By: Katelyn Parrill

1. Katelyn Parrill

2. The obvious definition of gun control is the term that covers the restrictions on what
firearms can be sold, bought, or owned. However, it also covers who is allowed to
sell them, where and how they can be stored or carried, and how the transaction is
reported to the government.
(The term gun control also has been used to cover the limitations on ammunition and
magazines as well as the accessories mounted to a weapon)
Recently, gun control debates have been focused primarily on background checks for
buyers, allowing people to carry weapons in public, and whether to allow the
possession of assault rifles.
(Perez-Pena, 2015)
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3. People who are pro-gun believe that owning a gun is seen as an individual right which
is bestowed upon citizens from the second amendment of the constitution. They believe
that people should have the right to arm themselves for hunting, self-defense, sport, or
simply just because they want to. (Perez-Pena, 2015)
However, gun control laws infringe upon the right to self-defense and deny people a
sense of safety which everyone is entitled to. According to the NRA, guns are used for
self-defense approximately 2 million times a year. (Lapidos, 2013) Since police
cannot protect everyone all the time, it is important that people have some way to
defend themselves.
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4. People who are pro-gun also believe that enacting gun control laws do not prevent
criminals from obtaining and owning guns. Just because laws are put into place that
restrict people from owning certain weapons doesn’t mean those weapons will not be
obtainable by other means. Certain gun control laws, such as background checks and
microstamping, are considered an invasion of privacy and are therefore unethical to
enact. People shouldn’t have to jump through hoops in order to own a weapon.
People who are pro-gun feel that it is more important to educate people about guns and
gun safety to prevent accidental deaths rather than restrict gun ownership.
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5. People who are anti-gun believe that people should be able to own weapons but there
should be certain restrictions put in place to limit what guns can be owned and who can
own them.
A majority of citizens, including gun owners, support common sense gun control such
as background checks and bans on assault weapons. According to a Pew Research
survey conducted in March 2013, 83% of adults surveyed approved of background
checks during gun sales.
Countries with restrictive gun control laws have lower gun homicide and suicide rates
than the United States. Between 1999 and 2013 about 52% of suicides were conducted
using a firearm.
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6. Statistically speaking, in 2013 the United States had more than 33,000 firearms
related deaths: 70% of all homicides, half of all suicides, and hundreds of
accidental/unsolved deaths were caused by firearms. Having fewer guns, better records
of who owns them, and some restrictions on purchase would still allow law-abiding
people to own firearms and result in fewer deaths.(Perez-Pena, 2015)
Guns are rarely used in self-defense. Between 2007-2011 only 0.79% of victims of
violent crimes protected themselves with the use of a firearm. Allowing people to own
guns wont solve the crime issue. (Planty/Truman, 2013) In fact, it has been proven that
adding a gun into a conflict will often times cause it to become more violent.
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7.  "A Full Overview Of Gun Control." Laws. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2016.
 Perez-Pena, Richard. "Gun Control Explained." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 2015. Web. 23 July 2016.
 "Gun Control - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2016.
 Lapidos, J. (n.d.). Defensive Gun Use. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/defensive-gun-use/
 Michael Planty and Jennifer L. Truman, "Firearm Violence, 1993-2011," www.bjs.gov,
May 2013
 Rosenstand, N. (2000). The moral of the story: An introduction to ethics. Mountain
View, CA: Mayfield.
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8. I believe that the gun control laws, as they are now, are sufficient, the only addition to
the current laws that I would suggest is that people should need to apply for a license to
own a gun. This license should be fairly simple to obtain and would allow for the
government to keep track of everyone who owns a gun. This would also minimize the
invasion of privacy for citizens who want to own firearms. By enacting too many, laws
no good can come of it. As Aristotle stated, things have to be dealt with at the right time
and in the right amount. (Rosenstand, 450) Completely banning guns or making them
difficult to obtain is not the solution.
The reason I believe the laws are fine as they are is because, for the most part, humans
have a reluctance to cause harm to others. (Rosenstand, 21) If responsible people are
allowed to own weapons they could help to keep others safe. Chances are there are
more good-hearted people with weapons in the nation than there are violent criminals.
By allowing people to easily have access to weapons the utilitarian way of thinking will
be satisfied. If a small number of people are allowed to own and carry weapons then
larger amounts of people will benefit from it.
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9. 1. Should there be a registry of all gun owners?
 The registry would be a public record which includes names and addresses of everyone who legally
owns a gun
2. Do you believe stricter gun laws will stop criminals from obtaining weapons? Will
the shortage of guns stop them from using other weapons instead?
3. Should veterans automatically be approved for gun ownership without a
background check?
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