Guns Usage And Storing Essay, Research Paper

Guns

A gun gives criminals the power of life and death over ordinary, innocent citizens, and because of that reason there are countless robberies, rapes, and assaults carried out with handguns. There are two hundred thousand robberies and one hundred thousand aggravated assaults are committed with handguns every year. Over two hundred thousand handguns are stolen every year; a sizeable proportion is later used in criminal activity. A firearm in the home carries out associated risks. Guns in the household include risks such as homicide during domestic quarrels, injury or death from unintentional gun shot wounds, and the availability of an immediate, highly lethal means of suicide. In many homes with hand guns, the only real use of the guns may be to make its owner feel safer, but guns in the home are much more likely to kill residents in the home than intruders. Even though the most common reason for owning a handgun is for household self-defense, studies show that loaded household handguns are more likely to kill family members than to save their lives. For every intruder killed by a handgun, six homeowners or their children are killed by accident. About half of all American families own a firearm of some sort, and as many as one in four have a handgun owner among them. There are approximately one hundred twenty million guns in private homes in the United States. One fifth of gun owners identify “Self defense at home” as their most important reason for having a gun. About half of all the homes in America contain one or more firearms. A five-year study of deaths involving firearms kept in the home found that, for every case of self-protection homicides, there were 1.3 accidental deaths, 4.6 criminal homicides, and thirty-seven suicides. Guns are used in most youth suicides. Firearms are now used in most suicides on 10-14 and 15-24 year olds. About ten thousand suicides are committed with a handgun annually. (Over four out of five firearm suicides are committed with a handgun.) The increase fueled almost entirely by firearm suicides, which rose from forty eight percent to sixty three percent to total youth suicides. Between 1970 and 1980, the suicide rate among 15-19 year olds increased by forty four percent. Between 1980 and 1986, the number of suicides by 10-14 year olds more than doubled from one hundred thirty nine to two hundred fifty. In 1986, one thousand eight hundred ninety six youths took their lives; one thousand one hundred fifty one with guns, representing a further twenty percent increase in the suicide rate. The suicide rate among teenage boys is more than three times higher that the rate among girls. In part because boys choose more lethal means to attempt suicide. In 1986, more than six times as many boys as girls killed themselves with firearms. The easy availability of firearms to youths has become a serious problem to today’s schools and the communities that we live in. School violence has become a dismal fact of life, but many educators continue to respond with not in my, school denial. According to the National crime survey, almost three million crimes occur on or near schoolyard campuses every year sixteen thousand per school day, or one every six seconds. A federally founded twenty-state survey of eleven thousand adolescents found that forty one percent of boys and twenty one percent of girls said they could obtain a handgun if they wanted to. Florida reported a forty two percent increase in gun incidents in schools between the 1986-1987 and 1987-1988 schools years (eighty six percent of the guns were traced came from student’s homes.) California Schools reported a forty three percent increase in student gun confiscations in middle schools and fifty percent increase in high schools over three years. In California in the 1988-1989 School year sessions, assaults were up sixteen percent to sixty nine percent. Almost one-third of the students in thirty-one high schools in Illinois said they had brought a weapon to school for self-protection at some time during their high school career. Three percent of boys said they had carried a handgun to school once in 1987, and one percent – potentially one hundred thirty five thousand nationwide, said they carried one to school daily. The 1991-1992 School year session in New York had fifty-six shootings and was the bloodiest ever: November 18, 1991, Brooklyn Alternative High School: Teacher Shot in the left arm on street. On November 21,1991, McKee High School, Curtis High School, and Staten Island: A student shot three students, killing one 18-year-old. November 1,1991, Westinghouse High School, Brooklyn: 19 students shot in back by gang of armed intruders in school highway. November 21, 1992 Brooklyn, Police officer shot in street by student. October 8, 1991, James Monroe High School, the Bronx: 17 students shot and killed. October 7,1991, Brooklyn: Parent shot in back by pellet of BB gun November 25, 1991, Thomas Jefferson High School, Brooklyn: 16 students and teachers killed and wounded in hall. January 30, 1992, Brooklyn, Two Students (Band II) wounded when another student fired into playground. Although Some Legislation has been put forward to eliminate even these federal four regulations, other proposals have been difficult for minors, criminals and others to obtain handguns. There have been several types of proposed legislation relating to handguns. One type of proposed legislation is Registration. Gun Purchasers would be required to register his gun serial number, with his name and address with state or local police. Licensing would require Gun Purchasers to obtain a permit before being allowed to buy a handgun. Such permits would be issued by local police departments and would either be permits to purchase, to possess, or to carry. Waiting periods would allow the authorities to check criminal and other records to insure the gun purchaser was not prohibited from gun ownership. Waiting periods also would require waiting many numbers of days between the time of purchasing the gun and the time allowed to receive the gun. Mandatory Finger Print and Criminal Record Checks would allow local police agencies to be required to check with state and federal authorities to make sure a gun purchaser was legally able to obtain a gun. Positive ID Cards would require handgun purchasers to present positive verification of his Identity before being allowed to purchase a handgun and/or apply for a permit to purchase. Mandatory Safety Training would require a course for Gun Purchasers concerning the proper storage and maintenance of his weapon. The courses would be emphasized on the prevention of accidents and thefts. Banning is the most severe handgun control proposals, because this would make it illegal to own a handgun. (With the exception of police officers) Although the law makes it illegal to purchase a gun in a state which not being a resident of, in some states some may not even be required to present an ID proving you identity, or being a resident of that state. When using a gun, here are three safety rules that should be used to prevent accidents to innocent bystanders.

1. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

2. Always keep you finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

3. Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

There are already more than twenty thousand gun laws in the Nation to match the thousands of gun killings. The attempt to control weapons has been around for centuries.

Because of the political goals that shape and nations military actions, gun control is very difficult to achieve. Many gun control issues center around The Second Amendment. The Second Amendment 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.” In most States, banging a handgun is not difficult.

All that has to be done when purchasing a handgun is filing out a form stating your name, address, and age and to certify that the purchaser is not a criminal, drug addict, nor suffer from mental illness. The Brady Bill, passed on November 30, 1993, is a federal statement ordering for a five day waiting period when purchasing a gun. This is to allow for a background check of the consumer. This is an attempt to handle violence of guns.