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Guns; the Us Threat

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Weinberg, Bill. "Guns: The U.S. Threat To Mexican National Security. (Cover Story)." NACLA Report On The Americas 41.2 (2008): 21-26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

THE VIOLENT STRUGGLE BETWEEN MEXICAN Drug cartels for supremacy over the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade is starting to look like a real war. With local police outgunned, President Felipe Calderón began his term in the final days of 2006 by' deploying the army to fight the cartels The violence, simmering for more than a decade, exploded in 2003 in Nuevo Laredo, a crucial crossing point to U.S. Interstate 35. when Gulf Cartel kingpin Osiel Cardenas was apprehended. Seeing a strategic vulnerability, the rival Juarez and Tijuana cartels started moving into Nuevo Laredo, traditionally a Gulf Cartel stronghold.( n1) The Zetas--the Gulf Cartel's paramilitary force, thought to be composed of former military personnel--began a reign of terror to protect their turf Several Nuevo Laredo police officers were killed by presumed Zeta assassins in the opening months of 2005, prompting then president Vicente Fox to flood the town with 700 federal agents and army troops in what he dubbed "the mother of all battles" against the drug trade.( n2)
Yet the Mexican state's armed response has done little to solve the problem. In 2007, drug-related killings surpassed 2.500, up from 2,100 in 2006.( n3)
A crucial part of the problem lies in the cartels' firepower, which now rivals even that of the regular Mexican army Both the cartels and the Mexican state get their arms from the United States.During Fox's administration, an astonishing 2,000 guns entered Mexico every day. overwhelmingly from across the northern border, according to official Mexican estimates. This "iron river" of guns, as it has been called, has swollen since the U.S. Congress allowed the federal ban on assault weapons to expire in 2004.( n4) Mexican authorities confiscated an unprecedented 10,579 smuggled weapons in 2005, and they say 90% of them came from the United States.( n5)
"The arms the narcos use are the most sophisticated that you can imagine," says Luz Maria González Armenta, leader of Defense and Promotion of Human Rights-Emiliano Zapata (DEPRODHEZAC), which has been monitoring violence from the often overlapping narco gangs and police alike in the city of Matamoros since 1994 "The 9 mm cuerno de chivo, or AK-47, continues to predominate But they use fragmentation grenades, shotguns, grenade launchers" Spectacular shoot-outs in the border city, which is the nerve center of the powerful Gulf Cartel, sometimes make headlines.--but discrete executions are more common, Gonzalez says "Bodies are frequently found with signs o| torture and the famous tiro de gracia," or final death shot, she says.
And she has no doubts about where the weaponry originates. "Considering that Mexico Is a country, that does not produce arms, and yet the narcos have access to arms far superior to those used by the police forces, we presume these arms come from the United States." she says "It is very close, and with the corruption In customs, an elephant could pass undetected."
The arms intercepted on the border are likely a small fraction of those that make It through In December. the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) raided a Phoenix storage locker and seized 42 weapons. including AK-47s and Belgian FN handguns; just weeks earlier. BATF agents in Phoenix had seized more than 60 AK-47s. other assault rifles, handguns, and an Uzi. In both cases, bureau agents said most of the weapons were purchased at gun shows and were bound for Mexico.( n6)
Seizures across the border have been even more dramatic In August, a single raid at the Nogales crossing yielded 163 weapons, and in February 2007 the Mexican army seized a tractor-trailer loaded with some 2.0 M-16s. M-4 carbines, and grenade launchers--along with an armored pickup truck--in Matamoros. A federal agent revolved in the raid was killed the following day by AK fire.( n7)
A new AK-47 sells for less than $1,000 in Mexico, and an AR-15 starts at $825.( n8) According to a 2005 government estimate, U.S. guns are recovered in 80% of crimes in Mexico.( n9)
In a strange case of role reversal, Mexican officials are increasingly taking the United States to task for failing to stop the guns from entering their national territory--echoing their counterparts in Washington. with their continual criticism of Mexico over the northward flow of drugs. In his first published interview with the foreign press after becoming Mexico's president. Calderón told the Financial Times: "The United States is jointly responsible for what is happening to us.… In that joint responsibility the U.S. government has a lot of work to do. We cannot confront this problem alone."(n10) Mexican prosecutor general Eduardo Medina Mora put it succinctly: "We have done our part; we hope the United States will do its part." Medina added that about $10 billion in drug cash flows south each year, and that gun stores in border states sell twice as many weapons as outlets elsewhere in the United States.( n11) Mexico's "drug czar." the assistant secretary of public safety, and the head of the Mexican army's northeastern drug operations have all made similar comments.( n12)
Just how will the U.S. government "do its part"? The answer is to be found in the Mérida Initiative. a $550 million military aid package now being considered in the U.S. Congress.
IN JUNE, THE CALDERON GOVERNMENT FORMALLY REQUESTED military aid from the U.S. Congress. saying such assistance was necessary to defeat the cartels The request was made at the U.S.-Mexico Inter-Parliamentary Meeting held in Austin and was revealed to the Mexican daily La Jornada by Representative Silvestre Reyes (DTX), leader of the House Intelligence Committee.( n13) The resulting Merida Initiative was named after the Mexican City where the presidents of Guatemala. Mexico, and the United States held meetings in March 2007. when the idea was first discussed U.S. representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Tom Lantos (D-CA) complained that Congress had not been involved m---or even notified of--the proposal's development.( n14)
The Bush administration calls the Mérida Initiative "a new paradigm" of bilateral cooperation in the war on drugs and terrorism, and says the $550 million will be but the "first tranche" of a $1.4 billion.multiyear "security cooperation package."( n15) Some 40% of the funds are slated for new helicopters and surveillance aircraft for the Mexican army; $60 million is earmarked for the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR), Mexico's justice department, to beef up forensic capabilities, digitize intelligence, and train federal police About $30 million would go to Mexico', National Migration Institute. for stepped-up enforcement on the southern border with Guatemala.( n16) A total of $50 million would go to the military and police forces of the Central American republics.( n17)
The Mérida Initiative also includes a "Southwest Border Initiative," which calls for greater cooperation between the BATF and Mexican authorities to interrupt arms smuggling.( n18) But some Washington policy watchers doubt this will be effective as long as arms are so freely available north of the line.
"Because of how loose the gun laws are here, anyone can walk over, buy large quantities of arms, and go back and use them to kill a presidential candidate," says Bill Hartung of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. (In fact, the 38 Special used in the 1094 assassination of candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in Tijuana was traced to a gun sale In Arizona.( n19) "If we had some kind of gun control here, if we didn't have these kitchen-table dealers. if there were limits on how many weapons you can have--it would prevent people from buying a lot of guns and bringing them in by the shopping bag to Mexico or Colombia."
Hartung's critical first step is closing the "gun show Loophole." While licensed dealers are required to check purchasers' ID and to perform background checks, private sellers at gun shows are not subject to these requirements under federal law, allowing many purchasers to evade scrutiny The question is left to the states, 17 of which have passed legislation closing the loophole Among those that have not are the border states of Arizona. New Mexico. and Texas.( n20)
About 40% of U.S. gun sales are in the "secondary gun market," according to Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Daws. The secondary market thrives especially in Arizona and Texas. which Wintemute calls a "gun runner's paradise." He notes three varieties of illegal sales at gun shows: In the first, the buyer Is prohibited from purchasing--for instance, someone from out of state--"and the seller knows not to ask questions " Second are "straw purchases," in which a legitimate purchaser serves as a surrogate for someone barred from purchasing from a licensed dealer. In the third, "a licensed or unlicensed dealer knows sale is prohibited and turns a blind eye."
Assault rifles like the AK-4.7 remain high on the Mere. can cartels' shopping list, despite the fact that any weapon more powerful than a hunting rifle is outlawed in Mexico for use outside the military or law enforcement. The sturdy AK-47. ironically designed by the Soviets as an asset to guerrilla forces in the third world, is today produced by several U.S., companies, including Arsenal of Las Vegas and Armory USA of Houston.( n21) Arizona is a major producer of firearms. In 2004, 11 companies in that state produced more than 100,000 weapons, according to the most recent BATF data. Red Rock Arms of Mesa makes a variety of high-powered rifles; Bushmaster Firearms of Lake Havasu City produces AR-15 parts; Sturm, Ruger & Co. of Prescott manufactures pistols.( n22)
"In effect, we allow military-style weapons to Ix readily available." says Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (and former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana) "They'll check you out when you get on an airplane, but you can show up at a gun show and walk out with an AK-47."
Federal gun laws have followed a paradoxical trajectory, actually getting looser since the post-9/11 obsession with "security." after decades of getting tighter. The first was the National Firearms Act in 1934, which required fully automatic weapons to be federally licensed, essentially barring them from civilians. The Gun Control Act of 1968, passed in the wake of that year's political assassinations, set up prohibited purchases---including to convicted felons, the dangerously mentally ill, and undocumented immigrants. In 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (named for White House press secretary Jim Brady, permanently disabled in the 1981 attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan) instated a criminal background database called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Then came the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which was allowed to sunset--just as the Patriot and Homeland Security acts were coming into force.( n23)
In December. Congress passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act in response to April's Virginia Tech massacre. The law imposes a cut of federal law enforcement funding to states that do not turn records over to the NICS, but it still does not address the gun show loophole.( n24)
Wintemute says the BAIT has abdicated its responsibility to crack down on gun smuggling, having been starved for funds by a pro-gun Congress and pressured to turn a blind eye. He points to a series of BAIT stings at gun shows in Richmond, Virginia, in 2004 and 2005 that resulted in the confiscation of several firearms. Afterward, Wintemute says, the agency was "grilled" by Representative James M. Sensenbrenner (R-WI) in hearings of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
Perhaps must surprisingly, given the U.S. government's commitment to fighting the "war on terror," the National Rifle Association has urged the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit people on terrorism watch lists from buying firearms, In an open letter to the Justice Department. NRA director Chris Cox said the bill "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment fights based on mere 'suspicious' of a terrorist threat." Yet current law already denies sales to "illegal" immigrants--and the NRA has no problem with that.( n25)
This comes amid ominous signs of a resurgence of right-wing militia activity in the United States--this time in reaction to the supposed immigration crisis. In early May 2007, just as Cox issued his letter, the BAIT announced the arrest of five members of an "Alabama Free Militia" in that state's DeKalb County, and the seizure of 130 grenades, a grenade launcher, a machine gun, a short-barrel shotgun, and 2,500 rounds of ammunition. The men were denied bail after BATF agents said they bad been planning attacks on Mexican immigrants.( n26)
The U.S. gun lobby's obstructionism takes a global toll, Helmke adds. "The U.S. is the world's biggest importer and exporter of guns. There's no limits on the amount or type you can buy, no limits on the amount of ammunition We're the marketplace of choice for drug gangs and dealers around the world."
The NRA did not return numerous phone calls requesting comment for this story
WHILE U.S. DOMESTIC GUN LAWS MAY BE AT THE root of the problem, foreign policy critics worry not only that the Mérida Initiative's arms-trafficking provision will do little to stem the flow of guns into Mexico---but also that its aid to the Mexican army and police agencies will only escalate the violence For this reason, La Jornada dubbed the initiative "Plan Mexico"; a persistent criticism of Plan Colombia has been that U.S. military aid indirectly supports the army-linked paramilitary network whose long litany of atrocities in well-documented (and whose very leaders are wanted in the United States on drug charges).( n27)
U.S. and Mexican officials avoid such analogies. Andrew Selee. director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute. told the BBC: "The idea of comparing this package with Plan Colombia generates resistance in both countries. At least in the U.S., more and more voices question the effectiveness of the help that was given to Colombia."( n28)
But Prosecutor General Medina implicitly endorsed the analogy on a trip to Bogota in 2006. Mexican law enforcement, he said. should "learn through an exchange of Information with Colombia about the best way to combat organized crime" Meeting with his Colombian counterpart Mario Iguarán. Medina hailed President Alvaro Uribe's "democratic security" program as "a comprehensive, integrating vision." He noted that the two governments in 2003 formed the High-Level Security and Justice Group, a joint effort to fight narcotics and arms trafficking.( n29)
Evident interpenetration of Mexico's drug cartels and security forces suggest this dynamic experienced in Colombia is poised to repeat itself. [n his congressional testimony in support o[ the Mérida Initiative, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon said cartel operatives have infiltrated municipal and state law enforcement in Mexico. "substantially weakening these governments' ability to maintain public security and expand the rule of law."( n30) Bringing the Mexican army massively to bear in drug enforcement may only make it easier for thecartels to infiltrate the military.
The violent contest for Nuevo Laredo exemplifies the risks of military involvement in the cartel wars President Fox's 2005 deployment of army troops to the town only seemed to escalate the violence.That summer, a clash broke out between Zetas and their rivals with machine guns, grenades, and rocket launchers Residents of the city's Colonia Campestre district reported hearing several rounds of shots and explosions at a local home. When authorities arrived, the house was empty but damaged by machine-gun fire and rocket blasts. Federal agents discovered three AK-47s. two 9 mm handguns, a hand grenade, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition Agents also found two grenade-damaged vehicles on a nearby street. In response to the incident, the United States temporarily closed its consulate in Nuevo Laredo.( n31)
After Alejandro Dominguez, a veteran agent of the federal prosecutor's office, was gunned down hours after he was sworn in as Nuevo Laredo's police chief in June 2005, more federal agents were sent in to investigate his slaying--and got into a shoot-out with city police three days later, leaving one federal officer wounded.( n32) Army troops took control of the city. suspending the local police force's powers.( n33)
If Zeta co-optation of the municipal police was evident, it is less clear whether the federal forces were attempting an even-handed crackdown or were themselves collaborating with the Gulf Cartel'srivals In any event, the federal presence did nothing to de-escalate the violence. "The army is here and the federal police are here," said Raymundo Ramos, president of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee in the summer of 2003. "But the thugs carry on killing with impunity."( n34)
Another indication of the drug-smuggling industry's penetration of local law enforcement is the access that the cartels seem to have to official (or at least very official-looking) Federal Agency of Investigation (AFI) uniforms. In May 2007, federal army troops exchanged fire with 20 gunmen equipped with AR-15s. bulletproof vests, and AFI uniforms at a checkpoint in Michoacan.( n35) In Chiapas, presumed Zetas dressed in AFI uniforms opened fire on a state police patrol with AR-15s. leaving one dead and two wounded.( n36) In Coahuila, four men in AFI uniforms kidnapped the state's chief anti-kidnapping investigator, Enrique Ruiz Arevalo, in Torreón.( n37) The cartels also evidently have access to army uniforms In February 2007. gunmen armed with AK-47s and dressed as federal soldiers attacked two police stations, killing seven, in Acapulco.( n38) The cartels' use of rocket launchers may also indicate friends in the Mexican military.
In Colombia as well. the US has been complicit in arming violent outlaws. Human rights groups have repeatedly accused the United States of supplying arms to Colombian military units that collaborate or even overlap with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). the country's most powerful right-wing paramilitary organization, which is officially listed by the United States as a terrorist organization. Despite official efforts at "demobilizing" illegal armed groups in Colombia, paramilitarism has exploded in the eight years Plan Colombia has been in effect---and has survived the official disbanding of the AUC.( n39) While noting some modest improvements. Amnesty International's 2006 year-end report on Colombia found that "serious human rights abuses remained at high levels, especially in rural areas," and that "abuses by paramilitary groups continue despite supposed demobilization."( n40)
U.S. complicity in arming Colombia's paras evidently extends beyond military aid to co-opted army units. The Colombian government has announced that it will seek the extradition of eight unnamed persons affiliated with the U.S. banana giant Chiquita Brands International for their involvement in the company's payments to illegal right-wing paramilitary groups In March 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to making payments to the AUC, and agreed to pay a 525 million fine.( n41) An Organization of American States study into the affair found that thousands of AK-47s bound for the AUC--which is held responsible in thousands of killings and massacres--entered Colombia through Chiquita's private banana port of Turbo, The largest shipment was apparently brokered by Israeli dealers in Panama, with the weapons pirated from the Nicaraguan police force.( n42)
The Brady Campaign's Helmke expresses some reservations about weapons falling into the wrong hands under the Mends Initiative "You want to make sure they're being used for the purposes they're intended to be used for." he says "I've read enough about how weapons in Iraq have wound up missing. People like guns for a lot of different reasons, not just the official business."
But the dilemma may ran deeper than that. even if the nightmarish violence on the southern border finally prompts Congress to buck the gun lobby and seriously crack down on the arms trade.Prohibitionist solutions have dramatically failed to halt the illegal drug trade and may be no more likely to work for arms Guns may be harder to hide than drugs, but their capacity to co-opt military and law enforcement--the mort fundamental issue, ultimately--is likely the same. By providing further firepower and intelligence capabilities to military and police forces that are themselves infiltrated by (or collaborating with) the cartels, the Mérida Initiative could fuel Mexico's violence, upping the ante in the war for narco-supremacy.
Footnotes
(n1.) Jason Trahan et al . "Drug Wars Long Shadow." Dallas Morning News. December 13, 2005.
(n2.) Ioan Grillo and Zeke Minaya, "Unafraid. Mexican Lawmen Pays With His Life." Houston Chronicle, Juno 10, 2005, "Mexican Soldiers Take Over City." BBC News, June 14. 2005.
(n3.) Alfredo Corchado and Tim Connolly. "U.S. Anti-drug Aid Proposal Could Heighten Violence in Mexico." Dallas Morning News, January 2, 2008.
(n4.) Sam Logan, "Guns The Bloody US-Mexico Market," ISN security Watch (Zurich), October 31. 2007.
(n5.) Chris Hawley and Sergio Solache. "U.S. Guns Pour Into Mexico," Arizona Republic. January 18, 2007.
(n6.) Chris Khan. "ATE Says More Guns Sent Illegally South of the Border," Associated Press, December 27. 2007. "Aft Seizes Guns Destined for Mexico and LA gangs." KNXV-TV (Phoenix). December 3, 2007.
(n7.) Manuel Roig-Franzia. "U.S. Guns Behind Cartel Killings in Mexico." The Washington Post. October 29, 2007; "The Coming Fight for Control of Matamoros?" Bahia de Banderas News (Puerto Vellarta), February 2007: Logan. "Guns The Bloody US-Mexico Market."
(n8.) Prensa Latina, "Crime in Mexican Capital Escalates," October 10, 2007.
(n9.) Charlie Gillis, "American Guns. Canadian violence," Maclaens, August 10, 2005.
(n10.) Quoted in "Calderón More Help Needed From U.S. Government," El Universal, online English edition. January 19, 2007.
(n11.) Catherine Bremer, "Mexico Needs US Help to Crush Drug Gangs." Reuters. December 10, 2007.
(n12.) Mark Stevenson. "Gonzales US Eyeing Gun Flow Into Mexico." Associated Press. May 18. 2007; Marion Lloyd, "Five Severed Heads Thrown Onto Crowded Dance Floor," Houston Chronicle, September 7, 2006; Laura Stars, "Does the Mérida Initiative Represent a New Direction for US-Mexico Relations." Courted on Hemispheric Affairs. December 14, 2007.
(n13.) Andrea Becerril. "Calderón pidió a EU mecanismo similar al plan Colombia, revelan," La Jornada (Mexico City). June 9, 2007.
(n14.) Starr. "Does the Mérida Initiative Represent a New Direction for US-Mexico Relations?' Tina Marie Macias, "House Panel Criticizes Latin America Anti-drug Plan." Los Angeles Times, November 15, 2002.
(n15.) Guy Taylor," 'Merida Initiative' Would Provide Counter-Drug Aid to Mexico. but Congress Remains Skeptical." World Politics Review. December 13, 2007. Thomas A Shannon. assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, testimony before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, November 15, 2007.
(n16.) Stars. "Does the Mérida Initiative Represent a New Direction for US-Mexico Relations?"
(n17.) Shannon testimony.
(n18.) "The Merida Initiative: United States-Mexico-Central America Security Cooperation." U.S. State Department fact sheet. October 22, 2007.
(n19.) Manuel Roig-Franzia. "U.S. Guns Behind Cartel Killings in Mexico."
(n20.) "Gun Shows Arms Bazaars for Terrorists end Criminals," online fact sheet, www.bradycampaign.org.
(n21.) List of US manufacturers on trade Web site http//AK-47 us.
(n22.) Hawley and Solache. "US Guns Pour into Mexico."
(n23.) "Assault Weapons Threaten Public Safety," online fact sheet, Brady Campaign, Washington.
(n24.) Elizabeth Williamson. "Congress Passes Bill to Stop Mentally III From Getting Guns." The Washington Post. December 20, 2007; "President Signs Bill to Strengthen the Brady Background Check System." Brady Campaign press release. January 8, 2008.
(n25.) "NRA Faults Bill Targeting Gun Sales." Associated Press, May 4. 2007.
(n26.) "Agent: Alabama Militia Planned Attack off Mexicans," Associated Press, May 1, 2007.
(n27.) "Truenan congresistas contra gobierno de EU por plan México," La Jornada. November 14, 2007; Laura Carlsen. "Plan Mexico," Foreign Policy in Focus, October 30, 2007.
(n28.) "Doubts Over Bush Plan on Mexico Drugs," BBC Newt. October 22, 2007.
(n29.) "Mexico to Learn From Colombia." El Universal, online English edition. January 27, 2007.
(n30.) Shannon testimony.
(n31.) Sergio Dhapa, "Violence Prompts Consulate Closure in Nuevo Laredo," The Brownsville Herald, July 30, 2005.
(n32.) Grillo and Minaya, "Unafraid. Mexican Lawman Pays With His Life."
(n33.) "Mexican Soldiers Take Over City," BBC News.
(n34.) Grillo and Minaya, "Unafraid, Mexican Lawman Pays With His Life."
(n35.) Mirna Servin, "Enfrentan 20 hombres armados a soldados en Michoacán," La Jornada. May 21, 2007
(n36.) "Atanan Zetes a la AEI," Cuarto Poder (Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas). May 28, 2007.
(n37.) "Deja 15 sicarios muertos enfrentamiento en Sonora," El Universal, May 16, 2007.
(n38.) "Gunmen Posing as Soldiers Slay 7 in Acapulco," The San Diego Union-Tribune. February 7, 2007.
(n39.) "Annual Report for Colombia." Amnesty International, 2006.
(n40.) Amnesty International Report 2007.
(n41.) Eoin O'Carroll, "Colombia Seeks Eight in Chiquita Terrorist Scandal." Christian Science Monitor online edition, March 22, 2007
(n42.) Eric Jackson. "Going Through the Motions About AUC Arms." The Panama News (Panama City), August 17-September 8, 2003.
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): The bodies of Mexican federal police officers. thought to be killed by drug cartels. In Cancún, 2004. The country's drug-related violence, usually concentrated along the northern border, is moving south.
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): A sign on the way to Mexico from El Paso, Texas
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Looking at guns during a 1995 NRA convention in Phoenix. Arizona, home to a number of arms manufacturers. Gun shows in Arizona and Texas are thought to be a key source of the weapons fuelling the Mexican drug cartel wars.
~~~~~~~~
By Bill Weinberg

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...Gun control paper Gun control is a big thing in the United States nowadays. There are people that think the American people would be better off without any guns at all and there is people that think that it would be better with guns and firearms. My opinion is in the middle of being for and against gun control. Some places it would be good to not have guns and other places should have guns. People that are for gun control might think that there shouldn’t be any guns in America so that their wouldn’t be anymore crime and murders with a firearm. But with this idea, the government would have to destroy all guns in the world because if America goes gun free there will be people that will want guns. With that people from different countries...

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How Does Gun Control Affect The Economy

...Gun Control Lead to safer environment and vital Economy Weiwei Zhu Xuedan Lu Overview United States has a long history of gun culture. Stemmed from its colonial history, America experienced revolutionary roots and frontier expansion. The Second Amendment states: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." So far, America has the largest total number of guns in the world-- about 270,000,000 guns in the nation, and the highest per capita number -- 88.8 guns per 100 people, in the world. Statistics shows that 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and 12% of women). Gun control is regulation restricting or limiting the sale and...

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Argumentative Essay On Gun Control

...decade there has been a drastic increase in the debate over gun control. A Constitutional right set forth by our forefathers is now seemingly being laid to rest by the leaders of our country. However, as a modern Democratic society the people of our nation are refusing to go down without a fight. By evaluating and analyzing recent gun control policies and the reaction of such policies by the general public, supported by a graphical representation of my theory, I will argue that through recent policy that the increase in the limiting of sale of firearms and ammunition and the attempted disarming of the American public has endangered the law abiding citizens of this country instead of saving them as many would have us believe. I hypothesize that with stricter...

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...Gun law World Net, from Princeton University, defines a “Civil Right” as a right or rights belonging to a person by reason of citizenship including especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th amendments and subsequent acts of congress including the right to legal, social and economic equality. This makes gun ownership as much of a civil right as freedom of speech, religion and freedom of the press. Supreme Court affirms Second Amendment as a fundamental civil right (District of Columbia v Heller) The Heller case challenged several laws in Washington DC that constituted a complete ban on the Second Amendment rights for D.C. residents with no exception given for self-defense. In the Heller case, the Supreme court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental individual right to have functional firearms in the home that are commonly owned without being connected to any service of the state or military organization. The Supreme Court also ruled that the Second Amendment is a fundamental part of the bill of rights, which guarantees citizen’s individual rights. Lastly, in this 5 to 4 decision with Associate Justice Antonin Scalia writing for the majority, the Supreme Court affirmed that Washington DC gun laws violated the Second Amendment Civil Rights of DC residents and to positively restore those rights. Quotes from Scalia’s majority opinion: D.C.’s requirement that lawfully owned firearms in the home, such as registered...

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...peace and offerings to the innocent party. The state of war leads into the law of self-preservation (may kill another person in self-defense) which is a key component to the laws of nature. Locke explains that with this reasoning one could potentially kill a thief because if you attack somebodies property it could represent a threat to their freedom, thus making you feel threatened to lose something that you earned. Locke is caught in a crossroads between personal liberties and how we should be protected by the government or proper authorities. The issue is what happens when the government is too inept to protect our personal liberties. Locke was around during the time of kings, their rule was final and not to be questioned. During this time period things were different then they are now but essentially the same. The conclusion in the state of war is when the authoritarian figures in charge of protecting our freedoms rather it be kings or a governments cannot protect us we have the right as a human to protect ourselves from a threat. Locke uses a premise that humans are intellectual enough to make the correct decisions about if something is a threat or not and how to handle it as humanly as possible. Locke provides a strong argument in state of war. He makes the case that in the society war is different than the actual laws that have been in existence since the beginning of living creatures. In the instance of right now how are we...

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...The Restrictions on Gun Ownership Twaina Claar PHI103: Informal Logic (GSJ1228B) Instructor: Jennifer Schneider August 13, 2012 Are there any legitimate restrictions on gun ownership? The answer to this question may vary by the people you ask some people may say yes but others will say either the restrictions need to be increased or they need dropped. I will explain to you exactly what the second amendment says. I will also explain the negative side of gun control and the restrictions that come along with ownership. I want you to realize just how true this statement is, “Guns don’t kill people, People kill people.” I have been raised around guns and I have been taught about gun safety. I want for you to see that as United States Citizens, we have the right to protect ourselves and our homes from criminals. If the government continues to take away our right to keep and bear arms, we will be defenseless against those that wish to harm us. What would happen if the military lost their fire arms? They would not be able to defend our country and how much sense does that make? Do you think that our president lives in a home that is not protected? I don’t consider a security system true protection and I am sure that he doesn’t either. I do find that the rules to the Carry...

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...Christian McBride August 23, 2014 EN1420 Guns don’t kill people. It has always been the responsibility of the people to protect themselves, never the responsibility of the government to protect us. It is however the Government’s responsibility to protect the rights of the people, including the right for the people to protect themselves; the Amendment. Gun control is not effective; as it has never been shown in a national study to reduce the number of gun related crimes. If the people do not protect themselves, there is no protection. It has been proven in many other countries in all of which these destinations have very minimal gun laws and restrictions. These countries include Norway, Finland, France and Germany and in all of these countries there is a remarkably lower murder rate, way below the rate of the United States. One of the most widely known colleges in the world, Harvard University conducted a study, with the result of the study being “gun control is proven to be counterproductive”. In the United States, gun control has been a long argued battle of the people’s right to bear arms vs. the law controlling guns. The US Constitution’s Second Amendment reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Who is to say that any belong to the “well-regulated Militia” is the general public a Militia. The truth is most Americans do not trust the government, or more...

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Argumentative Essay: Should Americans Have The Right To Bear Arms

...entire day as I worked outside. She sat quietly as I expected her to jump up and shoot the children down the street in a rage, but to my surprise she didn’t budge a hair. Now, the idea that a gun could sprout legs, cock itself and shoot an innocent bystander is just plain silly. In recent times, many people have blamed the gun instead of the shooter for mass shootings or accidents. Many times, it was indeed an accident that could have been avoided. But are these accidents and tragedies cause to eliminate our constitutional right to bear arms? Even though democrats, liberals and left-wing activists believe that gun control is best for America because of these accidental shootings, American citizens still have the right to defend ourselves and our property, women carrying concealed or open can better protect themselves against rapists, murderers and thieves, and of course the Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms. Democrats and Liberals have been running campaigns non-stop about banning the use of guns by citizens. It seems every website, radio show or Facebook post from them is anti-gun, so why do they want to rid the country of its constitutional right? Gun control by definition is the “government regulation of the sale and ownership of firearms.” (Dictionary.com) The control of guns in America is vital, of course because it prevents people who shouldn’t or are banned from using them to get them easily. For...

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