Blog 2: Gun Control

While looking for a article through many of the suggested sources, one issue seems to come up more than any other. Can you guess which one? Gun control! One of the most controversial issues in american politics for the past several decades and has only intensified due to the recent escalation on mass shootings. I should note that I started my research with an unbiased opinion. 

House Democrats unveil gun-control proposals  is a recent article which discusses the 15-point plan to address gun violence by the House Democrats. The proposal declares that democrats support the second amendment and would never back any attempt to infringe it but that the constitutional right to bear arms "is not unlimited." It also calls for a federal ban on military-style assault weapons. The plan also includes calls for universal background checks and more money for the Justice Department’s national criminal background check system, as well as more federal dollars to fund mental health, school security programs, gun buy-back programs and scientific research on “the relationship between popular culture and gun violence.” 

My conclusion is I support this proposal except the ban on military-style assault weapons. I do not own a assault weapon nor do I see any practical use for them but I believe a ban on assault weapons would do absolutely nothing except upset the people who love their assault weapons. Banning assault weapons is not the answer is a great article that shows statistics that less than one percent of gun murders, and that "assault weapons or high-capacity magazines" were used in at least 12 of the 43 mass shootings since 2009. 

I strongly support universal background checks, more money for the Justice Department's, and more federal dollars to fun mental health, school security programs etc... I believe in the saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Sheriff targets mental health illness to gun violence clearly states, "Eight of the nine killers in mass shootings last year had histories of mental illness. Few are believed to have been under the care of a mental health care provider or part of an organized community support system. None were blocked from legally purchasing a weapon." That sounds like the most logical cause of the mass shootings to me, not which type of weapons they used. 

Personal quest to make guns' toll more visible . I felt it was really important to share this article. It has got to be the most ridiculous, most illogical argument make in favor of more gun control. This article talks about Representative Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island, whose spinal cord was severed by a bullet when he was 16 years old. The thing is, it happened due to an accidental discharge of a firearm. How he could make a argument with his situation was just beyond me. So I accidentally cut my finger off while chopping vegetables, should we start banning knifes now?