iolence is the second leading cause of death by injury in the U.S. It should become first by the year 2003 unless something is done to prevent it. In the early nineties for example, four states – Nevada, Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas had trends of gun injury as the top cause of death. This type of violence it seems is almost as epidemic as AIDS is in causing death. That is a very scary thing to consider. (gunfree.org) The National Center for Health Statistics reports that firearms have taken the lives of 35,957 people in the U.S. in 1995. There is a 21.5% firearm fatality increase since 1985. And, of these fatalities, suicides rank first at 18,503 people; homicides second at 15,835 people; unintentional shootings next at 1,225 people; and 394 were undetermined. (gunfree.org) Now I would like to demystify several arguments used against gun control. The first one assumes that gun control won’t stop gun violence or crime. Most criminals get guns through legal means contrary to what the gun lobby says to justify having a huge availability of guns. This is proven by the Criminal Justice Research Center. They apparently surveyed that only 27% of adult inmates and 43% of juveniles have bought handguns illegally on the black market. On the other hand, of these inmates, 69% of adults and 55% of juveniles obtained guns through means like retail, gun shops, private owners, friends or family. This confirms that most guns are gotten legally through controlled methods. (gunfree.org) Also, the FBI has received reports of a median number of about 274,000 guns stolen yearly from ’85 to ’94. This points out that the guns sold by owners and dealers are a risk to us and can be regulated to lower crime, murder, suicide, and other fatalities. (gunfree.org) Is owning a gun really a constitutional right? The 2nd amendment of the constitution says: “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the righ...
