Banning of assault rifles/guns

Arguments for and Against Banning Assault Rifles in Illinois
Student’s Name
Institution
Introduction
Gun control in America has been a subject of debate for long. Introduction of a house bill (HB) 4107 in Illinois General Assembly by representative Martin J. Moylan on Oct. 5, 2017, is one attempt to control firearms in America. This was in the wake of tragic Las Vegas shooting in the night of Oct- 1-2017 whereby a gunman opened fire killing 58 and injuring 851 Americans. In the shooting, 64-year old Stephen Paddock fired more than 1100 rounds from his suite. Gun laws in the US are enshrined in some statutes. Whether these controls work, is subject to debate. There are those who support (HB) 4107 while gun activists oppose more regulations than others.
Gun Control Supporters
This group advocate for strict enforcement of gun controls. They support additional control bills like the (HB) 4107 of Illinois. They argue that broad and unrestricted gun rights hinder the government from enforcing gun controls. They portend that keeping guns from being accessed by criminals would improve the security status in Illinois and America as a whole. Those in support of the bill view assault rifles as a threat to peace and safety of Americans. They describe the role of providing security to be the duty of the government, and thus, one does not need an assault rifle for self-protection. They believe that there are better ways to defend one. To them, the more laws that exist against gun ownership leads to lesser crimes.

For instance, in Hawaii, there are 16 laws against guns. There, there are less than 3 per 100,000 gun death a year (Kleck, 1993). This school of thought view rights to own assault rifles as outdated and motivated by paranoia and fear of change. In 2012 for example, gun-related crimes in America were over 32,000. In the UK in the same year victims of violent gun-related crimes were only 147. This they attribute to laxity in gun laws in America thus the need of (HB) 4107 of Illinois (Spitzer, 2015).
Arguments Against Gun Controls
Those opposing (HB) 4107 of Illinois argue that it is a political gimmick. They put across the idea of the issue being politically motivated meant to gain political relevance and mileage by the bill’s sponsor representative Martin J. Moylan (Spitzer,2015). They also say that this legislation is a knee-jerk reaction after the Las Vegas shooting. This bill will, therefore, serve no purpose in addressing the cause of the shooting and other criminal activities involving shootings. Arms dealers, Piasa Armory, described potential ban of 0.50 caliber ammunition as not worth the effort. In their argument, they described screwdrivers and butter knives as more likely weapons in crimes in Illinois. It’s in their view that criminals prefer small and easily concealable arms in place of heavy and expensive assault rifles. Banning assault rifles is a lame excuse as they are seen as intimidating. Those against (HB) 4107 of Illinois argue that more controls are no longer needed. It’s in their view that enforcing the already existing laws would serve the state of Illinois much better (Cornell, 2008). They view the new proposed law as curtailing fundamental right. The opinion that gun ownership is a fundamental right was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). They view efforts to introduce new laws as a public relations gimmick. They also argue that (HB) 4107 of Illinois, will affect the business of dealers who sell guns for a living. This will also deny the government revenue in taxes while leading to loss of jobs and collapse of assault rifle manufacturing companies in the USA. They view legal gun ownership as a way protecting oneself. They say that guns don’t kill people, but rather people kill people.
References
Cornell, S. (2008). Originalism on Trial: The Use and Abuse of History in District of Columbiav. Heller. Ohio St. LJ.
Kleck, G., & Patterson, E. B. (1993). The impact of gun control and gun ownership levels onviolence rates. Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
Spitzer, R. J. (2015). Politics of gun control. Routledge.