Leahy 1

Darby Leahy
Professor Lawler
English 101
11 December 2012
Providing Safety or Enhancing Danger?
Each year thousands of people are injured or killed by a firearm; it is a growing problem
throughout the United States because so many people are able to access a gun. This problem can
no longer continue to grow because it threatens the citizens living throughout the United States.
Not only are people injured and killed by poor use of a firearm such as homicide or suicide, but
many are injured or killed because of accidental discharge of a firearm. There have been few
solutions proposed to keeping firearms in safe hands such as making machine guns illegal to own
and only available to the military for use. Another restriction limiting the use of a firearm is the
necessary criminal background check before purchasing a gun in an attempt to keep guns out of
the hands of unsafe people. However, these requirements are not enough to stop the deaths and
injuries cause each year by firearms. In order to keep the citizens of America feeling safe there
needs to be a feasible solution put in to place. An effective solution to this problem would be to
require any citizen that is attempting to purchase a firearm to pay an extra tax on the gun to pay
for a psychological evaluation and to pay for a firearms safety course. To start saving lives and
prevent injuries the government needs to begin enforcing evaluations and safety courses of those
maintaining firearms to protect the citizens of the United States.
The use of firearms becomes more common each year and it only increases the number of
possible deaths and injury. Although the exact number of injuries from firearms cannot be
determined because most go unreported the number of deaths in the year 1998 alone was

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approximately 30,708. That was 12,228 from assault, 17,605 from suicide, and 875 from
accidental discharge of a firearm. (Internet Research Guide, par. 2) Someone who loves and
appreciates their life is not willing to commit suicide or take the life away of another human
being. The people who are mentally unstable can already be a threat to society with the weapons
that are so easily accessible such as knifes and other sharp or heavy objects. By allowing
someone who is mentally unstable to access a firearm is an obvious threat to society. They may
have thoughts of taking others lives or taking their own and by allowing them to retrieve a gun
makes it much easier for them to complete these actions. Not only is it threatening to society to
allow a mentally unstable person have access to a firearm but it is also threatening to allow
someone who has not had the proper training have access to a gun. As an anonymous blogger
writes on the Fire Arms Talk website, he explains his experience with accidental discharge of a
firearm. They say it eventually happens to everyone. The only hope being that when it does,
nobody gets hurt (Accidental Discharge, par. 1)Although, it may be very common for people
who own firearms to either have an accidental discharge or come very close to having a gun, it
does not have to happen to all gun owners. If gun owners were required to take a firearms safety
class there could be a significant decrease in the number of deaths and injuries each year from
accidental discharge.
A feasible solution to this problem is to require all people trying to purchase a firearm to
undergo a psychological evaluation before having the ability to purchase the weapon. If the
psychological evaluation proves that they seem to be in a proper and healthy state of mind then
they can obtain the weapon. After obtaining the weapon this person would have to enroll in a
firearms safety course in order to legally obtain the gun. Without enrolling in and completing the
firearms safety course this person will not be legally permitted to own the weapon. The people

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who are purchasing the weapon will be responsible for paying extra taxes or fees on top of the
cost of the weapon to cover the costs of the psychological evaluation and the firearms safety
course. The government would have to step in to keep these requirements regulated, making
sure that each sale of a firearm is monitored in order to make sure these safety regulations are
met within each sale. Also, it would not be efficient to allow the person purchasing the weapon
be in charge of choosing who performs their psychological evaluation because it would make it
possible to use someone who is not an actual psychologist or they could somehow change the
results of the evaluation. Therefore, the government would be responsible for providing the
people that would perform the psychological evaluations. This way the evaluation could be done
by a well-trained professional and the results could not in any way be changed or tampered with.
A psychological evaluation for each new possible gun owner would help protect numerous lives
each year and would make a large contribution to the safety of the U.S. citizens.
The United States requires a course and test completed before being legally able to
operate a motorized vehicle. Why does the United States not require a firearms safety class to
help protect the lives of their citizens as well? It only makes sense that if you are going to
purchase a lethal weapon that you should have to be trained to handle that weapon. It is too
dangerous to allow untrained citizens to own such powerful weapons. Paul Kamprath speaks his
opinion about gun safety in his article Require Gun Safety Course before Purchase. Kamprath
argues that the government should be monitoring the purchases of firearms and the completion of
a firearms safety course, The primary question is, should we require proof of having taken a
gun safety course before allowing purchase of a gun? The state has a responsibility to the public
to ensure the safe handling of hazardous products, materials, and substances (Kamprath, par.2).
This problem continues to grow each year and as gun ownership becomes more common it also

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becomes more common to be killed or injured by a firearm. Firearm weapons are very dangerous
and there is still not enough being done to protect and teach awareness. If the government does
not regulate psychological evaluations and firearms safety courses the problem will continue to
occur and grow larger. In order to start solving this problem the government must step in and
help, this solution cannot be brought on without the help of a higher authority to enforce the new
regulations.
There are countless benefits to this proposed solution to put an end to deaths and injuries
from firearms. If this solution was put into action thousands of lives could be saved each year.
No longer would it be so simple to access a gun and do what they please with the weapon. The
thousands of people who may have killed someone or themselves with a firearm because they
were not in an appropriate mental state could be saved if this solution was put into place and the
government stepped in to help provide the professionals for the psychological evaluations.
Hundreds of people could be kept from being injured or killed from an accidental discharge of a
firearm each year. The training that would be taught in the firearms safety course could help all
gun owners to become more cautious and help them realize how serious handling a gun really is.
There are too many deaths each year because of irresponsible gun owners. The California
Progress report writes about the numerous injuries and deaths each year because of accidental
discharges of a firearm. On February 14, 2011, in Cherokee County, LA, a 2-year-old boy used
a stool to retrieve a gun case in the home, opened the case to remove the small caliber semiautomatic gun that had a round chambered and fully loaded magazine, and shot himself in the
upper right chest (Stout, par. 2). If each gun owner were required to take a firearms safety
course tragedies such as this one could be prevented. The gun owners would know what would
be the best way to store the weapon and know how to properly disarm the gun to stop accidental

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discharges from happening. This solution has unlimited benefits because of the numerous lives
that will be saved and kept safe to live long and prosperous lives.
Some may argue that this solution is not fair to those who are legally able to own guns
with the restrictions that are already required. Legal gun owners argue that it is already enough to
have a criminal background check and it is unnecessary to have any other restrictions on
firearms. William Bell argues that it is the criminals who should be watched in his article Blame
the Criminals, Not the Guns. Legal Owners Arent a Problem. Bell states The millions of
rounds fired each year in recreation and experimentation, compared to the number of rounds
fired in crimes, is so far apart that it should be used as an example that the crime- free gunowning public is not the cause of crime and should not be harassed or caused problems by our
government.(Bell, par. 6) Although the criminals may be the ones behind the majority of deaths
and crimes committed with guns it does not take away from the deaths and crimes committed by
people who are not former criminals. All deaths and injuries that are results of a firearm can be
prevented if there were mandatory psychological evaluations and firearms safety courses. This
solution will help prevent all deaths and injuries. All gun owners can benefit from firearms safety
courses because it will teach and help refresh the basics that need to be known for proper and
safe gun use. A possible negative outcome of the solution would be that people may start trying
to sell guns illegally on the black market but that is why all guns will need to be known and
accounted for with the governments help.
In conclusion, the problem of improper gun use and accidental discharge is a huge safety
risk to the citizens throughout America. It is a problem that is all too common and needs to be
fixed. Fixing this problem would save thousands of lives and prevent uncountable injuries each
year. The most practical solution is to require a psychological evaluation and mandatory firearms

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safety course before purchasing the gun. This solution is feasible and does not need to be paid for
by anyone but the people purchasing the firearms themselves. This is the best solution to help
prevent death and injury from a firearm and it will allow the citizens of the U.S. to face their
lives every day without the threat of improper gun use in or outside of their homes.