POINT-COUNTERPOINT: Gun Laws

Two students wrote opinion articles on gun laws, although they had opposite arguments. Below is each students' article. With whom do YOU agree?

Pro Guns Viewpoint by Dillon E.

It's not the gun that kills people, it's the person behind the gun that is the killer. The government is trying to get more strict on gun laws and creating gun free zones, making it harder for an everyday citizen to purchase a firearm, putting guns in criminals hands, and taking them out of the good citizens hands. The reason there shouldn't be such strict gun control is because guns protect people, strict gun control laws in other countries do not correlate with the elimination of crime, mass shooters will be more likely to target gun free zones, and criminals will still be able to get firearms on the black market just like they can other illegal substances such as drugs. The control on guns should be aligned with the US constitution.

The first reason why strict gun laws are problematic is because guns protect people from other criminals who can obtain gun illegally because laws don't apply to criminals. According to NRA, there were 2.5 million instances where a gun stopped a crime. This proves that if there were more good civilians carrying a CWP and a firearm less crime would happen in the US.

In addition the previous reason, when other countries added these gun restrictions and laws, crimes and mass shooting continued to occur. According to The Guardian, one example is Britain, which almost has zero guns but still has many crimes and murders which statistically stand at 573 homicides linked to firearms which is a high number for a country that is almost gun neutral. According to ListVerse.com, another example is in Germany where a 17 year old Timothy Kretshmer murdered 12 people then carjacked a man who he told he was doing it for fun and to take him to the closest car dealership where he murdered two more people; then had a shootout with police where he injured two officers and killed another 15 and wounded 9 all with his father's gun.

Another reason there shouldn't be such strict gun restrictions is because it won't take the guns from the people who are mass shooters and terrorists. When a criminal wants illegal weapons or drugs they still can get them. Laws don't restrict criminals from illegal items, it restricts the everyday law abiding citizen from getting their firearm. For some of the shooting the gun that was used was taken from a relative or friend. For example the recent Townsville School shooting in South Carolina where a 14 year old boy took his father's gun and injured a student and a teacher and killed his father then latter a student.

Another reason gun laws are absolutely outrageous is because shooters and terrorists will target gun free zones. The reason they target these zones is because they know they will have no resistance when proceeding with their task, and they're normally campuses or churches where there are a lot of people in a crowded area. According to The Freedom Outpost, an astonishing 92 percent of shooting since 2009 were on gun free zones. This is just further proof that gun zones should be removed and more people should own a CWP to protect their fellow citizens.

The only good that has came from these gun restrictions is it's harder for a minor criminal to get a gun. This is the type of criminal that will use the gun for armed burglary or a single assault with a deadly weapon. It does not take it out of the mass killers hands.

These are all just strong examples of why gun laws should not be more strict. It will just help terrorist and mass shooters, it will keep guns from the good people who will protect other people, and it didn't keep crime and shooting away from the gun strict countries. These gun restriction are just a way of the government trying to take our conditional right and putting everyday citizens in danger of criminals.

Anti-Gun Viewpoint

by Dianely G.

Hearing about violence involving guns nowadays is nothing new. We hear it all the time. The fact that no one has done anything about it is absolutely sad. Recently there was a shooting at a South Carolina elementary school. The shooter was only 14 years old. He killed his father and shot two students and a teacher. One of the students and the teacher received minor injuries. Six year old Jacob Hall died in the hospital because of a brain injury due to the amount of blood he lost when he got shot in the leg. Why did the 14 year old have a gun? My point is that he should not! This unfortunate anecdote is just one of many similar stories. To stop the violence, stricter gun laws should be put in place.

Some people try to say that you cannot change constitutional amendments and that it is their right to have guns because the US Constitution says so, but what people do not understand is that times are different and people and circumstances have changed since the 2nd amendment was written over two centuries ago. Back then there was not nearly as much violence as there is right now. Furthermore, the second amendment was designed to support militia, not to give underaged, mentally unstable, or just any random person who wants one a gun.

The second reason that we need stricter gun laws is because there has been an overwhelming increase in the number of mass shootings in recent year. According to data on Time.com, over 600 deaths have resulted from mass shootings in 1982, 150 of those in the last two years alone. School shootings should not be a common thing we hear often on the news or in the radio. Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine High School, and Townsville Elementary school are just a few of the schools that are an example of why stricter gun laws should be in place. All three of these schools were unfairly invaded and disturbed by teenagers with guns. Why did they have them in the first place?, Why was it so easy for them to get ahold of them? They just went in there and disturbed the sanity of innocent children. The Sandy Hook and Townsville kids did not deserve that. They were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old. Imagine how traumatized these kids are.

People say that having guns makes them feel safe and that if we have more guns then there will be less violence because everyone will have one and you can defend yourself. That necessarily does not mean that there will be less violence. Guns are a form of self defence, and if you were in trouble they could save your life. But if not everyone was allowed to have guns, you would not have to worry about your safety. There are bad people in this world and bad things do happen. You never know what the person next to you is thinking, or what he or she is planning.

In conclusion, guns are bad and something should be done about them. To the people that own a gun right now, i want them to know to be careful with them because they are not something to be irresponsible about, it's a serious thing, and if not handled and monitored properly it could lead to some serious and deadly consequences. Too many innocent people and children are dying and i think it's time to do something about it.