Resolved: In the United States, private ownership of handguns ought to be banned

McMaken 15

Gun ownership is inversely correlated to gun deaths-empirically disproves their solvency.

The Pew Research Center reported last week that the murder rate was cut nearly in half from 7 per 100,000 in 1993 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 2013. Over the same period, overall gun deaths (including accidents and suicides) have fallen by one-third from 15.2 to 10.6 per 100,000. In spite of this, Pew reports, the American public believes that homicides and gun deaths are increasing in the United States. Those who think violence is getting worse should probably watch less television and look around them instead. The murder rate in the US is currently similar to 1950s levels. Meanwhile, the number of privately owned guns (and gun commerce in general) in the United States has increased substantially in recent decades.

Andersen 15

Culture of violence is the root cause of gun violence.

Andersen 15 Mark (Member National Writers Union) “The devil's right hand” Daily Kos December 27^th 2015 http://www.dailykos.com/blog/Shut%20Down%20the%20NRA%20and%20Amend%20the%20Second%20Amendment JW

This is our culture in America today. Disputes are settled with firearms in crowded public spaces. Some reading this will attribute this incident to the young men. Others will blame the weapon used, a few will implicate the race of the young men, and some will just chalk it up to violent gang culture. The root of this problem has nothing do with those young men, the weapon, their race, or the gang culture. It has to do with our culture as a whole: Watch any movie or TV show today and you will invariably see someone solving a problem with a gun. When was the last time you saw a character on TV like Sheriff Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith), who said, “When a man carries a gun all the time, the respect he thinks he's gettin' might really be fear. So I don't carry a gun because I don't want the people of Mayberry to fear a gun. I'd rather they would respect me.” The young man who pulled out and fired his weapon in a crowded mall probably thought he was being disrespected. So he pulled out the one item that he thought would get him the respect he deserved. But a firearm will not earn you respect. Just as the fictional Sheriff Taylor said so many years ago: He would rather people respect him, instead of fear him. Sadly, people have forgotten that simple lesson that was taught so many years ago. Recently Wisconsin State Assembly Member Melissa Sargent penned an opinion piece for the local newspaper discussing how we need to change the gun culture in America. This paragraph makes it quite clear than she is not out to take away guns. It is time that we stop discussing guns in America as simply a two-sided coin: unlimited guns versus no guns whatsoever. This is not, nor ever will be, a reality here. My family owns guns. Many of my friends and neighbors are responsible gun owners and hunters. I believe that the Second Amendment affords them this right. Despite this, no right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation for public safety. With each right, there must be a corresponding sense of civic obligation. She is right. With each right, there must be a corresponding sense of civic obligation. Sadly, an anonymous reader decided to use her reasoned response to unreasonable violence in our society as an opportunity to wish her harm: That is not a way to have a reasoned discussion about an obvious problem in our society, something that is quite unique to the United States. This is a cultural issue, and Sargent addresses the issue in her opinion piece. This person hiding behind the name “Things Anti-Gun Liberals Say” is a coward. He or she (most likely he) does not want to wish violence on anyone—then does. Intimidation will not win anyone over to your side of an argument, and intimidation will not garner you any respect. That’s what this whole shooting this past week was about: The young man who fired off a round or two in a crowded mall was doing the same thing as the commenter on Sargent’s opinion piece. They both are trying to intimidate. They both think a gun will get them respect, and that a gun will protect them. They are both wrong. On the Monday after the shooting, Republican State Assemblyman Bob Gannon said: "Wisconsin does not have a death penalty law, but with significant practice and careful aim, law abiding citizens can help clean our society of these scum bags. Criminals no longer have any fear of our courts or our prisons, so it’s time that the citizens of this fine state stand up and fight back." That’s not the approach we need to take to combat gun violence. That kind of tough talk is nothing but hollow rhetoric and delusions of grandeur. An extra gun or two in the mall on that fateful Saturday would only have added to the carnage. Gannon is just another fool who thinks the world’s problems can be solved with gun barrel diplomacy. Was this shooting gang related? While it’s likely, there has been no official word that it was. If it was, a better way to prevent this from happening in the future is providing funding to prevent young men from joining gangs in the first place. Giving them opportunities and hope for the future could break the cycle of poverty. Killing someone—becoming the judge, jury, and executioner—is not, and should never be the American way. This brings to mind a song by Steve Earle about firearms, called the Devil’s Right Hand: Got into a card game in a company town I caught a miner cheating, I shot the dog down I shot the dog down, I watched the man fall He never touched his holster, never had a chance to draw The trial was in the morning and they drug me out of bed Asked me how I pleaded, not guilty I said Not guilty I said, you've got the wrong man Nothing touched the trigger but the devil's right hand The devil's right hand, the devil's right hand Mama says the pistol is the devil's right hand A firearm is more likely to get you into trouble than out of it. Madison, Wisconsin, was very lucky this past Saturday that only one person was injured. Lucky that no one else was shot, that no one was trampled in the panic to get out of the mall. Lives have likely been irreparably changed. Not just for the young man who pulled the trigger, and the young man who was shot: Everyone who was in that mall that day has had a life-changing experience. Let’s say it again: No one wants to take anyone’s goddamn guns. But we need to have a conversation about how to change our culture so a gun is no longer seen as a way to solve our problems, and how to keep guns from falling into the hands of those who should not have them. More guns on the street are not the answer. We need to fix this problem. It’s not a liberal thing or a conservative thing: This is an American problem, and we need to work together to fix it and end the violence.

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