“You Have a Suit? Then Suit Up.” (Conclusion)

The purpose of this blog was to research and give supporting evidence to show the importance of gun control. Since we are in the middle of a presidential race, the controversy over whether gun control should be implemented or not is a hot topic. We made a conservative effort to represent both sides of the argument fairly and equally. This allowed us to break down the arguments and show flaws, weaknesses, and limitations in the opposing arguments for gun control                                        .

Throughout our research, we delved into the root reasons for numerous supporting and opposing arguments. The difficult part of this project was sorting through all of the information about gun control. We chose to blog about second amendment rights, self-defense, suicide rates related to guns, straw purchases, and many more arguments. We also gathered data from news stories about scenarios where guns were not used properly and lead to negative consequences.

The most surprising thing our research showed us was that all of the opinions eventually found their way back to tired arguments such as “the government cannot take away our guns, it infringes on our 2^nd amendment rights” and “guns serve as a means of self-defense”. After gathering data, we determined that increasing gun control policies will serve the population better than decreasing them.

The largest take away from this assignment was that the media is the largest fuel to the gun control debate fire. The media has a knack for interviewing and showing individuals with opinions that lean so far left or right that is seems like there is no hope or room for compromise. If the media portrayed the middle ground of the argument, people may feel differently about gun control.

It comes down to a lack of education for people on both sides of the argument. The argument for our blog was not to ban fire arm use. In our history, guns have played a crucial role. They started as a means for gathering food and protection. Now, they also serve as a past-time, hobby, and even serve an important role in regulating the environment.

Ultimately, this blog was very educational for all of us. We learned that to fully understand an argument, you have to put yourself in the shoes of both sides. Hopefully we were able to educate some people on gun control, helping them decide where they truly stand on the issue. If we were able to help at least one person make an informed decision, our work here is done.

Thank you for joining our eclectic group on this journey and reading about what we had to say. Use your new knowledge and Suit up for the gun control debate!

Sincerely,

The Avengers (of gun control)

Daily Show Gun Control Segment (misc.)

Here is a Daily Show segment with John Oliver from 2013. Although it is a few years old, all of the arguments are still relevant. Enjoy!                                                                                                             

yes, tell Willy why you need a gun to control the deer population.

Memes are a new method that the internet has started to use to bring up serious issues in a humorous way. Here is a collection of some of the best gun control memes and cartoons.

Tragegy Sparks Discussions: Get Involved (Misc)

Following the recent tragic murder of former NFL player Will Smith, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton speaks out. Don’t let the number of victims of gun violence keep climbing, join the fight against guns today.

 

Untrained Individuals Should Not Be Given Handgun Permits

Maryland is often labelled as one of the better states for our laws concerning gun control. Deseret News even ranked Maryland as the #7 strictest state on gun laws. Our laws may be stricter than other states, but the fight is certainly not over Maryland. While it may appear that guns are heavily regulated, you may be surprised just how easy it is to obtain the certification necessary to carry a concealed lethal weapon.

To demonstrate proper training for a permit to wear and carry a deadly firearm, an individual must fire 25 rounds from no further than 15 years with at least 70% accuracy according to Maryland State Police. That’s right,  70% accuracy.  I don’t know about you readers, but something about an individual who may only hit 7 out of 10 of their fired shots where they intended having the full legal right to carry a deadly weapon does not sit well with me.

Under the current laws a citizen who has never shot a gun in their life can fire 25 shots, have only 18 of them hit somewhere near their target, and then be classified a fully trained and licensed gun carrier in the state of Maryland. That is not okay. Requiring that these individuals be trained is absolutely the right idea, but the training should be extensive. Guns should not be being put in the hands of those who have anything but proficiency and mastery of gun safety and proper use, or else citizens are being put at risk.

Maryland may have taken many steps in the right direction, but our current laws still need reform and us citizens who are worried about who the state is authorizing gun permits to need to speak up. If you’re against banning firearms outright we hear you, but there’s no excuse for endangering lives by allowing untrained and unprepared individuals own, carry, and operate firearms with full legal protection.

How does this make you feel? (Misc.)

Does this statistic scare you? It should.

Enough is enough (Misc.)

 

Enough is enough. It’s time for something to change. Read this article about a 13 year old who is an advocate against violence. He was shot in the back by a stray bullet during an argument that occurred a few blocks away from his home.

The Second Amendment is sooo 1789

Gun control has quickly become one of the most bipartisan issues in our government. Conservatives, generally, are terrified that taking away the right to bear arms will set a negative precedent in the Federal Government, expressing that it is a bad idea to take away American’s right to bear arms. Liberals generally say that the deaths that the U.S. are facing due to gun violence has shown this country that enough is enough, a change needs to be made. This blog believes in that stance, “enough is enough,” a change is required when it comes to gun control laws in the U.S. However, unfortunately, one of the biggest hindrances for more gun control is the second amendment argument. Within this post it will be shown that the second amendment is extremely outdated and is constantly misconstrued when it is used as an argument against gun control.

The second amendment was created as a piece of the original bill of rights. The Bill of Rights proposed in 1789, is now 227 years old. The second amendment reads “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.” Essentially, to keep the history lesson short and simple, the Second Amendment was created in order to have some semblance of a military force ready in order to protect a very young nation. However, the U.S. quickly realized after the revolutionary war that a militia was not substantial enough to protect the country on its own, and thus the long standing military of the U.S. was created.

As this blog sees it, the Second Amendment was created in order to protect the right for members of a militia to bear arms, not for the right of individuals. Being such a military powerhouse, no reasonable person could consider themselves as a member of a militia. As soon as the U.S. created a standing national military the need for a militia was forgone and therefore the Second Amendment with it. Essentially, the right to bear arms was given to individuals as a part of a militia in order to protect their country in a time of crisis. The right to bear arms was not intended for individuals to have guns in order to do with whatever they please. Unfortunately, today the second amendment is constantly used in debates and it stands as valid. We as a nation need to come together and realize that this amendment is completely outdated and even misconstrued in order to keep guns on the streets. We must realize that as a country we are lagging behind in this issue, and in order to make the U.S. as safe as it can be, we must decrease the accessibility of guns.

The “more guns less crime” argument (Refutation)

There is a common theme among most gun activist arguments, and this is the idea that guns do not have a huge impact on crime. There are various arguments such as “guns do not kill people, people kill people” and “gun laws are ineffective” to “more guns equal less crime.” However, there have been various claims to refute this.

Michael Snyder claims in an article that, “There is a very strong positive correlation between more guns and less crime.”  His article cites ideas from John Lott’s article in 1977 which first discussed this theory about less crime being associated with guns, which continues to be brought up time and time again by anti gun control supporters. Snyder then argues that crime drops when legal guns owners carry their weapons in public for reasons such as defending themselves or not knowing who else, such as criminals, have a gun. This article later ties in the idea that because of this statistic, gun control laws do not necessarily mean that our country could be safer.

However, a Washington Post article debunked this idea. Stanford’s Abhay Aneja picked apart this argument and reached another conclusion – “In other words, let more people carry concealed guns, and assaults go up.” Putting more guns into the hands of the public will only create more problems, the article later suggested.

The National Research Council review also completed research on the correlation between guns and crime. According to the article, “violence is positively associated with firearms ownership.” Furthermore, the article ends with the idea that putting more guns on the street will simply equals more homicides and other violent crimes. The more available that you make weapons, the easier it is for someone to kill others.

As we have stated in prior posts, imposing stricter gun laws will only lead to a safer environment for everyone. According to the White House, there are even many new actions being taken for smarter use of guns, which will lead to less crime. Some of these include increasing mental health treatment, shaping the future of gun safety and more thorough background checks.

Straw Purchases-Affirmative

Those who enjoy guns and go through the proper channels to purchase them are the people who are most affected by gun control laws. The real problem lies in straw purchases. A straw purchase is when someone who is not allowed or able to buy a good or service goes asks someone else to get them that good or service in exchange for payment. I will be writing about how demanding stricter background checks and increasing criminal penalties will decrease straw purchases and the illegal selling and buying of fire arms.

Straw purchases are at the root of the gun control problem. In a Huffington Post article, it stated that “roughly 55 percent of gun retailers had someone try to illegally buy a gun from them in the last year”. This astounding percentage only comes from retailers who answered the survey and did not sell guns illegally. That percentage alone is astronomical. The article also said “law enforcement officials were only alerted of the attempted crimes 75 percent of the time”.

Hilary Clinton, current presidential candidate has a gun control program focused on straw purchases. It is a three-pronged plan. One part of her plan is making firearm straw purchases a federal crime. She also wants to further support punishable action against dealers who supply traffickers and straw purchasers. Clinton is getting down to the source of the issue instead of fighting guns altogether.

In 2014, there was a case against a man who bought a gun without disclosing that he meant to sell it. A CNN article said, “the Obama administration said those who purchase from licensed dealers must follow the letter and spirit of the law to ensure accurate record-keeping and to make it easier to trace the weapon”. In this case, the defendant sold to another lawful gun owner, but he broke the law by not disclosing that he was selling it. It is a slippery slope to sell to someone who is allowed to have a gun because that is when straw sales to those who are not allowed to have them start to occur.

Ultimately, straw sales are the main problem for gun enthusiasts and gun control activists. Attacking the problem at the source by increasing straw purchases to a felony offense and throwing additional fines onto it will deter many more people in the future.