Here Comes the Big Guns | Teen Ink

Here Comes the Big Guns

April 4, 2013
By DHGMerica BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
DHGMerica BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Gun control. So many arguments to this topic, so little time. There is Joe Biden


and the liberals; trying to ban assault weapons and minimize ammunition sales. Not to


mention trying to get clip capacities for guns minimized to 10 rounds and make


background checks very strict. Then there is the NRA,the association standing up


against gun control. But who is right and who is wrong in this situation? In my eyes,


neither of them are right.


The first plan from Biden and his fellow congressmen is for stricter background


checks. They believe that with stricter background checks it will help prevent shootings


and prevent criminals on getting there hands on guns. They are also pushing the ban on


assault rifles, or “AR’s”. Some states like; New York, have banned AR’s just recently.


They hope that this plan will help prevent gun violence, but of course, someone is


fighting against them.


The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is fighting for against these newly


proposed gun laws. Instead, they have thought of a different approach. Wayne LaPierre


(head of the NRA) says “Its time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our


children” He proposed that there should be armed guards around schools across


America. He also states “Criminals will never submit to background checks.” In a way, it


is like the ban of drugs. Just because it is illegal, does that mean people are just going to


stop doing them? Of course not!


In fact, most guns that fall into the weapons ban are not used by criminals to shoot


people. The problem is not the AR’s, its more or less the weapons used for self defense


or hunting purposes. The most common gun used for mass shootings is the handgun. It


can be concealed easily in pockets or purses, and can pulled on someone in a blink of an


eye. So why not just ban all of guns period? First off, there are over 300 million guns in


america, and that would take a lot of effort and money to get all those guns out of


civilians hands. In fact, the Supreme Court ruled that confiscating guns would be


unconstitutional, both in 2008 and 2010.


Now if it were up to me, I would combine and take these ideas so it fits both sides


and actually could possibly make more sense. First of all, I would not ban AR’s or restrict


magazine size. Why should you be limited to the number of rounds your mag has? What


if 10 rounds isn’t enough to defend yourself? And why should AR’s be banned? They are


clearly not the problem. If anything, they should ban handguns, but the supreme court


already proved that to be unconstitutional. Second I completely agree with stricter


background checks. This could help by keeping guns out of past criminals hands. Even is


the background checks didn't do much, it still wouldn't hurt to try this idea. Some places,


like guns shows, don't even have background checks, and that obviously can mean


trouble. I also somewhat agree with LaPierre’s to put armed guards in schools. As great


as the idea is though, it would also take a lot of funding and tax money to something like


that. And not every school has enough funding to do that either. Therefore, I do not think


this plan should be a mandatory thing for every school to do. Now I know not everyone


can agree with me on these things, but this is my opinion.


So with no clear side or answer to gun control, I think we can take from both sides


of this argument. The NRA has some very good ideas, and so does the congressmen.


Neither of them are completely right. But I still think this will be a long and debated issue

for quite some time.



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