This document discusses the ongoing debate around gun control in the United States. It examines arguments on both sides, including those who believe stricter gun control laws are needed to reduce gun violence and save lives, and those who argue such laws would infringe on Second Amendment rights. The document also looks at statistics around gun deaths and the relationship between gun control laws and homicide rates in different states. Overall, the document aims to explore the complex social and legal issues around balancing public safety with individual rights in the gun control debate.

1. Erin Scott
Harold Blanco
FYS
February 11, 2014
Gun Control: An Overview,
Point: Controlling Gun Violence is More Important than Controlling Guns,
Counterpoint: Gun Control Saves Lives
Gun control has been an ongoing debate in America for decades. The big question is
whether or not there should be stricter gun control laws prohibiting citizens to own a gun without
certain restrictions or simply decreasing gun control laws overall. After reading the three articles
providing both aspects of the debate, highlighting and understanding the underlying issues that
were being discussed were not hard to come across. All three of the readings looked at the aspect
in a sociological, ethical, and legal dimension. Looking at the social aspect only, the arguments
talk about increasing or decreasing the severity of the law in relation to violent crimes that occur
in American society. From the ethical point of view, the articles took the reader back to the
second amendment of the constitution, which states the right to bear arms, and whether or not it
was effective in the protection of citizens and prevention of crime. Last but not least, all three
articles on the Points of View database looked at the legal aspect of the social debate and
connected the Second Amendment to the legal rights of the government. By taking away the
rights to own a gun, is the government taking away the right to bear arms? If it wasn’t as big of a
social issue then as it is now, what has made lawmakers come to believe that stricter gun laws
will decrease the crime rate? In all three articles, it begins to talk about the statistics of crime and
amount of gun control in that specific area. Bringing up past catastrophes such as the 1999

2. Columbine High School Massacre, the 2001 Shootings at Virginia Tech, and the 2011 Tuscan
Shooting.
Some possible disadvantages to stricter gun control laws found while reading the article
Point: Controlling Gun Violence is More Important than Controlling Guns on the Points Of View
Database had to do with violation of the Second Amendment, guaranteeing citizens the right to
bear arms. Many people would agree and say that by placing stronger informant on the gun
control law that one may already believe to be overbearing, is to take away a citizens basic rights
that were given to us on the Constitution in the early ages. Many will agree that the problem is
not with the gun itself, but with the people who use guns irresponsibly. Their solution? Punish
the people who make poor decisions with the rights they were given, don’t punish the gun
owners who act responsibility. The second amendment also states: “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.” This statement is often argued and is said to ensure citizens the right to keep
and own guns under the circumstance that National Security is being threatened. ‘The Right to
Bear Arms’ also ensures the citizens of all rights to keep possession of a weapon and by this,
meaning this prohibits the government to act in force in disagreement to this basic right.
Taking a step back from the disadvantages of stricter enforcement comes a series of
advantages of those in favor of supporting the issue of gun control and how stricter laws would
in fact benefit society and decrease crime violence. In this article it explains how America is
rated one of the highest countries around the world when it comes to gun-related violence’s. In
this article, it brings the reader back to the early 60’s when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
By doing this, the writer then continues with the idea that by increasing these gun control laws

3. and enforcing better regulation, that catastrophes not only like the one that happened in the early
60’s, but for years to come just might be prevented.
The facilities of reasoning that emerge from this debate have to do with the recent
phenomenon’s that have occurred in society that are gun-related or have to do with violence.
Touchy subjects such as same sex marriage, abortions in the U.S, or in this case, gun control, are
debates that do not often want to be talked about. But these are the debates that are often such a
big part of our society and cannot be tip-toed around.
Some policy/programs have been developed in response to this ongoing argument. For
example, Mayors against illegal guns, a bipartisan group of 300 US mayors, discovered that
homicides from handguns in the states with lower gun control laws were much greater than those
in the states with stricter laws concerning gun ownership. Also, in September of 2007, Miami
police chief John Timoney approved of a policy allowing officers to carry assault weapons if
they wish stating that the criminals were more armed than the policy makers.
An implication that the debate has for families in society is the question that most of
everyone is asking themselves; how is this going to affect our future? In the Counterpoint: Gun
Control Saves Lives article, it concludes that evidence shows the growing threat that the
ownership of a gun has to our public safety. In contrast, the Point: Controlling Gun Violence is
More Important than Controlling Guns article, explains that more gun control legislation will not
resolve the violence problem in society but only take away the basic rights of everyday citizens.

4. As violent crimes increase in the U.S, the amount of gun owners increase as well. This is no
coincidence. It just so happens that the states with the least legislation on this specific debate,
statistically have higher crime rates than those who have stricter enforcements. The recent
catastrophes that have occurred throughout the states can support this conclusion.
On the night of July 20, 2013, a student by the name of James Holmes walked into a
movie theatre where he allegedly killed 12 people, and wounded 58 people that were in the
theatre as well. With this being said, guns are responsible for 30,000 deaths a year in the U.S
alone. According to the article writer Jeffrey Goldberg, in 2010, 606 people died of an accidental
firing of a gun, with 62 of them being under the age of 15. The thought of a 15 year old having
access to a gun is not only chilling to the bone, but it’s almost heartbreaking to think that this is
what society has come to. What are the video games and new music generations teaching the
children of today? Of course there is no certain way to demolish the citizen of a right to own a
gun for good, whether they get it legally or illegally but gun control laws need to be more
strongly enforced and there are steps that can in fact be taken to accomplish this. For example,
the gun-hole loophole should be closed. This would prevent children and possible criminals from
getting their hands on guns to possibly hurt themselves, or someone else. The idea of owning a
gun has become a true worldwide epidemic. By giving our citizens the right to own a gun, you’re
giving those same citizens the ability to walk into a theatre and preform a mass shooting. There
is steps to be taken and duties to be done here if we, as a nation want to put an end to criminal

5. violence once and for all. Get the guns out of people like James Holmes’s hands. If not today,
what is going to happen to the generations of tomorrow?
Works Cited Page
1. GOLDBERG, JEFFREY. "THE CASE FOR MORE Guns (AND MORE GUN
CONTROL)." Atlantic Monthly (10727825) 310.5 (2012): 68. MasterFILE Premier.
Web. 12 Feb. 2014
2. Zigmond, Jessica. "'We're Not Doing Enough' Advocates Want More From Gun Control
Plan." Modern Healthcare 43.3 (2013): 8-13. CINAHL. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
3. Faria Jr., Miguel A. "Shooting Rampages, Mental Health, And The Sensationalization Of
Violence." Surgical Neurology International 4.1 (2013): 85-92. Academic Search Alumni
Edition. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.