The ethics behind gun ownership,
in my opinion, revolve around the individual. I do think that individuals
should have the option of owning guns. The reason being is that guns are
purchased for several different reasons, with hunting being a very popular one.
With that being said, would it be ethical to prohibit the sale of hunting guns
because of what people may do with the rifle that does not involve hunting? I
don’t think so. In this country we cannot prohibit the sale or use of something
because of the fear associated with misusing it. And I don’t think it would be
very practical to prohibit the sale of certain types of firearms either, as they
can all be used for different activities. Handguns can be used on the range for
fun or in the home for self-defense, rifles can be used for just about
anything, semi-automatic firearms are a bit more aggressive but can still be
used for recreational purposes.
The argument that guns should not
be legal because they can be used the wrong way can be applied to other laws in
our country. For example, alcohol consumption is legal for anyone over 21 years
of age, but alcohol poisoning can kill a person and drunk driving has proved to
be a problem in our country (Banks, 2013). Just because someone can kill
someone else while driving drunk, or even kill themselves from alcohol
poisoning, does that mean we should ban alcohol consumption?
Arguments for gun control include
making our country safer, exercising a right that was established more than a
century ago, and creating security and comfort for families and individuals.
Those who argue against it state that guns create more homicides, assault weapons
are not used for sport, and most gun incidents involve firearms that are sold
legally. There are too many variables that play into both sides of the
argument. There is no data out there to support the claims from either side
because the laws in our country have never been consistent enough, or followed
enough to support these claims. It is hard to say whether or not gun control
will make our country safer. A good example may be to look at countries that do
not support gun use and their crime rates. However, these countries enforce strict
punishments for broken laws, which is the opposite of justice system because
some states have very relaxed gun laws.
Only the individual will know if
they are truly buying a gun for its intended purpose, whether that be hunting,
self-defense, recreation, and so on. No legal gun sales are made with the
intention of selling a gun to an individual for the purpose of harming another
individual, just like no alcohol sales are made with the intention of the buyer
driving drunk and causing bodily harm to someone else. There is also no
accurate way to track the safety of the arguments for or aginst gun control.
The ethics lie solely on the individuals purchasing them and selling them, not
on those controlling the sale or prohibition of them.
References:
Banks, J. (2013). Gun control
debate: the argument that every gun owner needs to start making. PolicyMic.
Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/72067/gun-control-debate-the-argument-that-every-gun-owner-needs-to-start-making
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