SHOULD CIVILIAN OWNERSHIP OF GUNS BE ILLEGAL?

Nowadays, bearing guns has turned into a controversial topic, above all, due to the easy way that they can be bought in countries like the USA by civilians who don’t need a special licence. As far as I’m concerned, civilians shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.

Firstly, they haven’t the awareness of what they can do or the consequences that owning weapons can have. For example, it wouldn’t be the first time that children, even babies, kill people by pulling the trigger accidentally.  Moreover, people believe that guns are just for self-defence, but this is an excuse they use to act whenever they want without taking into account that the police are there to help and protect us.  Secondly, due to the availability of guns, some civilians usually smuggle weapons in order to make money and become more powerful. However, not only civilians but also powerful developed countries smuggle.

To sum up, I think only instructed civilians can bear guns in order to prevent other people from committing crimes accidentally, and to change people’s mentalities which are focussed on violence.

Manel Triay

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Nowadays, most developed countries have strict laws on gun purchasing and ownership. However, there are some, like the USA, which have quite a permissive legislation. Most developing countries too, but their situation is completely different because they are countries at war and in extreme poverty.

Personally, I believe that civilian ownership of guns should be illegal, especially in developed countries because you do not need them to be safe. In fact, if people are allowed to have guns, you are less safe even if you own one too.  Moreover, statistics confirm that countries with higher gun ownership have more violent crimes, murders and massacres like school shootings, the USA being a perfect example. Pro-gun people state, “guns are not the problem, people are” and that’s true, but it is also true that if those people didn’t have access to guns, they would not be able to commit crimes.

In conclusion, civilian-owned guns should be banned because they are completely unnecessary and its prohibition would cause a decrease in homicides and violent crimes.

Laura Fullana

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It’s widely known that the United States of America is the country that has more guns per inhabitant, which causes a debate on the security of gun ownership.

In my opinion, bearing a gun doesn’t guarantee your safety as it has been proved in the USA with the number of accidents and even deaths owing to the use of guns. Thousands of accidents could have been avoided if there had been more restrictions on civilian ownership of guns making them get official licences or undergo physical and psychological tests. Moreover, guns make it easier for criminals to commit crimes such as robberies, kidnaps or murders. However, others would argue that security is the main reason for owning a gun and therefore crime should be faced with more violence and guns, which, to my mind, is not a safe solution.

To sum up, civilians shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun unless it is for a justified reason, not only for security, because in most cases these guns turn out to be dangerous and cause a great deal of accidental deaths.

Mustapha Bousakla