Do you know the fact that all American citizens are armed with guns to fight against their unknown, invisible enemies? The estimated number of guns owned by Americans is 270 to 300 million. That’s about one for every American citizen. Series of terrible accidents and tragedies by guns around us happened. What should we do in this situation? I think stricter gun controls are needed even though there could be counterviews.
Some people say that gun controls are against the basic right clearly stated in the second amendment (Right to bear arms) in the American constitution. “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.” They may say that they need to own guns to protect their lives. It was reasonable to bear guns privately to protect their lives in times of the pioneering west. There were Indians who tried keep their boundaries and attacked the invaders. There were so many people from everywhere who didn’t know each other. There were not strong systems guaranteeing their safety. We cannot draw back quickly all the guns and arms already scattered over the whole of America. We cannot deny the importance and influence of the firearms industry.
But we cannot ignore today’s serious situations. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, between 2006 and 2010 47,856 people were murdered in the U.S. by firearms, more than twice as many as were killed by all other means combined. The lax regulations of private firearms play major roles in this high number of deaths. Prevention is the best policy. We should do something. We should find every way to prevent these tragedies.
These days, our life styles are changed. Our lives become more and more complicated every day. Society became sharply competitive. So there is a lot of stress, mental sickness and addiction to drugs or alcohol is increasing by geometrical progression. People, sometimes, cannot control their emotion. Owning guns gives people opportunities to commit crimes leading to death. Moreover, there are many official organizations to guarantee our safety. We need proper gun-control plans.
Unfortunately, against our hope, it is very difficult to control guns, but we should try to find the way to reduce the tragedies by guns. We need better gun-control laws. Permission to bear arm should be limited to the people who are working in defense, for example, police, guards, escort etc. And criminal checks should be strengthened before bearing guns. Carrying firearms should be forbidden in sensitive places, i.e., schools, theaters, downtowns, government buildings, stadiums, and public places for performance. We should make movements to reduce guns, i.e., returning private guns to the government voluntarily. We should evoke sympathy about gun-control nationally in the long-term basis. As a whole, we need better regulation laws for firearms.
In conclusion, even though there are counterviews and it is very hard to control guns, we should find the way to reduce the tragedies by guns. Different from that time when the second amendment was made, the world has changed. Present situations should not be left as they are. We have a long way to go but we should go forward to let this nation guarantee people the right to live in a land of freedom with peace and harmony.
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