Stricter Gun Control Laws. The Writer Addresses

¶ … stricter gun control laws. The writer addresses several important issues surrounding the issue of gun control and presents a case for stricter laws and tougher enforcement regarding gun control. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

The topic of gun control has been the center of heated debates for several decades. Events such as Columbine have served to deepen the line drawn in the sand regarding gun control laws, their strictness and the effort of their enforcement. Gun control laws need to become more stringent and be more harshly enforced of America hopes to stop the slippery slope that it appears to be on when it comes to gun violence in within its boundaries.

One of the problems with gun control issues is that the interest waxes and wanes with each tragic event. Immediately after the events at Columbine High School support for stricter gun control laws jumped in the polls with 51% of the population weighing in on the side of stricter gun control.

As time begins to erase the shock and horror of the event the support for gun control begins to lessen, up until the next time (More pg). The problem, is there will always be a next time and the time to take action is before it happens, not after.

Columbine proved to illustrate the need for stricter gun control laws.

Before the school shootings, 47% said better enforcement of existing laws was the way to limit gun violence, while 42% said tougher gun laws would be more effective. After the shootings, 51% said tougher gun laws would be more effective, while 39% said better enforcement. A similar increase was found when people were asked whether they favored or opposed stricter gun-control laws. In the first poll, 55% were in favor and 40% were opposed. The second poll found 63% in favor and 31% opposed (More pg)."

It has been shown statistically that when there is access to a gun in a domestic situation someone ends up dead far more often than when there is no access to a gun. In addition when it comes to violent crimes such as robbery or rape the same statistics apply. When there is a gun involved it is more likely to end in death. These statistics point to the need for stricter gun control because removing the easy access to the firearms may prove to save lives even during the commission of crimes (Cannon PG).

Much of the support for gun control comes from organizations of mothers and family members who have had to bury loved ones who died because of a gun. The opposition however, is backed by the multibillion dollar enterprise of gun manufacturers who promote slogans such as: "Guns Don't Pull Their Own Triggers" and "Ted Kennedy's Car Has Killed More People Than My Gun."

Statistically 13 children die each and every day in America from gun violence. In family members of gun owners have a 22 times higher incidence of being harmed by that gun then being harmed by a possible intruder's gun.

For one to answer the question of the danger of guns in the hands of the general public one only has to look at the headlines (Cannon PG).

On Oct. 1, 1997, a teenaged killer in Pearl, Miss., was captured by Assistant Principal Joel Myrick, who by chance had his.45-caliber pistol in his car. The following April, a 14-year-old in Edinboro, Pa., killed a science teacher and wounded several students at a school dance, but was held by James Strand, the owner of the hall, who subdued the youth at the point of a shotgun (Cannon PG)."

These and many other cases are becoming common place on American soil.