Gun Control Argumentative Analysis

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The topic of gun control and whether or not it should be stricter is a very controversial one. As a student in an education system that has seen more mass shootings than I’d care to count, understanding and being informed on this issue is important to me. Therefore, the question must be asked; To what extent does gun control impact the lives of the citizens of the United States? For every 100 people in the US, there are approximately 88.8 guns. That means there are roughly 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total in the world. Between January of 2000 and July of 2014, there have been at least 126 mass shootings in the United States (ProCon.org, 2015). A vast majority of the population is divided as to whether or not there should be stricter …show more content…
This particular amendment is said to protect “individual” gun ownership. It is believed that enacting stricter gun control would infringe upon the American citizen’s right to bear arms (US Supreme Court, 2007). Furthermore, advocates for gun rights argue that gun control laws do not deter crime, rather gun ownership does (Stossel, 2007). Nearly 57% of Americans believe that guns do more to protect people than they do to harm them (Gun Rights, 2015). According to a study published in 2012, the number of gun-related murders committed is at its lowest rate since 1981, even with an increased amount of people owning firearms (Gun Rhetoric, 2012). On the opposite side of the spectrum, those that support stricter gun control policies argue that the Second Amendment does not provide an unlimited right to own guns (US Supreme Court). Proponents of more gun control laws state that the Second Amendment is as dated as The Constitution and that it was intended only for militia . Nowhere in the Second Amendment is it explicitly stated that it was created to protect an individual’s right to bear arms (Waldman,

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