A Big Controversy: Gun Laws
When America was first created, the right to bear arms was protected. As a colony and as a new nation, the country felt that guns were important to protect families and in order to ensure that citizens could protect themselves and get food for their families. As the country grew, the focus slowly shifted from gun laws for protection against others to gun laws to regulate guns. Now, gun laws try to strike a balance between giving people the right to protect themselves and giving people the confidence of knowing that only some types of persons can get a gun. Gun laws are very controversial, since some groups claim that carrying a gun is a national right. Other groups claim that in urban society guns are a danger and gun laws should prohibit guns entirely. Whatever you believe, gun laws affect you. Gun laws today are federal and stipulate who can bear guns, who can sell them, and how they can be stored. Gun laws regulate what types of guns can be carried by civilians. Gun laws also punish criminal activity. Gun laws today aim to give homeowners the right to protect their property but make it illegal for minors to carry weapons. They also make it a punishable crime to use weapons in an irresponsible or criminal way. Gun laws do not allow high-powered guns to be used, and they make certain that people who own guns are trained in the storing, cleaning, and firing of guns. Gun laws try to make sure that known criminals and