Brandon DeMichele Gun Editorial
2-23-10 Period 4
Many people have been debating over whether or not gun possession should be controlled or if the right of Americans should be protected. Should we be worried about controlling guns or protecting the right of Americans to own guns?
I think we should be more worried about controlling guns than actually protecting the right. Guns have brought a history of violence to our country and usually always lead to some kind of devastation. Guns have become extremely easy to gain possession of, for people of all ages. Many places don’t even do a background check on the person buying the gun. The number of guns in each household should be greatly reduced because anybody could get their hands on a gun. A great example showing just how easy it is to get a gun is the movie Bowling for Columbine starring Michael Moore. During the dreadful shooting at Columbine School, 2 teenagers by the names of Eric Harris and Dyland Klebold held the entire school hostage. They both had homemade bombs, a 9mm carbine rifle, a semi-automatic 9mm handgun, a sawed off twelve gauge shotgun, and a sawed off twelve gauge pump shotgun. They were also carrying two duffel bags containing twenty pound propane bombs. It’s amazing in such a terrible way how easy it is for people to get a hold of such weapons.
(“Poll respondents’ opinions about gun control laws and gun ownership, selected years 1993-2003.” (“What do you think is more important—to protect the right of Americans to own guns, OR to control gun ownership?” in Gay Marriage a Voting Issue, but Mostly for Opponents, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press Survey Reports, February 27, 2004, http://people-press.org/reports/print.php3?PageID=790 (accessed August 2, 2006) ).Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. SCOTIA GLENVILLE SR HIGH SCHOOL. 22 Feb. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T007&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ2210069571&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=nysl_ca_scot&version=1.0>. )
All in all, a grand total of 31% of people stated that they felt the rights of Americans should be protected. This data was taken from June 2003. 6% disagreed with this. 58% of people felt that guns should be controlled and that we shouldn’t be worried about protecting the right to own guns. 46% of people felt strongly about controlling guns and only 11% didn’t feel strongly. During the year of 1997, about 7,927,000 crimes were committed. Out of all these crimes, 691,000 were committed with a gun.
(Connell, Shaun. “Gun Control Laws Will Increase Crime.” Current Controversies: Guns and Violence. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. SCOTIA GLENVILLE SR HIGH SCHOOL. 23 Feb. 2010 <http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010049277&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=nysl_ca_scot&version=1.0>. )
In conclusion, I think that possession of guns should be much more controlled than the right of Americans to own guns should be protected. Guns are becoming a terrible part of everyday culture and they show just how easy it is to get a hold of one.
