Arguments against Gun Rights

In 2018, a shooting accident killed 73 children. The most recent school shooting was in Wisconsin on December 3 at Oshkosh West High School. It's at least the 13th incident in 2019 on a high school or college campus, which has resulted in six deaths. Teenagers our age has experienced a tragedy that no one in this room has experienced before. Firearms shouldn't be present in the hands of everyday citizens. They cause more suicide, woman killed, and more accidental deaths of children.

Following the Pew Research Center, 48 percent of gun owners affirm they own a gun mainly for protection. But researchers attest otherwise, they rarely use guns for self-defense. In an article called “How Often people use Guns in Self- defense, states, “The average person ... has no chance in their lifetime ever to use a gun in self-defense, but... every day, they use guns inappropriately. They have a chance, they get angry. They get scared.' stating that there's no reason a person should pull out a gun to save their lives, odd right, so let me explain. There are other ways to disarm a criminal with a gun. You can grab the gun from the person, remain calm and try to talk it out, or just give the attacker what they want. The phenomenon of scientific research that a gun leads to more aggressive behavior in humans. It's a fact of feeling intimidated and immediately thinking you will die causes people “ready to act” aggressively. This effect was first described by Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LePage in 1967 in their paper 'Weapons as Aggression-Eliciting Stimuli.”

There have been more than 570,000 gun deaths between 1999 and 2016. Those include 27.0% of homicides, 58.0% suicides, and 2.0% of accidental deaths. Nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths in the US are suicides, an average of 61 deaths a day. And it's only getting more extreme: Firearm suicide rates have increased by 82 percent over the past 10 years. Suicides have historically made up most death by firearms in the US. This mostly includes children and teens. Restricting access to a gun, at least temporarily, during a time of crisis can prevent suicide. Even if one wishing to attempt suicide was to choose a different method, he or she is far more likely to survive that attempt because firearms are the most lethal means available. And the majority of individuals who have attempted suicide once, do not die from suicide later on. There are also ways to get help for the person and prevent it. Homes without firearms have a 78% lower risk of self-inflicted firearm injuries and an 85% lower of accidental deaths.

Women are prime suspects of this assault. Every month, an average of 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. Females every day are reporting to being abused in this way. “The presence of a gun in domestic violence situations increases the risk of homicide for women by 500%,” researchers of firearms and DV claims, “In states that require a background check for every handgun sale, 38% fewer women subsist on death by intimate partners. While the deadly intersection of guns and intimate partner violence affects all women, it has an extreme impact on Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Native women. Article from EveryTown for Gun Safety states, “Also, segments of the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities are highly vulnerable to severe forms of relationship abuse.”

Perhaps the argument can contend by stating “guns kill people” and “anything can be a weapon.” Why put a lock on a deadly firearm when anyone can be murdered by a piece of paper? But stupid people with guns kill people. You don't even need to be a stable person to buy a gun. You can purchase them from a gun show, a licensed ammunition depot, online, or through a private sale. Which a private sale, they don’t require a background check such as a licensed depot. Anyone can purchase one rather you’re underage or not, all that is needed is cash.

Guns continue to be a powerful weapon and use of control over people. Resulting in death or severe injuries to women, people with disabilities, and school shootings. 

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