Shold gun be legal or illegal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shold gun be legal or illegal - Essay Example ties, global warming, health care, gay marriage, stem cell research and many other politically motivating subjects have ignited emotional ideological battles. Gun ownership ranks high among these political ideologies and to attempt to ban all guns would make these feelings even stronger. To make the case for upholding the widely perceived ‘right’ to bear arms by allowing rifles and shotguns of a certain length while banning handguns and assault rifles seems the sensible solution and a fight that could be won. This tactic has proven effective in other countries such as Britain and many other European nations. Those countries that ban handgun use have a much lower homicide rate than does the U.S. (Reynolds, Caruth, 1992). The concept that the easy access to firearms has an important impact on the homicide rates in this country is supported by the preponderance of the evidence. Nearly two thirds of all homicides taking place in the United States involve a firearm. Yet, chan ges in handgun laws were seen to have little to no impact on crime rates. This is not surprising based on fact that most violent criminals do not obtain their firearms through licensed sources (Wright & Rossi, 1994). Other programs, such as gun buy-back programs have been proven to be similarly ineffective for a variety of reasons including intention for use, ease of replacement and probability of use for crime. Earlier gun control policies enacted in 1976 and 1982 had similar disappointing results. Concealed weapons laws have actually been shown to have a positive effect on crime rates, that is, they contribute to an escalation in crime (Loftin, McDowall, Weirsema and Cottey, 1991). Laws that attempt to control handgun ownership for law-abiding citizens do not work and have been shown to actually... Gun enthusiasts, as they are politely referred, mimic the concept that more guns will lead to less violence, that if everyone were carrying a gun, criminals would be too scared to commit crimes. The more is less philosophy. This doesn’t square with reasonable logic or the facts. â€Å"Whenever you have more guns in a society, you’re going to have more gun violence, period†. The State of Texas is known, quite deservedly, as having an open policy regarding guns. Texas citizens are allowed to carry concealed handguns once completing licensing requirements. Then Governor, George W. Bush signed a law that specifically permits Texans to carry guns in church, the most sacredly peaceful of all places. In 2002, the Violence Policy Center conducted a study regarding concealed guns in Texas and found that, among other disturbing revelations, from 1996 to 2001, â€Å"concealed handgun license holders in Texas were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 81 percent hi gher than that of the state’s general population aged 21 and older†. Lawmakers in Texas responded immediately to this situation by passing legislation that forbids the release of gun-related information.