Micro-Activity #11: Zhouxing Shi

The Topic I have chosen for the Annotated Bibliography is Gun control

Notes

Passage of the Gun Control Act was initially prompted by the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The April 4, 1968, assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. , shortly followed by the June 5 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy , compounded by shifting societal attitudes towards gun ownership, renewed efforts to pass the bill.

The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world.

Roughly 16,214 murders were committed in the United States during 2018. Of these, about 11,799 or 73% were committed with firearms.

Short summary

The Gun Control Act was passed after the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. The Second Amendment has a longer history than gun control laws. It protects the right of the people to own guns. From the data, “The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns”. Firearms are common in the United States, there are more guns than people. The proliferation of guns has caused an increase in crime. This is a serious issue facing the United States.

Questions

What are the pros and cons of gun control?

Why does the U.S. control guns but also allow qualified people to own them?

Why only a few countries in the world allow people to keep guns?

What is the impact of gun issues on American society?