Does gun ownership cause crime or deter it? This is a
question that can easily be argued back and forth for many different reasons as
well as points of view. After reading a few articles about town that make it
mandatory for home owners to own firearms, I have proposed a new question for
myself:
Should it be a right to own a firearm, or is it a
privilege?
There are two sides to the argument of whether guns should
be kept in a household or not, there are the people who believe it should be
mandatory; and the people who don’t. First off I looked at those whom held the
opinion of having guns in their possession, as well as everyone else as well.
It is clear to see that for these people guns provide the sense of security as
well as stop crimes from happening; at least they seem to think. The studies in
the articles did show that fewer robberies had taken place, but the laws have
not been in effect long enough to serve as evidence for this specific case. In many
cases this gun law has been placed to prove a point in many towns. An example
of this is a clip taken from an article in the Vancouver sun stating that the
people in Georgia are “largely seeking to make a point about the right to bear
arms after a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that left 26 children and
educators dead.” From this it is easy to
conclude that many people feel that by having a gun on their possession, they
will be safer from society and whatever may come to them. After looking at the opinion of those whom
would like it to be mandatory, I looked at those who do not. The majority of
opinions I saw stated that more crimes would be provoked as well as accidental
deaths and shootings.
Read more: (article
referenced in first paragraph (Georgia) ) http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Georgia+town+makes+ownership+mandatory/8184764/story.html#ixzz2PuoT8bd
About 50 seconds into the link posted above, you will see a
woman at which appears to be at a kitchen table in her home. The woman is at
first examining a gun as if it is a foreign object, and then it proceeds to
startle her when the gun goes off. This is an example in my opinion of why it
should not be mandatory for all home owners to have a gun in their
possession. For one thing, it is clear
that not everyone will understand how to properly use a gun, nor know when to
use it. Nowhere in any article had I read was anything mentioned about free
training on how to use the firearm that they are being forced to own. On top of
this, even if you could pay to obtain lessons, not everyone would be up for
this costly expense. Yes, the mandatory ownership of guns may prevent crime
such as break-ins, but the accidental use and purposes of the gun will soon be
abused. Without having people properly trained, gun use will become carried
away and far too many problems will occur.
I like how you presented both sides of the argument about guns in the household, as it leads to a stronger piece of writing, and encourages the reader to question their point of view while providing them with support for their own as well. I also think that putting your own opinion into the piece strengthens it, as you are writing from a place of understanding instead of simply stating copy and pasted facts.
ReplyDeleteKristina you introduced the topic in a very descriptive manner that showed you had thoroughly examined it. Your extensive thinking was shown through you proposing your own question as well as looking at both sides of the argument. I really like how you presented recent examples to support your opinion and also put the links of the article and video in your post. I enjoyed that you used that video to ensure that your point was getting across about individual mishandling firearms. Your post shows great understanding of the topic and also shows your opinion linked to your research.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your last paragraph about how gun ownership shouldn't be mandatory for all people because it is true how that can spark an endless amount of problems. This can be seen as a serious issue because not everyone is the same and will treat this law the same as another. People will definitely take advantage of this fact and might use this mandatory law for harm. Though this may be the case, it doesn't mean that people shouldn't be able to have guns in their household as a whole. Many are responsible with the weapons and they provide safety and security for people that know how and when to use them. Great article and great response. Good job.
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