Introduction
The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed to citizens by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Second Amendment does safeguard people’s rights; however, depending on where they live, those rights could be subject to certain limitations. However, over time, restrictions on this fundamental freedom have been imposed by gun control laws. Gun control advocates and certain politicians contend that these restrictions are vital, but the reality is that it is ineffective (Masters). This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the Second Amendment based on actual events and data.
Summary
According to the National Rifle Association (NRA), gun control does not work. The text starts with numerous examples of the state infringing upon the right of people to bear arms. This right is enshrined in the constitution and is considered one of the fundamentals of balance between the citizen and the state. These include having citizens pass through rigorous background checks, limiting the selling of weapons to felons and mentally ill patients, and imposing various restrictions on the types of guns available to the general populace. NRA-ILA states that these measures, among others, had little to no effect on curbing crime rates and reducing the number of shootings.
The first reason cited by NRA-ILA is that criminals will always have the opportunity to purchase weapons illegally. They cite the study by the Obama administration in 2016, saying that only 10% of all guns used by criminals were purchased legally (NRA-ILA). Another argument the article makes is that those people who do submit themselves to background checks can lie on the federal form to get their guns. Drug addicts can keep their addiction a secret, whereas mental health patients with no previous illness records will not be in the database (NRA-ILA). Finally, NRA-ILA states that cities with the strictest gun control laws are the most crime-ridden, while criminals themselves are more afraid of the armed citizenry than the police.
Response
This article made me think about a question that I already had. Before analyzing the article, I was sure this law did not work as the authorities wanted it to, so I can fully agree. Unfortunately, I did not come across a situation related to this law. Gun control laws do not work; for example, background checks are not effective at stopping those who intend to use guns to commit crimes.
A drug addict may lie about their addiction on a federal background check form. A person with severe mental health issues but no history of mental health treatment goes to buy a gun. After analyzing the solutions that the author promotes, creating a new project is a universal solution to resolve today’s problems. The author manifests American values because they know how people live under this law and feel this mentality. Thus, their decisions also come from the paradigm of American values.
Conclusion
To sum up, even though proponents of gun control and certain politicians claim that these limits are essential, the truth is that they are ineffectual. Background checks, for instance, are ineffective at deterring those who want to use firearms to commit crimes, proving that it is ineffective. Without a doubt, “Project Exile” showed that the most effective method to lower violent crime and keep the American people safer is to target armed offenders rather than burden innocent Americans needlessly.
Work Cited
Masters, Jonathan. “US gun policy: Global comparisons.” Council on Foreign Relations 14, 2017.
NRA-ILA. “NRA-ILA | Home.” nraila.org, 2022.