Antithetical Arguments For Gun Control

Gun control is a delicate topic that affects a significant amount of people in American society, because it is full of moral and legal arguments which all must be heeded. With the surge of mass shootings in the last decade the debate over gun control has become more heated, controversial and complicated than before. The newly implemented open carry law being the recent addition to the topic as it not only contains the proponent and antithetical arguments for guns, but also the restrictions and policy reforms that many believe should be enforced. As it stands the gun policies in America vary from state to state, for example Hawaii and DC have stricter regulations while Texas and Florida have almost none at all. Gun control must be made stricter

The very root of this contentious matter is ingrained in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” While the antithetical argument only pertains to the right to bear arms; the proponent argument for gun control originates from the first 13 words and is made from the belief that as a well regulated militia is no longer necessary the second part of the amendment is invalid. However, once taken into count the states variation of this amendment in their constitutions the proponent argument can begin to falter. Texas is one instance of where such an argument would not be substantial as the amendment reads: “Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.” Effectively counteracting the proponent argument as the words in which it was based upon are not include. This situation is just one example of how gun laws and the argument for or against them depend on the state of

With more lives being affected on a regular basis, more concerns arise as to how people can live safely when guns are being obtained and unsafely kept increasing numbers. Each year there are more cases of children accidentally shooting themselves,“In at least 43 instances of somebody being shot by a toddler 31 of those 43 cases, a toddler found a gun and shot himself or herself.” There has been debate over whether safe storage gun laws should be more strict and what else can be done to reduce such acts from occurring. Unsafely kept guns does not only pertain to accidental shootings, but suicides as well “more than 75% of the guns used in youth suicide attempts and unintentional injuries were stored in the residence of the victim, a relative,or a friend.” Texas citizens, Harris County especially, should be cautious of this statistic, because “people in states with many guns have elevated rates of suicide, particularly firearm suicide.” Meaning that the youth in Harris County is more likely to commit lethal suicide attempts than say a youth in Hawaii. The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting is another prime example of an unlocked gun being used to harm innocent lives. The gunman, Adam Lanza, obtained two of his mother rifles killing her and 26 others in a bout of rage. Even though he had perviously been declared with psychiatric