Brother’s in Blue: Bearing Arms

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Restrictions on guns may not be the correct way to stop the death rates from increasing in the United States. “Many shootings, whether on a college campus or in a workplace setting, could be prevented not solely through stricter gun control laws, but rather through a higher level of mental health awareness…” (Wolf & Rosen 4). With a higher education and more funding for mental health services, the United states can stop the increase in death rates without having a restriction on firearms. More gun control is unnecessary because few people are killed by guns. Only 1.3% of deaths are firearm related making it the 12th leading cause of death in the country.

The United States has a high death rate caused from firearms but “Americans are 21.5 times more likely to die from heart disease (9,691,733 deaths); 18.7 times more likely to die from malignant tumors (8,458,868 deaths); 2.3 times more likely to die of diabetes are 2.4 times more likely to die of Alzheimer’s (1,080,298 and 1,053,207) than to die from a firearm (464,033 deaths)” (Pros and Cons 7). “The second amendment was intended to protect gun ownership of all [eligible] men so that they could participate in the militia to keep the peace and defend the country if needed” (Pros and Cons 12). The Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense making it limited to weapons in use at the time and not limited to dangerous and unusual weapons. A ban on semi-automatic weapons in the United States would infringe the individual right to keep and bear arms because it would prohibit individuals from accessing weapons in common use, therefor burdening conduct within the Second Amendment. An examination was conducted on the United States showing that “… the US could ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons, introduce a licensing and registration system mandating safety training and prohibiting high risk individuals from accessing firearms, tighten storage safe storage laws, ensure only licensed dealers are entitled to sell firearms, and strengthen firearm dealer and sales regulations, all without violating the second amendment” (Brothers in Arms Control 103). “The second amendment does not prevent […] gun control laws that are [similar] to government related interests.” (103)

An increase in gun control should not be a solution to reducing death rates because of the information shown above. Gun control has pros and cons, but mostly more cons. The Second Amendment is a part of the United States’ constitutional rights that cannot be taken away. They were established specifically to provide for citizens as well as protect them and taking these rights away will not only cause a second Civil War, but will also cause the death rates to rise rapidly making everything this country did pointless.

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Works Cited

“Top Pro & Con Arguments”. gun-control.procon.org/, 2016. Web. Nov. 2016

Wolf, Carolyn Reinach & Rosen, Jamie A. “Missing the Mark: Gun Control Is Not the Cure for What Ails the U.S. Mental Health System.” Ebscohost. 2015.15. Web. Nov. 2016.

Hirsh, Lauren. “Brothers in Arms Control: Introducing Australian-Style Gun Control in the United States”. Ebscohost. 2013. 27. Web. Nov. 2016.

3rd Presidential Debate. Cnn.com. 2016. Web. Nov. 2016.

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