The Pros And Cons Of Gun Control

Gun control, a controversial issue since ratification of the Second Amendment. Considering Americas accomplishments with firepower, it's also important to think about the gun related deaths and other statistics before choosing a side of the debate. Weighing out the pros and the cons of a contentious issues are crucial. Regardless of what side is chosen there is still a bigger question to be asked, such as, should the government be permitted to infringe upon the right to bear arms under the second amendment? The government, or anyone else for that matter, should not be able to contravene the right to bear arms because it's in the bill of rights, the use of guns helps provide for the family, and we should be able to protect and defend ourselves

During the Great Depression of 1929-1939, jobs were scarce and money was almost non-existent, making it a struggle to not only eat but to survive. The only thing keeping a vast majority of citizens alive was the use of their guns to hunt and provide necessary meat to their families before starvation. There are many other uses for guns "They can be used for target practice, hunting, or ridding one's land of unwanted wild animals, such as raccoons, gophers, foxes, and wolves." (Streissguth 30). For many peoples' guns also represent something more important "They stood for a better time in the past. When skilled hunters had to depend on their weapons and their wits to put food on the family's table" (Streissguth 30). Although this may be true, "In 1998 30,708 were killed by firearms, 17,424 suicides, 12,102 murders and 866 accidents" (Streissguth 31) there is no denying the gun death ratio is high, but, without guns perpetrators would just find another way to kill others or themselves. Supporters of gun control think that deaths are linked with gun usage, but, it should be linked with the amount of evil inside someone, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. With the debate on gun control so evenly split, making a decision becomes more of an opinion based on how you grew up rather than a factual

"A large percentage of gun owners rely on their firearms for personal defense" (McClurg, Kopel, and Dennning 1) Imagine if an intruder broke in and there were no weapons in the house, things would go a lot differently with the homeowner armed, potentially saving their family's life. An example "A 13-year-old South Carolina boy fatally shot one burglary suspect and scared off a second with his mother's gun" (Ortiz NBC News" would the family have survived if their wasn’t a gun available in the home or if he wasn't trained for use of firearms? Should there be a limitation though, should the allowed defensive force be based upon the threat against them, either way every family deserves to sleep sound at night knowing that they could fight back in any situation thrown at them. Crime has skyrocketed in the last century, could guns be to blame or possibly the economy, one thing is certain, as much as our society has changed and everyone seems to want the best of everything without having to work for it the blame cannot be put onto any single target, but a mixture of all factors. Even those who don’t live in big cities where crime is at an extremely high rate face danger, walking out your door can be dangerous depending on what animals have wandered near the house in search of food, doesn’t it make sense to be allowed to have a gun to protect and defend the territory at risk? In