banning handguns

banning handguns

* Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado: April 20, 1999
- 11:10 A.M.: Two students arrive in separate cars.
- 11:14 A.M.: They go to the cafeteria and leave large bags.
Inside the bags are bombs. Return to their cars.
- 11:19 A.M.: They take guns out from under their coats.
They begin firing at the building and students.
In less than an hours, they have killed 13 students and staff. injured 21 others.
They then kill themselves

Seriousness of the problem

- 1800s(the Wild West) : undeveloped and underpoliced. the days of cowboys and guns
※ Now(modern, industrialized country) : people have guns
- Since 1963 : guns have killed more Americans than were killed World War 2
- More than 70 million handguns are in circulation
※ About 2 million handguns are manufactured every year.

-In 1998 : Guns were the cause of death in 52% of the 17,000 murders in the United States.

Reasons for the lack of handgun control
1)NRA(the National Rifle Association) is the strongest, most effective
lobbying organization in Washington,D.C
- people can own guns for hunting deer and other animals.
- opposes government control over guns, including handguns.
- at election time in helping to defeat politicians who support gun control
2)Modern society seems to it self as a continuation of the “Wild West”
- “good guys” must be able to protect themselves “bad guys”, the criminals.
- The good guys buy guns for self-defense
- People for gun control point out the good guys, their children get killed with same guns.
3) Some people like handguns- for hunting, for defence, for crime.
- handguns are small and can be kept hidden when not in use.
- can be used at a distance from the victim.
- the users of the handguns is at a safer range and less involved.

The nation needs new laws to get rid of handguns.(Solution of problem)
1)The new laws must be federal laws
2) must ban handguns altogether except for use by authorized official.
3)The penalty must be severe for criminal use of a handguns.