

These are just a handful of examples of why handguns help prevent crime. There

are literally thousands of these stories. The bottom line though is criminals will have guns

and other weapons whether the government takes them away from law – abiding citizens

or not. The plain and simply fact is guns give people an effective way to arm yourself and

protect yourself when the police aren’t around. Whether or not proponents of gun control

want to admit it or not this is a proven fact.

Is Banning Guns a Good Idea?

The answer is clear, NO. Why not you may ask? Ask yourself this, if the

government were to ban the sale and use and ownership of guns would criminals comply

with this law? The problem with most gun control measures is that gun violence relates

not to the number of guns but to who owns them. A person who is willing to commit a

crime is not likely to abide by gun registration laws or even bans. James D. Wright a

professor of sociology at the university of Massachusetts asks, Why should we expect

felons to comply with a gun law when they readily violate laws against robbery, assault

and murder?”4

For this reason, many people argue, restrictive laws will not reduce crime because

criminals will still have guns. And if criminals still have guns violence will continue. New

York City, for example, has very tight handgun restrictions. To buy a handgun, city

residents must apply to the police for a permit. Very few permits are given out. They

primarily go to active duty and retired police officers, security guards and bodyguards. In

addition anyone caught carrying a concealed handgun without a permit faces a felony

charge and a mandatory prison sentence. Because of these restrictions, as of April 1991

there were only 61,497 legally owned handguns in New York City, a city of nearly 8

million people.5 Yet research indicates that there are at least 7

.

Firearms; Vital Tools for Self Defense

or

Deadly Killers?

Introduction

There are presently in excess of 200 million guns in the United States, according to

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Each year this number grows by 4 to 5

million. There are 60 to 65 million legal owners of one or more guns.1 There is a firearm

on the premises of more than half the households in America. Most of them keep guns for

protection. The others keep them for hunting, target shooting, collecting, and similar

pursuits.

In recent years nearly 35,000 people have been killed annually by guns in the

United States. These deaths include 15,000 murders, 18,000 suicides, and 1,500

accidents.2 It is because of these statistics that many would like to ban guns altogether.

But is that really in your best interest? Would it really benefit this country, or reduce the

number of murders in this country? Consider the evidence in this article and you will see

that guns should not be outlawed and that less gun control in necessary to preserve what

the founders of this country believed in.

Guns are Beneficial

Guns can help prevent crime. This is a view held by many opponents to gun

control. The criminals themselves agree. As part of a three – year study by the U. S.

Department of Justice, criminals in prisons across the nation were interviewed. Sixty

percent feared being shot by an armed citizen more than being shot by the police. fifty -

three percent did not commit a specific crime because they were afraid the victim was

armed. Fifty – seven percent of them were scared off by an armed victim who either

brandished a gun or actually fired it.3 This alone shows that crime would drop if more

citizens owned, carried and knew how to use guns.

One such case involved eleven – year old Jason Green of Houston, Texas. Home

alone one night, he heard noises in the house. Arming himself with his father’s shotgun he

investigated and caught a burglar in the act. Just then his mother pulled up outside in the

family car. Fearing the burglar might harm his mother Jason fired. His mother reacted by

bursting into the house and firing her revolver. Hit by bullets from both guns the burglar

died.

Jason’s mother, like Jason, was defending her house against an intruder. There are

about 645,000 defensive uses of handguns each year, according to Gary Kleck, a

professor at Florida State University. He bases his figure on several surveys on handgun

use, including one done for an organization that favors banning all guns. Kleck also

concluded that hand guns used in self – defense, or some other legally justified cause kill

1,500 to 2,800 criminals every year. If other types of firearms besides handguns are

included, then over 1,000,000 law – abiding citizens use guns for self – defense annually.

Guns also provide vulnerable women with some form of protection against rape

and other violent crime. Recently, Orlando, Florida saw an increase in the number of

rapes over a twelve – month period from 12.8 per 100,000 to 35.9 per100,000. Women in

Orlando were afraid to go out alone, even in the daytime. Citizens of Orlando demanded

that something be done.

Something was done. the Orlando Police Department set up a program to train

women to use handguns. Over three thousand women armed themselves and took

training courses. As a result, Orlando’s rape figure dropped to 4.1 per 100,000 – a 90

percent drop from the previous high. Similar programs in Detroit and Highland Park,

Michigan, and Montgomery, Alabama saw impressive reductions in crimes against women,

including both rape and robbery.

One woman victim decided on her own that she had enough. A fifty – one year old

woman of Los Angeles, California, twice raped by the same man, purchased a handgun

and took lesions to learn how to use it. When the man return a third time she shot and

killed him.

These are just a handful of examples of why handguns help prevent crime. There

are literally thousands of these stories. The bottom line though is criminals will have guns

and other weapons whether the government takes them away from law – abiding citizens

or not. The plain and simply fact is guns give people an effective way to arm yourself and

protect yourself when the police aren’t around. Whether or not proponents of gun control

want to admit it or not this is a proven fact.

Is Banning Guns a Good Idea?

The answer is clear, NO. Why not you may ask? Ask yourself this, if the

government were to ban the sale and use and ownership of guns would criminals comply

with this law? The problem with most gun control measures is that gun violence relates

not to the number of guns but to who owns them. A person who is willing to commit a

crime is not likely to abide by gun registration laws or even bans. James D. Wright a

professor of sociology at the university of Massachusetts asks, Why should we expect

felons to comply with a gun law when they readily violate laws against robbery, assault

and murder?”4

For this reason, many people argue, restrictive laws will not reduce crime because

criminals will still have guns. And if criminals still have guns violence will continue. New

York City, for example, has very tight handgun restrictions. To buy a handgun, city

residents must apply to the police for a permit. Very few permits are given out. They

primarily go to active duty and retired police officers, security guards and bodyguards. In

addition anyone caught carrying a concealed handgun without a permit faces a felony

charge and a mandatory prison sentence. Because of these restrictions, as of April 1991

there were only 61,497 legally owned handguns in New York City, a city of nearly 8

million people.5 Yet research indicates that there are at least 750,000 hand guns in the

city and gun – related crime remains high. In 1989, 70 percent of the city’s twenty – two

hundred homicides were caused by gunfire. The BATF says that 96 percent of all

handguns used for criminal purposes come from outside the city. This means that

criminals still obtain handguns for illicit purposes despite New York’s tough laws. But

should the government have the right and the power to take guns away from citizens?

This will be discussed in the next section.

The Second Amendment

The second amendment is a very simple idea that many people will try to

complicate. Why? Because they try to twist it’s concept to support their own ideas. But

the second amendment to the constitution is a very straight forward, simple statement.

The second amendment simply says ” A well – regulated militia being necessary to the

security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be

infringed.” Gun control proponent argue that this only applies to a state militia and not

the right of an individual to own and carry a gun. Let us examine the constitution to see if

this is indeed the case.

Let us begin by examining the first amendment. It states ” Congress shall make no

law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to

assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Notice first of all

that in this single amendment to the constitution there are actually six rights guaranteed to

the “people”. This will be significant in later discussion. Next, notice the significance of

the word “people”. This word simply means “the persons composing a community or tribe

or race or nation.” or “the subjects or citizens of a state”. Notice that it doesn’t mean the

public as a whole or one but rather it means each individual.

With that said let us move on to the amendment in questioned, the second. ” A

well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people

to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Let us examine this one part at a time. “A

well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state comma”. This is

ensuring the right of each state to have and regulate it’s own militia. At the time of the

writing of the constitution people were afraid of an over powering, dominating

government like the government of England that they overthrew. This right would ensure

that the Federal army wouldn’t have total power as in the case of England. This would

also give the states the independence they wanted while maintaining the unity of the whole

country. Again, notice the comma. A comma is used to indicate the separation of ideas in

a list. This comma can only mean one thing. This is were the idea of more than one right

in an amendment come into play. Similar to the first amendment, this amendment

guarantees more than one right. What is the second right guaranteed in the second

amendment?

The amendment continues ” the right of the ‘people’ to keep and bear arms shall

not be infringed.” Here it is spelled out in black and white, in a simple statement. The

people or each citizen has the right to keep and bear firearms. Proponents of gun control

seem to forget this simple statement. They try to twist these simple idea to get people to

believe that this only applies to the state militia. As we see here though, from a simple

discussion and a little reasoning we can see just how simple an idea this is.

Conclusion

In this paper it was shown just how regular citizens were able to defend themselves

with the use of a gun. This was because they were trained in the use of the firearm as well

as the safety aspects of its use. It has been shown that criminals are afraid of citizens

armed with a gun. It has been shown that arming one self with a firearm can not only be a

deterrent to crime but a successful defense. It was shown that if guns were outlawed then

only outlaws would have guns. It has been shown that owning and caring a gun is your

constitution right as laid out in the second amendment. Whether you agree with the

evidence presented in this paper or not this are the facts. Some gun control proponents

will try to distort these facts to hide the truth. But this is the truth. It is because of public

option, fear and a misunderstanding of guns that many people feel that guns should be

made illegal. But outlawing guns is not the answer. Alleviating the fear and

misunderstanding about firearms is. It is only then that many people will see the benefit of

the firearm. Taking guns away from law – abiding citizens while felons continue to use

them is not the answer. It is your constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Clearly we

have seen that outlaw guns would not be in our best interest. We have seen that doing so

would not reduce the number of innocent people killed each year. This is why guns

should not be outlawed and less gun control in necessary to preserve the idea and

philosophies set out in the constitution of the United States.

Endnotes

1. Ted Gottfried, Gun Control and The Right to Bear Arms (Brookfield, Ct.:

Millbrook Press, 1993 ), pg. 13

2. Ibid pg 17

3. Ibid pg. 48

4. Neil Bernard, Gun Control ( San Diego, Ca., Lucent Books, 1991 ) pg 68

5. Ibid pg. 56

Bibliography

Aitkens, Maggi. Should We Have Gun Control. Minniapolis, Minn: ., Lerner

Publications. 1992.

Bernard, Neil. Gun Control. San Diego, Ca.: Lucent Books. 1991.

Gottfried, Ted., Gun Control and The Right to Bear Arms. Brookfield, Ct.: The

Millbrook Press., 1993

Gottlieb, Alan. Gun Rights Fact Book Bellevue, Washington: Merril Press, 1988.

Robers, Joseph Jr.The Armed Citizen. Washington D.C. : The Nation Rifile Association

of America. 1989.

.