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The Right To Carry Essay, Research Paper

The Right To Carry

The gun control issue has sparked major controversy in America today. People who support gun control feel that guns are the reason for the soaring crime rate in our country. I disagree with them. I feel that because of the black market, violent criminals released from prison early, and the need to ensure personal safety, stricter gun control will have very little impact on violent crime in America.

I believe that gun control works in theory, but not in real life. There are many violent crimes in which guns are used, but most of these guns are obtained illegally. Therefore, if guns were obtained illegally, why would the people obtaining the guns use them legally? The only way to control crime is to allow citizens the right to carry guns.

In the past, over 20,000 gun control bills have been passed through Congress (McCarthy). According to Jack Anderson’s book Inside the NRA Armed and Dangerous, The National Firearms Act of 1934 was the first federal gun law to be passed. This act imposed a two hundred-dollar excise tax on the sale of fully automatic weapons. The act also prohibited transport of fully automatic weapons and shotguns having barrels less than eighteen inches long or sawed-off shotguns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 made it a requirement for all gun dealers to have a federal license. This same act also banned the sale of guns through the mail and the sale of guns to all people who have formerly been convicted of violent felonies. It also prohibited dealers from selling handguns out of state, and out-of-state residents from buying handguns (57).

With the growing gun-related crime rate in the United States today, many recent bills have been proposed to control guns. Jack Anderson explains one of the most popular bills, The Brady Bill. This bill focuses on semi-automatic handguns. People wishing to buy a handgun will have to answer a federal questionnaire. The person’s background will be checked thoroughly for criminal records or records of past mental illness. The process should take only five days. This five-day waiting period, or the “cooling off” period, is supposed to allow a person’s temper to cool down. Supporters of the Brady Bill claim that people act on impulse. A person’s temper can interfere with his/her ability to think clearly; he/she is angry, so a gun is bought to get revenge (93). I have no problem with the Brady Bill, because it has lessened crime though it hasn’t prevented it.

A bill was passed by former U.S. President George Bush, which banned the production of nine types of assault weapons and the importation of forty-three types of assault weapons. Bush felt that assault weapons were responsible for the majority of the violent crimes committed in the United States (Anderson 98). Field & Stream writer David E. Petzal agreed with Bush, stating that, “Assault weapons are designed to put out a high volume of fire with a high degree of controllability. The only purpose these firearms have is to kill people” (27). Gun related crime, however, is still very common.

The problem with these laws is that people are forgetting about the black market. The Brady Bill will stop a person from acting on impulse but if a person is planning on buying a handgun for criminal purposes, he is not likely to buy it through a dealer. If he buys a gun through a dealer, the gun has to be registered in that person’s name. If the gun is used in any crime or murder where a shot is fired and the gun is left behind, the police could very easily trace the gun to that person. This situation causes many criminals to turn to the black market. Any person can buy any type of gun on the streets. J. Warren Cassidy, former executive vice president of the NRA, says, ” for a gangster, obtaining a gun is just a matter of showing up on the right street corner with enough money” (419).

What I feel needs to be done is to stop trying to eliminate guns and instead give people the right to carry them. Prof. John Lott, Jr., and David B. Mustard of the University of Chicago performed a study on citizens carrying weapons. The study showed that ” allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths. If those states which did not have Right To Carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided yearly ” (National). The study also showed that compared to the rest of the United States the states that have Right To Carry laws have ” 26% less total violent crime, 20% less homicide, 2% less rape, 39% less robbery, and 22% less aggravated assault ” Not only will allowing citizens the right to carry reduce crime but it can also produce an annual gain of at least $6.214 billion (National).

According to the National Rifle Association, Florida enacted a right to carry law in 1987. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida Police Chiefs Association, and many other law enforcement groups supported it. Anti-gun activists claimed, however, if law-abiding citizens carried guns crime would increase. Politicians predicted that Florida would be known as the “GUNshine state”. News media claimed there would be “Wild West” shootouts at every street corner. These predictions were eventually proven false. Florida homicide rate actually dropped 41%, and the national rate dropped 20%. Only 0.02% of the issued gun licenses were revoked because of crimes committed by the holder. Some who originally opposed the right to carry law eventually agreed that it was a good idea, and that it hadn’t created the problems like they predicted. The success of this right to carry law helps show that people who have carry permits are more law abiding than

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