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Sean Coward

Ms. Douglas

UWRT 1104

23 March 2017

Gun Laws: U.S. vs. The World

The issue of gun laws has been spreading rapidly from different cities to states, and to

even other countries. This world has always had issues with violence since the beginning of time.

Now that we have the invention of guns, the problem only gets worse. The United States has

suffered from the invention of guns more than any other country. Ever since the beginning of

artillery use, the United States have been involved and have worked to make bigger and stronger

weapons. As the U.S. develops more guns are being exposed to citizens in the community and

are being used for illegal activity. The worlds development has made people more aware and

knowledgeable, but also more violent and it is causing the amount of crime to rise higher than

its ever been. Now these countries are looking for a solution to deplete the amount of gun

violence. So, the big question that everyone wants to know is, what do we do?

A big part of the gun issue is that the United States gun laws and regulations are not

strong enough to protect the country. The second amendment allows the right to bear arms but

has been taken a little more vaguely than it should be. According to Heedinggodscall.com

over two million firearms are in the hands of U.S. civilians. Eugene Bardach was one of the

writers that would agree with this outlook. He believed that the government needed to put more

energy into working on gun laws. With a surplus of weapons being in the hands of citizens, it is

no doubt that we will encounter violence. Not only are we encountering several acts of terror but

our own citizens are committing crimes against each other. The United States encounters an act
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of gun violence at least thirty times a day. This is an outrageous number of crimes being

committed that could be resolved by a change in government laws.

The United States government is known for having some of the strongest forms of

legislature in the world. We have the Constitution, the Articles of Confederations, and we the

government is continuing to pass new laws every day. The United States is also the most

developed country and is rapidly changing so it should not be an issue for the government to

enforce people to obey the laws set and to discipline the people that do not. If the law does not

do anything to enforce the laws that they make, then nobody is going to follow them.

The U.S. could help decrease the amount of gun violence and casualties if they consider

the laws of other countries and work to limit their gun supply, so that citizens wont have the

weapons to commit crimes. Some of these countries are well-developed and are more hazardous

than we are. For example, China, Singapore, and Malaysia dont allow citizens to own firearms,

according to Democratic Underground. With these laws in place their amount of violence and

casualties is significantly lower than other countries. Working to stricken laws does make a

difference in some cases, but sometimes the best to solution is to eliminate the item that started

the issue. Robert Bruce-Chwatt writes a lot about the gun laws of different countries. He has

written about some of the issues that European countries have had and what they have did to fix

them. He discusses their laws and the government act that take place. Chwatt talks about

countries like Japan and Britain, who have not completely taken away weapons, but have

determined the types of guns people can have and the quantity they can have. In Britain, the gun

laws are so strict that the police arent even allowed to carry a gun. The only people who can

have anything other than a handgun are Britains soldiers. The United States restricting gun
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access to military only would be good for the country and would decrease the amount of deaths

each year.

When other countries produce ideas to help the United States with the gun laws a

difference would be made. The U.S. is such an independent country that refuses to change their

laws or try to restrict weaponry because it could cause outrage. Most citizens that own weapons

wouldnt be willing to limit their gun supply when there hasnt been any issue with them before.

The U.S. government would have to be very sensitive and lenient with trying to eliminate gun

supply so that there wouldnt be retaliation.

A solution for decreasing casualties in the U.S. by guns would be to tax them so high that

criminals wouldnt be able to purchase them. A lot of the people that purchase guns illegally get

them from cheap gun shops or under the counter. If the government were to tax higher on

weaponry, less people would purchase guns and less crimes would be committed. Daniel Webster

is an author that discussed the drug traffic issues in Milwaukee and how it affects the United

States. He would most likely agree with a higher taxation on weapons because it would decrease

the amount of trafficking due to higher resell prices. It wouldnt be possible for them to make

profit unless they sold them for higher than retail or to steal the weapons.

A tax raise would be a much easier solution than decreasing gun supply and restricting

the citizens from getting them. Gun owners most likely wouldnt be as upset with guns costing

more as oppose to their guns being taken away from them. This idea could make it easier for

majority of the weapons to be supplied to our military instead of being in the hands of civilians.

It could also bring in more money for the U.S. so it might help in many ways.

The United States government could improve the issue of gun laws in many ways, but it

starts with legislature looking at laws and determining ways to make a difference. When the
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government steps in, they can make the U.S. safer for civilians. We have some police forces

taking action and military when necessary, but the issues is still present. There would be less

deaths and less crime if the U.S. worked to make better laws and enforce the consequences that

come with committing these crimes. The United States has a lot to improve on but the main

focus is to make progress and to make our nation better each day.
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Works Cited

Donohue, John. "What Americans Can Learn about Gun Control from Other Advanced

Countries." Newsweek. Newsweek, 13 June 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Masters, Jonathan. "How do U.S. gun laws compare to other countries?" PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 07
Feb. 2017

"USA Gun Violence Statistics." USA Gun Violence Statistics. N.p., 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"What Countries Actually Have a Total Gun Ban?" Democratic Underground. Democratic

Underground, 2002. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.