ProGunControlDebatePoints

SafetyandRighttoReasonableFirearms

ReasonableFirearmsNonHighrateoffireorhighcapacityweaponry.
SafetyStillabletodefendthemselves,butloweredhomicideandmassshooting
rates
Amassshootingisdefinedasasingleshootingincidentwhichkillsorinjuresfour
ormorepeople,includingtheassailant.
Australiahassuccessfullyimplementedguncontrollaws.(Andrew
Demyan)
Enactedlawsthatcreateda
massivebuybackofmorethan
600,000semiautomaticshotgunsandrifles,oraboutonefifthofall
firearmsincirculationinAustralia.
InthedecadebeforethePortArthurmassacre,therehadbeen11
massshootingsinthecountry.Therehasntbeenasingleonein
Australiasince.

homicidesbyfirearmplunged59percentbetween1995and2006
,
withnocorrespondingincreaseinnonfirearmrelatedhomicides.
Thedropinsuicidesbygunwasevensteeper:65percent.
Findingsfrompeerreviewedpapers,whichnotethattherateof
decreaseingunrelateddeathsmorethandoubledfollowingthe
gunbuyback,andthatstateswiththehighestbuybackrates
showedthesteepestdeclines.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2012/12/16/gun_control_af
ter_connecticut_shooting_could_australia_s_laws_provide_a
.html
Therewere372massshootingsintheUSin2015,killing475
peopleandwounding1,870,accordingtotheMassShooting
Tracker,whichcataloguessuchincidents.
InAustraliatherewereanaverageof1.1massshootingsperyear
beforeguncontrollawswereenacted,intheUnitedStatesthere
areanaverageof22.4massshootingseveryyear.
http://www.bbc.com/news/worlduscanada34996604
Gunsdesignedtoinflictmaximumcasualtiesandhighcapacitymagazines
arenotnecessaryforselfdefenseandenableanattackertoharmmore
peopleinashortamountoftimeandshouldntbeavailableforpurchase.
(NathanGildersleeve&AndrewDemyan)
Magazinesarecurrentlyavailablewithcapacitiesof100andmore,
andhighcapacitymagazineshavebeenusedineverymass

shootinginrecenthistory,includingtheColoradoshootingandthe
DecembermassacreatSandyHookElementarySchoolin
Newtown,Conn.Proponentsofthebansayhighcapacity
magazinesplayaprominentroleinmassshootings,andrestricting
accesstothemwilleliminatethepowerofkillerstoopenfirein
suchamanner.Theysaymassshootersusuallyacquiretheir
weaponslegally,solimitingaccesstosuchmagazineswould
preventsuchtragediesinthefuture.
http://www.usnews.com/debateclub/shouldhighcapacitya
mmunitionmagazinesbebanned
Morethan9500peoplearemurderedbygunseveryyearinthe
UnitedStates,whileabout5,900UnitedStatesSoldiershavedied
inAfghanistanandIraqduringthepasttenyears.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/senfranklautenberg/post_19
05_b_845590.html
TheNewYorkCrimeCommissionsmassshootingdatabase
showsthatalmosteverymajormassshootingfrom19842012
involvedahighcapacitymagazine.
http://www.nycrimecommission.org/massshootingincidents
america.php
Whenthesecondamendmentwaswrittengunswereonlyableto
shootasingleshotbeforeneedingtobereloadedwhichtookalong
timeandthegunswerehighlyinaccurate,nowadaysgunsfire
roundsthatjusthavetobeinsertedintotheweapon,unlikethe
gunsduringtherevolutionarywarwhichhadtohavegunpowder
pouredintothegunandthentheshotputintothegunandithadto
bepackeddownandthentheyhadtoplaceaprimerunderthe
hammerbeforetheycouldfire.
Gunsarerarelyusedinselfdefense(NathanGildersleeve)
Ofthe29,618,300violentcrimescommittedbetween2007and
2011,0.79%ofvictims(235,700)protectedthemselveswitha
threatofuseoruseofafirearm,theleastemployedprotective
behavior.
http://guncontrol.procon.org/
InAustralia,inordertopurchaseagunyouneedtoprovidea
reasonforthepurchasethatneedstobemorethanjust
selfdefense
Thoughgunsmaybesuccessfullyusedinselfdefenseevenwhen
theyarenotfired,theevidenceshowsthattheirpresenceinthe

homemakesapersonmorevulnerable,notless.Insteadof
keepingownerssaferfromharm,objectivestudiesconfirmthat
firearmsinthehomeplaceownersandtheirfamiliesatgreaterrisk.
ResearchpublishedintheNewEnglandJournalofMedicinefound
thatlivinginahomewheregunsarekeptincreasedanindividuals
riskofdeathbyhomicidebybetween40and170%.Anotherstudy
publishedintheAmericanJournalofEpidemiologysimilarlyfound
thatpersonswithgunsinthehomewereatgreaterriskofdying
fromahomicideinthehomethanthosewithoutgunsinthehome.
Thisstudydeterminedthatthepresenceofgunsinthehome
increasedanindividualsriskofdeathbyhomicideby90%.
http://smartgunlaws.org/dangersofgunuseforselfdefense
statistics/