The purpose of this assignment is to revise the body of your academic argumentative research paper. I've included the revision Mark's as files.

Running head: THE BODY PARAGRAPHS: GUN CONTROL 0

The Body Paragraphs: Gun Control

Name

Prof. Parker

Columbia Southern University

3-30-2020

The Body Paragraphs: Gun Control

Introduction

The issue of gun control in the United States has long been an incredibly controversial one, with many unique and complex arguments both for and against it. Discussion on the issue has become even more heated and aggressive in the past few years, given the rise of school shootings, gun-related crime, and highly publicized shooting deaths due to gang violence in metropolitan areas. While many people believe that the Second Amendment is a fundamental attribute of our civil rights, this perspective is antiquated, outdated, and does not take into account the many different factors related to guns and gun violence today. Research indicates a strong correlation between stricter gun control legislation and lower rates of gun-related deaths. Therefore, increased gun control legislation should be implemented promptly to facilitate these outcomes as quickly as possible. Given the increasing prevalence of gun-related deaths, the pervasiveness of gun culture, and a plethora of other factors, it is clear that increased gun control measures must be implemented to make our country a safer place to live.

Literature Review

Despite the objectively terrible outcomes of gang violence, crime, and shooting deaths, some argue that enacting strict gun control would take away from a vital Constitutional right to bear arms. The gun lobby in America is a powerful force, with tremendous political power through special interest groups, lobbyists, and organizations like the National Rifle Association (NRA) (Goss, 2010). In this argument, this would make crime increase more than it already has by taking guns from law-abiding citizens to defend themselves from criminals who acquire guns illegally. Furthermore, opponents argue that, if guns were taken away, criminals would simply change their tactics to using other weapons, such as knives or other bladed weapons (Zimring, 1968). These kinds of hardline oppositions to gun control have allowed the anti-gun control movement to gain substantial political power, while gun control advocates are still largely operating from a grassroots position (Goss, 2010).

The difficult nature of this issue is that many of these anti-gun control arguments can still technically fall under the purview of ‘gun control,’ so it may be necessary to provide a clear definition of what exactly is meant by ‘stricter gun control.’ While many proposed sources will work on slightly different definitions of what constitutes gun control, stronger, more restrictive background checks, restraints on the unlicensed sale of firearms at gun shows, restriction of concealed carry permits, and other related legislation would provide sufficient levels of gun control to lower crime and gun violence rate substantially. Gun violence is often inextricably linked to gang violence, particularly in major metropolitan areas. The Uniform Crime Reports group notes that Chicago, Illinois has an extremely high rate of crime, which increased with each year. In 2010 alone, 436 murders, 1,359 criminal sexual assaults, 14, 205 robberies, 74,561 thefts, nearly 20,000 car thefts and more were all committed in Chicago (Chicago Police Crime Summary, 2010).

Conversely, others believe the tenets of gun control would effectively deter crime by lowing the number of guns on the streets and restricting gun access to those who should not have them. Gun control laws have the effect of reducing instances of criminal homicides; Zimring argues that the banning of firearms in major metropolitan areas would lower instances of homicide (Zimring, 1968). However, the existing laws with regards to gun control are ineffective and inefficient at actually lower rates of gun violence. Research indicates that the best measures that have been taken thus far to reduce gun violence have been comprehensive, community-based initiatives like information, training, and storage campaigns, as well as gun buy-back programs, law enforcement campaigns and gun laws (Makarios & Pratt, 2012). These measures, combined with stricter measures of gun control and restriction of firearms, may help to provide comprehensive help to communities, combining the immediate restriction of gun violence with the socio-economic interventions that could prevent impoverished and desperate individuals from entering into a life of crime and gun violence in the first place.

References

Chicago Police Department. (2010). “Crime summary.” Chicagopolice.org. 2010. https://portal.chicagopolice.org/portal/page/portal/ClearPath/News/Statistical%20Reports/Index%20Crime%20Statistics/2010%20Index%20Crime%20Statistics/mcsDec10%5B1%5D.pdf

Goss, K. (2010). Disarmed: The missing movement for gun control in America (Vol. 120). Princeton University Press.

Makarios, M. D., & Pratt, T. C. (2012). The effectiveness of policies and programs that attempt to reduce firearm violence: A meta-analysis. Crime & Delinquency, 58(2), 222-244.

Zimring, F. (1968). Is gun control likely to reduce violent killings?. The University of Chicago Law Review, 35(4), 721-737.