The United States of America is the most heavily armed population in the world. There are 200 Million guns and 60 to 65 Million legal owners who have one or more guns. In the United States, more than half of the households have guns. In 1974, nearly two million guns were produced in the United States, and four hundred thousand guns were imported. In 1975, the House Judiciary Committee Report Number 94-1103 stated that there were about three hundred thousand actual or potential handgun deaths annually! Those figures are increasing rapidly, if we do not do anything to stop it, it will became a disaster in the future. The definition of a gun is "a device that discharges a shot, shells, or bullets from a straight tube by a spark-producing mechanism that ignites the gunpowder." Although there are several different kind of guns, they all work in the same way.( Gun, Encarta '95) Many people think that the second amendment gives the United States Citizen the right to bear arm. However, according to the Supreme Court decision on October 3, 1983, the possession of handguns by individuals is not part of the "right to keep and bear arms." The Second Amendment only applies to the states' right to keep militaries(Long 78). Some people believe that guns do not kill people, that people kill people. Yet handguns are used 2.5 times more often than any other murder weapon. We require driver licenses for vehicles and drivers, so it is necessary to require licensing for the more dangerous weapons-guns. Mr. Charles Orasin, the vice president of the National Council to Control Handguns said that the gun control laws are only anti-crime laws, they do not regulate the citizens from using firearms for legal purposes. (Dolan 76, 100)The most dangerous kind of firearm is a cheaply made handgun, who also called "Saturday Night Special." They are dangerous because they are easy to get and most of the crimes are committed by them. They are short in the barrel, l...
