Brookens, Mills, Raphael 1

Emma Brookens

Laina Mills

Alicia Raphael

English 12 B(3)

Mr. Gross

16 May 2018

Gun Laws

The number of shootings throughout the United States has drastically increased from

previous years to 2018. With stricter gun laws, these shootings would have been prevented. In

America, guns are becoming a major issue because the gun laws are not being changed and

people are using them in a way that they were not intended too. The problems with this are the

process to get a gun is simple, mostly anyone can obtain a gun unsafely, and people are misusing

guns causing more gun violence. With all of the problems, guns are still beneficial when it comes

to protection between stable individuals. A solution would be to perform more thorough

background checks and safety precautions when an individual is purchasing a gun.

Purchasing a gun in America is a very simple process as you only have to pass a

computer programed background check depending on what state the buyer is in. This is

computerized, not face to face in a lot of states in America. Many mass shootings and shootings

in general have happened by the shooter legally purchasing the gun that was used to complete the

shooting. For example, the shooting in Parkland, Florida by Nikolas Cruz. He was able to legally

buy an AR-15 rifle at 19 years of age because Florida does not require fingerprints, any permits,

and any thorough background check to buy it and you can walk out within seconds with a gun
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legally (Taylor). Dylann Roof who was accused of murdering nine people at the Charleston

Church in Charleston, South Carolina easily bought the gun to do the shooting with. He bought

the gun from a dealer, which means a background check is mandatory. Surprisingly, he passed

the check even though he had an arrest for drug possession on his record. This just proves how

easy it was for him to obtain the gun. He was still able to walk out legally holding and owning

his own gun (Korte). In Orlando, Florida there was a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub that

injured many innocent people and actually killed 49 people and exactly two days after this event

a reporter went in himself and legally bought an AR-15 in only seven minutes (Taylor). This

proves that the process to get a gun is extremely easy and simple because the people selling the

gun are not very strict when doing background checks when they need to be and the process is

straightforward with no laws really enforced.

In every state there are background checks put in by the United States government that an

individual person trying to purchase a gun has to go through and pass. In most states though, a

child can still legally own a gun if it is gifted to them by someone who had legally bought it

previously. Twenty states have a minimum age requirement ranging from 14-21, but the other

thirty states have no minimum age at all. For example, Montana has a minimum age of 14,

whereas Texas and California have no minimum at all(Ferdman). This is a problem because

there have been many accidents between children and guns. Children do not know what they are

doing at a young age, so adding guns to that is a huge problem. For example, a mother by the

name of Amy Pittman was a gun owner and she had two little boys ages 9 and 12 years old. One

day her boys were messing around with the gun, while she was not home and away at work. Her

oldest boy shot his younger brother on accident and he was pronounced dead on the spot. A
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couple in Detroit, Michigan were sentenced to 17 years in prison after their 5 year old

granddaughter found their gun under a pillow and accidentally shot herself in the neck. In Illinois

a grandmother found her 6 year old grandson dead after he accidentally shot himself with her

revolver (Penzenstadler). These are just a couple instances where adults were being careless with

their guns and not watching where they place them. This proves that the age requirements and

safety of guns need to be enforced and regulated.

There has been a ton of gun violence in the United States today, one of the reasons being

people are misusing guns and not using them for the reason they intended to. Some ways people

misuse guns are people being killed in gun used murders, another is guns are being used for

suicide. These are just two examples in ways that they should not be used. The total number of

gun deaths and violent injuries is about 100,000 in the United States (Beckett). This number is

way too high because guns are supposed to be used safely and effectively, not for hurting

yourself or other individuals. “62% of firearm deaths in the United States are suicide” (gun

violence by…). This shows that more than half of suicides are committed by using some type of

gun. This is not why people buy guns and this is not how they should be used at all. It is a very

hard and dangerous way to use the guns. Suicide is a very difficult thing to talk about, but gun

owners should watch very carefully who they keep their gun around and where they place their

gun because when someone is hurting they will use whatever they can and guns are extremely

dangerous when people do not know how to use them properly. “There were 464 total gun deaths

between 1999 and 2013” (gun violence by…). These are combined with the numbers of death by

suicide, homicide, and unintentional.This proves that guns are misused a lot among children,

teenagers, and adults. Gun owners need to be more careful with their guns and think about what
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they are doing with their guns.

Some people believe that we should not have stricter gun laws because it would be

difficult for people like hunters to obtain a gun, however they are wrong because not that many

people who own guns actually use them for hunting. About 34% of Americans own guns

(DeSilver). Only 6% of Americans use guns for hunting (Ashe). That is saying that 28% of

people who have guns, do not use them for hunting. If people are using guns strictly for hunting

like they say they are, then we would not have so many cases of other shootings going on. Gun

ownership would be a lot less than 34% in the US and guns would be used for hunting if we had

stricter gun laws. Hunters will have nothing to worry about with stricter gun laws because if they

are only using them for hunting the process will still be easy for them to pass.

The solution for all of these problems is putting forth stricter gun laws. People who are

trying to obtain a gun need to be put through stricter checks before actually purchasing a gun

themselves. People who are trying to buy a gun of any kind need to be checked by their history,

record, mental and physical health, etc. These laws have to be enforced by the people selling the

guns too because as stated in previous paragraphs the seller often times just lets them go without

making sure they completed or passed the whole entire background check. People with guns are

purchasing them within minutes because the checks are not thorough and effective enough, so

they need to ensure they are doing the full background check all the what through and examined

closely. Stricter gun laws need to be put in place to provide safety and comfort to other people

who do not have guns and for people who own guns for the correct reason. These laws will not

eliminate gun violence fully, but it will definitely be a dramatic decline on the deaths caused by

using a gun in the United States.

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Stricter gun laws in America would help eliminate a lot of the shootings going on. Some

of the problems with the gun laws we have right now are. Guns are very easy to get and almost

anyone can get one. Some states do not have an age restriction on when a person can purchase a

gun, while other states can purchase a gun anywhere between the ages 14 and 18. People who

own guns are misusing them, like shooting others. People believe that the gun laws we have set

right now are good becuase people use guns for hunting. However, most people who own guns

do not even use them for hunting. With having stricter gun laws, like more thorough background

checks, we can help eliminate the shootings that are going on.

 
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Works Cited 

Beckett, Lois, et al. “America's Gun Problem Is so Much Bigger than Mass Shootings.” ​The 

Guardian​, Guardian News and Media, 21 June 2016, 

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/21/gun-control-debate-mass-shootings

-gun-violence. 

DeSilver, Drew. “A Minority of Americans Own Guns, but Just How Many Is Unclear.” ​Pew 

Research Center​, Pew Research Center, 4 June 2013, 

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns

-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/. 

Ferdman, Roberto A., and Christopher Ingraham. “In 30 States, a Child Can Still Legally 

Own a Rifle or Shotgun.” ​The Washington Post​, WP Company, 27 Aug. 2014, 

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/08/27/in-30-states-a-child-can

-still-legally-own-a-rife-or-shotgun/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.432b1b8d6096. 

Korte, Gregory. “Buying a Gun Legally in the U.S. Isn't Difficult.” ​USA Today​, Gannett 

Satellite Information Network, 21 June 2015, 

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/20/how-to-legally-buy-a-gun-i

n-the-united-states/29034879/. 

Penzenstadler, Nick, et al. “Added Agony: Justice Is Haphazard after Kids' Gun Deaths.” ​USA 

Today​, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 25 May 2017, 

www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/24/justice-haphazard-when-kids-die-in

-gun-accidents/101568654/. 

Penzenstadler, Nick, et al. “Added Agony: Justice Is Haphazard after Kids' Gun Deaths.” ​USA 

Today​, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 25 May 2017, 

www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/24/justice-haphazard-when-kids-die-in
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-gun-accidents/101568654/. 

Taylor, Kate. “Here's How Easy It Is to Legally Buy a Semiautomatic Gun in the US.” 

Business Insider​, Business Insider, 15 Feb. 2018, 

www.businessinsider.com/how-to-buy-a-gun-2017-10.