Gun Control In Texas Research Paper Sample

The debate on gun control in Texas has been going on for a while now. In American, states have been experiencing an increase in the street violence and other forms of violence involving guns. Some opine that this is as a result of the guns in the hand of civilians. Others suggest that this is not the case, and the moral decay in the current generations is responsible for the increased violence. The opinions depend depends on the perspective that one views the issues of gun control. The paper focuses on the arguments and counter arguments of gun controls in Texas.
According to Michael Bolding (2014), a state representative-Tim Kleinsschmidt introduced a bill seeking to thwart all the federal gun control policies in Texas. The bill would stop all the government agencies from enforcing the federal laws. In this respect, therefore, state officers enforcing the laws will be liable for helping the federal government to violate individual rights to owning and keeping firearms in Texas. The laws would legalize gun ownership of firearms in Texas. The question arising is whether the control is good or bad in the society.
Michael Dimock and Carroll Doherty (2013, p. 2) noted that up to 51% of the Americans favor controlling the ownership of the guns while 45% prefer the protection of one’s right to own guns. Criminal data in American, and in particular Texas, show that a significant number of criminal activities involve the use of weapons. From this perspective, it means that if the law allows the civilians to own more guns the illegal activities may increase.
In addition, when citizens own guns, the chances of committing crimes such as inflicting mass casualties for revenge may increase. Children who get bullied in schools may want to revenge as well as the mentally ill people who could misuse the weapons. Consider the case of Columbine massacre that left several children dead as well as other casualties. In the event that more dejected children can access guns, there are high chances that there could be a rematch of the Columbine massacre. In fact, there are reports on teens wishing to redo a Columbine attack for revenge or other reasons.
Further, legalizing the ownership of guns or extending it to the general public would avail the weapons to children. Such would increase the probability of catastrophic accidents occurring. Children who play with guns could end up shooting those around them. Moreover, criminals would access the guns easily that in turn will lead to the rise of illegal activities. The access to guns may act as an impetus to committing crimes. Consider how disgruntled people behave if they all have weapons. Each person pulls the gun and attempts to protect himself or herself. Such an approach would mean that alternative and peaceful methods of solving problems might be rendered obsolete.
Gun control is not unconstitutional. Tim Kleinsschmidt that federal control of gun ownership violets the individual right of owning and keeping firearms is skewed. It is the reasonability of the government to protect its citizens from any potential harm. The ownership of guns may render most of those who cannot afford guns vulnerable to harm. Giving the citizen authority to own weapons is relinquishing the duty to protecting the citizens and bestowing it upon individuals. The police would face a serious challenge in the enforcement of the laws. They would have to deal with armed citizens and perhaps with sophisticated weapons than theirs, such as semi-automatic weapons.
Moreover, to improve on security, the states do not need to allow arms to all the citizens. Making the citizens more knowledgeable on matters of security may address the problems of security. An enlightened population is safer than the one with guns.
On the contrary, gun control may not have great impacts as the pro-gun control proponents suggest. Whether the state control gun ownerships or not, criminals always find a way to get guns leaving the citizen unarmed and vulnerable. Therefore, controlling ownership of guns does not deter crime. In addition, banning the public from legally accessing guns leads to black markets for the guns. The black market for guns would not only make the society unsafe as criminal acquires guns, but also will deny the state governments the necessary taxes.
Every person has right to protect oneself from harm, and that involves the ownerships of a firearm. Any law that curtails that freedom is an infringement of the rights of the person. Once the citizens cannot obtain the guns, they tend to feel insecure and would seek to access the guns or other means of protection. Due to this, they end up getting semi-automatic weapons or other weapons that can challenge the police. Liberating the citizens to own guns would mean that the government can control the type of firearm the citizens can purchase and, therefore, make the police have superior weapons.

Works cited

Bolding, Michael. New Texas Bill Would Ban Enforcement of Federal Gun Control.. N.p., 2014 Web. 25 Apr 2015. <http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2014/11/new-texas-bill- would-ban-enforcement-of-federal-gun-control/>.
Dimock Michael and Doherty Carroll. In Gun Control Debate, Several Options Draw Majority Support. Web. Jan 14, 2013. 25 April 2015. <http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy- pdf/01-14-13%20Gun%20Policy%20Release.pdf>.