Essay Sample on A Persuasive Speech: Why Firearms Should not be Banned When Taming Homicides

The rising cases of homicides in the United States is an issue that has triggers a great need to know how the problem can be tamed. It has been found that the public owns a significant amount of guns and some quarters are claiming that this one of the reasons that are causing the rising number of homicides. However, the million-dollar question that many people are asking is whether the banning of firearms is likely to have a positive effect on homicide issues. The move to reduce the number of guns in the public arena is debatable, and I believe that it is not the main solution to the problem at hand. I must highlight some of the homicide killings that have happened in the past to make you have a better understanding of the management of guns.

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In July 2012, in a movie theatre that is based in Aurora Colorado, people had gathered to watch a film, The Dark Knight Rises (Pilkington, and Matt, 2012). When the movie started, a gunman entered one of the theatre rooms and started shooting leading to the death of 12 people and many others were left with wounds (Pilkington, and Matt, 2012). The issue was shocking to the moviegoers for it was known that guns are not allowed to the movie arena, but this did not stop the shooter from accessing the movie theatre and shooting at people.

During The Columbine High School massacre, a significant number of people lost their lives yet guns were not allowed to learning institutions. What is even worrying about the school shooting was that the perpetrators were students in this institution. Therefore, the issue of banning guns is not enough to prevent homicide and there is a need to have better measures that will help to prevent instances of these shootings.

I believe that the number of killings will reduce when guns are permitted than when they are banned. In both the above instances, if the other people in the movie theatre and at the Columbine high school had guns, they would have gunned down the perpetrators before they caused significant damage. What is required is to train people of better usage of these firearms, when they can use them and taking the right measures that may include imprisonment for the persons that are found to have used them in the wrong way.

There is no single person that expected that a gun holder to cause harm would manage to gain access to the movie theatre or the school for firearms are not allowed in these settings. The moviegoers and the students expected that everyone would adhere to the regulations set by the authorities, and this explains why they were caught off guard. It is an indication that even having laws that do not permit people to have guns at schools or in movie theatres is not enough for there are several people that will break the laws.

Thinking that banning is adequate is a wrong move that was adopted by the people in Lucas restaurant in 1991 and Virginia Tech in 2007 where there were shooting leaving a trail of life loss. They thought they were safe for the gun rules stated that no firearms were allowed to the area, and this means that they never expected that there would be anyone with a bad intention would gain access to the area. I believe that the banning of guns is not a move that is working for the shooters understand that everyone else will be obeying the law in their target areas. Therefore, they are given a better opportunity to attack without any form of retaliation made by the victims.

I can clearly state that these horrible events are leading to many people finding other ways that they can defend themselves when they are attacked. A good number of Americans are buying guns that they desire to utilize to defend themselves and not cause harm. There is a rise in the number of people that are seeking firearm instructors’ services. It is an indication that more people are willing to have ways in which they can manage to defend themselves when they are attacked.

I believe that some people claim that have strict measures on owning guns will help to reduce the rising cases of homicide. I know they will claim that the move will reduce the number of guns in the public domain. What they do not understand is that a criminal will always have a bad intention and they will undergo any measure to ensure that they have a gun that they can use to commit a crime. Their thinking is likely to affect the measures being implemented but it is critical to note that guns are used more for self-defense instead of committing crime. Therefore, there is a great to note that controlling homicide does not involve banning the usage of guns alone and a lot of efforts are needed.

The important question that Americans should ask themselves is whether banning guns is the best policy that can be adopted to manage cases of homicides. In the past, conventions have been held that are focusing on "making America safe again." The policymakers are finding ways that they can follow to realize this goal. I believe that the Americans are safer than they were decades ago but I know that the authorities should adopt nonpartisan policies in a measure to lower the crime rates in the country without the need to touch on the guns.

I know that owning guns is not the main factor that triggers rising cases of homicides in the country. Some cultural issues and socioeconomic variables are behind the many incidents of killings in the country (Center for American Progress, 2018). I believe that having stricter alcohol policies, ensuring that there is hot spot policing, working on deterrence policing, and initiating behavioral intervention programs are some of the moves that can help in resolving the problems at hand.

The increase in alcohol consumption has been linked to the rising cases of violence in the country, and this means that there is a need to ensure that American society has a control over the amount of alcohol they are consuming. Additionally, there is a great need to tackle the problem of drug abuse, and this is an issue that will help to lower cases of shooters engaging in killings of innocent people.

Raising the alcohol tax would help to reduce alcohol-related mortality and this would work towards lowering homicide cases. Making the license expensive will reduce the number of alcohol outlets helping to manage problematic drinking. Additionally, i believe that the authorities should revoke offenders right to drink just like what South Dakota has done which is revoking the 24/7 Sobriety program, and this will help to reduce the number of people that are engaging in illegal drinking process (Lopez, 2016). The authorities can manage to lower crime cases by working on hot-spot policing. The offenders should be deployed in the areas that are known to have significant rising cases of crimes in the country.

Increasing police presence will deter away criminals who use weapons in the wrong way. The deterrence policy programs manage to help in dealing with drugs in the streets, gun violence, and gangs, and this will ensure that there is a high probability that the move offers the desired outcome. The focus is mainly placed on the individuals and groups that are driving crime in a given region especially the ones that have been screened and found to have problems with engaging in crime. The strategy is mainly geared towards bringing community and law enforcement agencies together and working out on solutions that will help manage the problems in their society (Jacobo, 2017). Therefore, if there is a person that is known to have a long history of drug use, the police officers can let them know the consequences of drug use and any resulting violence.

The community helps in settings standards that will ensure that everyone in it will be required to meet failure to which they will face the consequences highlighted by the community. The move will seek to limit the number of people engaging in criminal activities. Therefore, people owning guns will continue but they will be used in the right way and not harming people for no apparent reason.

Therefore, based on the review I have done, I believe that banning firearms is not the best course of action to take in managing the homicide cases in the United States. The persons that want to commit a crime will do it irrespective of the bans instituted by a government. Therefore, it is essential to work on the factors triggering people to engage in homicide. Drugs are balanced as one of the major causes and society should ensure that it has better control over the way that drugs are used by people. Additionally, I believe that community policing should also work towards having a community that is free of criminals, and the persons that are found to have committed a crime should be handed to the authorities.

References

Center for American Progress. (2018). 6 ways to reduce gun violence in America. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/guns-crime/news/2018/03/28/448565/gun-violence-united-states-public-health-crisis/

Jacobo, J. (2017). A look back at the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting 5 years later. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/back-aurora-colorado-movie-theater-shooting-years/story?id=48730066

Lopez, G. (2016). 6 proven policies for reducing crime and violence without gun control. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2016/2/15/10981274/crime-violence-policies-guns

Pilkington, E. and Matt, W. (2012). Colorado theater shooting: 12 shot dead during The Dark Knight Rises screening. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/20/colorado-theater-shooting-dark-knight