Gun Control:
The Possibilities for a Safer Future
On January 16, 2013, a tragic day for all loving parents and a lot of Americans as well was
a shooting at Sandy Hooks Elementary School that killed and wounded 20 kids and 6
adults. It was because of this heartbreaking incident that led President Barack Obama to
propose restrictions on gun control laws all over America. The proposed actions included
stricter background checks, ban on assault weapons, limiting the amount of ammo that can
be bought, and a dozen other actions that would strengthen gun control (The New York
Times). With major support from many Americans, it is hopeful that this law will be
passed in hopes that it will lead to the permanent of all firearms in general. However, many
will use the argument that restricting guns will also break their 2nd Amendment that gives
the right to bear arms. If not for that argument, firearms would likely already be gone. If
the United States were to pass this law into effect, crime and death rates would decrease as
evident from other countries that have done the same.
People tend to miss out on the big picture that weapons are the number one reason as to
why deaths happen in the United States. From the website, “Just Facts”, James D. Agresti
and Reid K. Smith provide substantial amount of evidence on the fact that firearms are
involved in most crimes and deaths. One of their facts about crime included that; “Roughly
16272 murders were committed in the United States during 2008. Of these, about 10886 or
