``If you have a country saturated with guns -- available to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed -- it's

not unusual guns will be used more often. This has to be treated as a public health emergency.”

Rebecca Peters - a Johns Hopkins University fellow specializing in gun violence

Is it really that serious?

You tell me

Jared Lee Loughner was just another strange kid…

…until he got a gun…

…and murdered six people at an Arizona town-hall meeting

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were loners who kept to themselves…

…until they got guns…

…and executed 12 classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School

Cho Seung Hui was an odd student…

…until he got some guns…

…and carried out the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history

Facts

• Most of the guns used in these massacres were obtained LEGALLY via firearm dealers or gun shows.

• In the case of Cho Seung Hui, background checks and profiling designed to keep guns out of dangerous hands failed miserably.

What does this mean?

• Guns are just too easy to obtain, and more guns can and does equal more deaths.– “Although the number of deaths from motor-vehicle

crashes has exceeded those from firearms, since 1968, differences in the number of deaths have declined: from 1968 through 1991, motor-vehicle- related deaths decreased by 21% (from 54,862 to 43,536) while firearm-related deaths increased by 60% (from 23,875 to 38,317) (1). Based on these trends, by the year 2003, the number of firearm-related deaths will surpass the number of motor-vehicle crashes, and firearms will become the leading cause of injury-related death.” (Center for Disease Control)

Will gun control = no crime/violence?

• No– Countries with stricter gun-control policies still

experience crime; however, the number of gun-related deaths in those countries is drastically lower than that of the United States.

What about our “right to arms”

• It’s an out-dated notion– The initial intent of giving citizens the right to arm

themselves was born out of fear that foreign nations, such as England, may launch surprise attacks aimed at recapturing the country. Obviously, this is no longer the case.

What about home protection?

• “Statistics show that it’s extremely improbable for a citizen to have time to get to a gun, load it, ready it, and be in position to thwart an attacker. In fact, far more often, citizens end up being shot by their own guns or accidentally shooting themselves or someone other than the intruder.” (GunLobby.net)

Conclusion

• It’s time to trash the guns!– Eliminating guns will not eliminate murder and

death, but it will make it much more difficult for seemingly normal people, like Jared Lee Loughner, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and Cho Seung Hui, to perpetrate large-scale attacks that produce numerous fatalities.

Should the many be punished for the acts of the few?

• Ask them

Works Cited

• This is where you’ll list the sources you used (in proper MLA format).