FREE ESSAY ON GUN CONTROL

GUN CONTROL

David Chapman 
SPCH 1010
7/31/00
Topic: Gun Control
General Purpose: To Persuade
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience on the negative effects of gun control
Central Idea: The effects gun control will have on the nation are leaving people
unprotected against violent crimes, an infringement on states rights, and the loss of
hunting and sport shooting in our country.
In Cumberland, TN, a 28-year-old Jason McCulley broke into the home of Stanley Horn and
his wife tied up the two of them at knifepoint, demanded to know where the couple kept
their money in the house. While Mrs. Horn was directing the robber, Mr. Horn freed
himself from the rope, grabbed his gun of the nightstand and shot the intruder then
called the police. The intruder, Jason McCulley, later died from the gunshot wound. If
many of the senators on the gun control side of the government, the Horns may have been
killed and the perpetrator may have lived to rob again. That is the effect that gun
control would have on the nation, leaving people unprotected against violent crimes, an
infringement on states rights, and the loss of gun collection and sport-shooting in our
country.
I. Gun Control would take away persons ability to protect themselves against violent
crimes.
A. 31 states now have laws that allow citizens to carry firearms.
1. According to Prof. John R. Lott, Jr., and David B. Mustard, of the University of
Chicago, conducted a study of, "Crime, Deterrence, and Right To Carry Concealed
Handguns," and found that "allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent
crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths (with guns). If those
states which did not have Right to Carry concealed gun provisions and had adopted them in
1992, approximately 1570 murders; 4177 rapes; and over 60000 aggravated assaults would
have been avoided yearly...(W)hen state concealed handgun laws went into effect in a
county, murders fell by 8.5%, and rapes and aggravated assaults fell by 5 and 7 percent.
2. According to FBI data, states with the right to carry law have:
a. 26% less total violent crime
b. 20% less homicide
c. 2% less rape
d. 39% less robbery
e. 22% less aggravated robbery
f. 8 of the 10 states with the lowest crime rates are RTC states
B. Britain has strict gun control but still has a lot of crime
1. they do not let the anoint of crimes committed in Britain leak out to the public for
fear of tourism declining
a. Is perceived by Americans as being a very safe and country with very few violent
crimes.
2. They have crooked ways of making there country seem safe which was revealed in an
article by the London Daily Telegraph called, "Crime Figures a Sham, Say Police."
a. When there is a string of burglaries committed by the same robber they are only
recorded as one robbery 
b. And if a no one is convicted for a murder or crime then they act like that it never
happened 
2. The British Police are always threatening the public that the legalizing of guns would
lead them down the dangerous path of American gun policy, but as the Daily Telegraph once
again pointed out is that " the main reason for a much lower burglary rate in America is
householders' propensity to shoot intruders. They do so without fear of being dragged
before courts and jailed for life."
3. As stated by both Dr. Paul Gallant and Dr. Joanne Eisen, research associates at the
Independence Institute, "American anti-gun lobbyists have long argued that if America
followed Britain's lead in severely restricting firearms possession and self-defense,
then American crime rates would eventually match Britain's. The lobbyists have also
argued that if guns were restricted in America, civil liberties in the U.S. would have
the same degree of protection that they have in Britain. The lobbyists are exactly
right."
I. Gun Control policy is also an infringement on states' rights.
A. According to Phillip Gold of Areatea, a Seattle-based policy institute, the Second
Amendment justifies the right of individual possession of firearms in terms of one type
of responsibility for the common defense: maintaining a well-regulated militia. 
1. The well regulated is was understood differently back then; to the founders it was an
old shooting term, which meant skilled in marksmanship.
2. They writers also recognized the term of militia as having two different meanings.
a. One was called organized or select, forces trained and called out for specific
emergencies or expeditions.
b. The other was unorganized or universal militia, consisting of everybody. Which back
then would be all adult white males, but today would mean be every law-abiding citizen?
3. Most constitutional scholars, even those who favor gun control, admit that federal gun
control can not be implemented, constitutionally, as long as the second amendment
exists.
B. The second amendment is not all that would be violated. Article I, subsection 26 of
the Tennessee Bill of Rights states, "That the citizens of this state have a right to
keep and bear arms for their common defense; but the Legislature shall have power, by
law, to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime.
II. The loss of gun collecting and shooting for sport would also come with gun control.
A. The gun control lobbyists believe that the only reason for anyone to own a gun is to
kill with it. Many people by guns and never have any intention to kill something with
it.
1. Many people like to collect guns. Either those from a certain time period or perhaps
they have been passed down from previous generations in their family. They are even used
for historical reenactments
2. Some use guns for recreational shooting and for use in marksmanship competitions.
3. In addition, there are those who buy guns but never even have bullets for them,
because they are only used to scare away people from merely the sight of them.
The right to own is a gun is one that was awarded to our country by our founding fathers
and one that is being tested daily by our leaders today. That is why you as an American
should support all laws and that allow guns to be kept in the homes of citizens. Although
many of you may not own guns and you may choose to never own a gun it is a right that you
have and if one amendment can be denied to the people for which it applies, what is to
keep your leaders from denying you other rights for which you are privileged.