Gun Control in America - Annotated Bibliography

This research aims at studying the issue of gun control policies basing on the rise in mass public shootings. This topic influences the question of whether we should be blaming guns for criminal violence and deaths in the community, and if gun control laws are the solution. This research will dig into the impact of gun ownership in American society as well. This annotated bibliography serves to outline articles that will guide my research in the gun control issue.

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Hunter, Jack. "How Gun Control Kills." The American Conservative, Burr Media Group, (2012).

In this article, Hunter contends that strict gun policies might reduce selling of guns and crime but will not control the availability of guns in the black market hence controlling mass shootings will not be effective. The recent public mass shootings left several people dead, raising questions on the efficiency of gun control. This article also talks of how mass shooters implement specific plans for gun violence and gun control policies will not have much of an impact on this. The pro-gun group claims that ordinary citizens need to be permitted to possess concealed weapons in public.

The relevance of this article is the point it makes; that the tighter restrictions are for individuals to purchase guns legally, the more they will go on looking for shortcuts for possessing firearms. Hence, this will not stop criminals since most of them will already be in possession of the weapons through illegal means.

Robertson, Lori. "Gun Laws, Deaths and Crimes - Factcheck.Org." FactCheck.org. N. p., 2015.

The author discusses how gun access is not the main reason for homicide rates being on the rise but how it plays a significant part. The article gives several gun statistics comparing different states that have gun control policies and those that lack. The report claims that the government needs to confiscate the weapons from private holders and considerably make the training and safety rules tougher, which is something the partisans would not want to take on. This article could be mostly applicable to supporting how organizations are contributing to gun violence due to the statistics it provides on the impact of guns on death rates. The author focuses more on the government's perspective and the availability of firearms to the public as the primary factor influencing gun violence. The article is useful since it provides the connection between America's gun policies and their impact the rate of society's ferocity.

Barrett, Paul M. "Gun Control and the Constitution: Should We Amend the Second Amendment?" Bloomberg Businessweek(2014).

The primary idea of this article is to merely break down the Second Amendment and get its true meaning. The author clearly defines the facets of the amendment. This article helps in giving a better comprehension to individuals who might not get the exact point of the Second Amendment. The site is neutral since it mainly focuses on the Second Amendment's stand about the issue of gun ownership in the United States. It goes over necessary information concerning the Amendment and how America's citizens could apply the rights of the Amendment freely as they wished. The article also discusses recent Second Amendment verdicts by the Senate. These judgments have an impact on all Americans and their privilege of being in possession of arms. The article is useful for this research since it gives background information required concerning the details of the Second Amendment on the issue of gun control in America.

Kristof, Nicholas. "Opinion | It's Time to Talk About the N.R.A.." Nytimes.com. N. p., 2018.

The author inquired, in particular, the influence of the NRA on the votes for the gun control bill and realized that the NRA had no significant effect on the ballots. According to the article, even as the proposal was approved, the fact that NRA was not quite persuasive in implementing the law, casts the NRA into a new light. This article gives credit to the NRA's prerogative that they are not accountable for the number of gun violence in America and dishonors those who state otherwise.

This article offers well rhetorically analyzed statistics and information that is useful for this research project. The NRA believes that gun control in America needs to be minimized, invoking every US citizen's Second Amendment rights. The article holds that gun control needs to be reduced and provides a counterpoint to those opposing the NRA as a resulting factor of gun violence in the US.

Gun Facts | Gun Control and Crime in non-US Countries. (2013). Gun Facts.

The article clarifies the myth that nations with stricter gun policies have low crime rates. The fact is, in the US, we can support that private gun ownership leads to a reduction in crime, but from nation to nation, there is no correlation between violent crime rates and gun accessibility. The article backs its claims with statistical data from various surveys. The source thus gives a detailed comparison of murder and crime rates between nations with strict gun laws and those lacking gun control policies.

This article is relevant for presenting an appeal for this research. The report directly relates to facts and statistics on gun control and guns in different states. Information from this article will help in stating a claim and baking it up with sound evidence. The article gives a new perspective and great idea on the debate of gun control and its influence on crime rates.

Carroll, L., "Obama: More Gun Laws Means Fewer Gun Deaths." @politifact. N.p., 2015.

This article is about America's rising violence and how this directly correlates with the nation's laws through Obama's call for more gun control policies. The author discusses the type of individuals who are at most risk of committing gun-related offenses. Carroll looks at the issue of gun violence and gun control from a different perspective to find the factors contributing to this highly controversial issue.

This article is useful since it provides us with a different viewpoint of looking at this issue. The report takes into consideration that offenders will still break the law no matter the restrictions set on them. If the American government makes it illegal to have guns or hard for citizens to get access to them, it will only be beneficial to criminals. Reason being, criminals can purchase a weapon illegally, and those who want the gun for self-defense might end up having a hard time.

Mermin, Jonathan. "In the Alternative: The Sensitive Second Amendment." Maine BJ 31 (2016): 50.

In this article, the author discusses the aspect of the Second Amendment in detail and how Republicans are undecided on the gun control laws debate. There is controversy on the relative frequency of self-defense and illegal gun ownership. For instance, Mermin states, "the concerns of the nation that individuals need protection from questions which could result in them pondering whether gun ownership could be a bad idea outweighs the First Amendment right of physicians to talk to their clients" (50).

Overall, this is a good source since it brings out the nation's political perspective on this matter. This article portrays how the gun-control fight following the Second Amendment is at a political stalemate. The Congress is merely representing a divided society. The report thus breaks down the Second Amendment and its right meaning hence giving a better understanding to its readers who might not be well versed with the Amendments' goals.

Work Cited

Barrett, Paul M. "Gun Control and the Constitution: Should We Amend the Second Amendment?" Bloomberg Businessweek(2014).Accessed 26 November 2018, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-20/gun-control-and-the-constitution-should-we-amend-the-second-amendment

Carroll, Lauren., "Obama: More Gun Laws Means Fewer Gun Deaths." @politifact (2015). Accessed 26 November 2018 from https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/06/barack-obama/obama-more-gun-laws-means-fewer-gun-deaths/Gun Facts | Gun Control and Crime in non-US Countries. (2013). Gun Facts. Accessed 26 November 2018 fromhttp://www.gunfacts.info/gun-control-myths/guns-in-other-countries/

Hunter, Jack. "How Gun Control Kills." The American Conservative, Burr Media Group, (2012). Accessed 26 November 2018, fromhttps://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-gun-control-kills/Kristof, Nicholas. "Opinion | It's Time to Talk About the N.R.A.." Nytimes.com. N. p., 2018. Accessed 26 November 2018, fromhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/29/opinion/nra-mass-shootings-pittsburgh.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGun%20Control.

Mermin, Jonathan. "In the Alternative: The Sensitive Second Amendment." Maine BJ 31 (2016): 50.

Robertson, Lori. "Gun Laws, Deaths and Crimes - Factcheck.Org." FactCheck.org. N. p., 2015.Accessed 26 November 2018, from https://www.factcheck.org/2015/10/gun-laws-deaths-and-crimes/