Handgun Control

(Bang, Bang, Bang) When you started school at 8:00, 30 people died from handguns, 3 of those were kids, 19 years and younger. (Bang, Bang) Just a few minutes ago while you were eating your lunch 3 more people died, 2 of those were kids bringing the total to 48...and...another has just died 49 by the end of this period 51 people will be dead. When you go home this evening, 33 adults and 5 more kids will die. According to the National Vital Statistics Report of 1999, 89 people die a day from guns. The many negative consequences of handguns in the United States, compared to strict handgun control countries, are why I am pro-handgun control.

As you can see the U.S. had 14,276 murders while Japan only 19 murders. Contributing editor and essayist for the New York Times Magazine, Robert Rosenblatt states, "[Gun Control Advocates] usually point to Britain, Australia and Japan...where guns are restricted and crime is reduced." (Share stories). The crime index of the United States for the year 2000 was 11,608,070 while Japan's was 977,185. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is a law that requires a 5-Day wait for license/purchase of a handgun, and prohibits anyone under 21 from buying handguns from licensed dealers, although a loophole still lets 18-21 year olds to buy handguns from private or unlicensed dealers. The Act was put into effect in January 1996. Yearly FBI reports shows from 1996 crime and murder have decreased drastically.

Contrary to the NRA's beliefs, owning a handgun for self-defense is pointless. In 2001 only 136 times! Also, the chances of the criminal having a gun and better accuracy are greater. The Violence Policy Center said: "No gun control law has ever been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on Second Amendment grounds.... Every federal Court of Appeals that has considered the meaning of the Second Amendment has held that it protects the right of states to maintain a militia, not an individual right to own a gun." The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that "the erroneous supposition that the Second Amendment is concerned with the rights of individuals rather than those of states." (J. and Rand K. Sugarmann)

(Beyond the generalizations slide) Here is an up-to-date article by the Chicago Tribune stating that Chicago leads the major cities by murders by guns, 157-en counting.