THE FUTURE OF GUN CONTROL Essay, Research Paper
THE FUTURE OF GUN CONTROL
This report is about the future of gun control.
The future of gun control is basically that guns will soon be
very hard to get your hands on and even after you get them then
you will be very restricted on where, when, and how you will be
able to use your firearm.
The types of guns that most people are against are already
banned. People do not take the time to do the research to find
out that the types of guns that are used for hunting are not most
commonly used in armed crimes. Also the types of guns used
in most crimes are not those which are purchased in a gun shop
but those which are bought on the street. If people want to
control guns then they should focus on supporting more police
and training to get guns off the street, rather than make the
people who use firearms for sporting and hunting use pay the
price for the few people who use firearms to commit crimes.
One gun control strategy centers around high-risk guns.
Since 1934, federal law has severely restricted machine
guns(weapons that fire many founds of ammunition with a
single pull of the trigger) and sawed-off shot guns. The
Congress of the United States Judged these to be high-risk
weapons. Since the late 1980?s, many people have proposed
adding some semi-automatic rifles and pistols to the list of
restricted high-risk weapons. These guns require a separate
pull of the trigger to fire each found of ammunition but can
quickly fire many rounds. Restrictions on the sale of some
semi-automatic guns, which are called assault weapons in the
legislation, became federal law in 1994.
There have also been proposals to treat handguns
(revolvers & pistols) as special high-risk weapons that ordinary
citizens shouldn?t own. These proposals are controversial.
Their backers argue that handguns are easily concealed and are
much more likely to be used in crime thane rifles and shotguns.
Opponents of handgun restrictions argue that taking handguns
from law-abiding citizens would not prevent the possession of
guns by criminals. Despite this controversy, some localities and
states have laws that strongly restrict private ownership of
handguns.
Other strategies for controlling guns require the licensing
of guns or waiting periods before purchasing a gun. These
strategies are designed to allow time for law enforcement
officials to make sure that the person buying the gun is not
prohibited from owning a gun. Some U.S. states have adopted
laws based on these strategies, and in 1993, after a seven year
fight, the U.S. Congress passed the Brady Bill, named after
former White House press secretary James Brady. Brady and
his wife, Sara became supporters of gun control after Brady was
shot and seriously wounded during a 1981 assassination
attempt on the Ronald Reagan.
The so-called ?Brady Law which went into effect in 1994,
provides a five-day waiting period to allow local law enforcement
officials to ensure that the buyer is qualified to own a handgun.
The was also established a $200.00 federal firearm license fee
and a $90.00 annual license renewal fee. People who oppose
such licensing and waiting periods argue that legitimate gun
owners pay the cost of the procedures and bear the
inconvenience of waiting periods.