Gun Critique: Less or More?

The New York Times editorial ‘The Issue That Goes Ignored,’ brings up the issue that has been put on the back burner by both political candidates in hopes of not losing any voters before November’s elections.  Gun control is a touchy subject in many states. Many southern states are anti any kind of gun control laws, where as northern states are generally more in favor for stronger gun control laws. The author of the editorial leans more toward the need for more gun control than less. The audience most likely to agree with the opinions of the author would be more liberal Americans than republican. The general republican opinion is vigorous protection of the 2^nd amendment right to bear arms. With the mindset of protection and being able to protect what is your own, stricter gun control laws would not sit well. Generally liberal Americans are less in favor of guns and would rather see guns off the streets and out of the hands of most citizens. The author points out the fact that even though Obama pledged to “fight for [the] renewal of the ban on assault weapons’ his administration hasn’t made it a priority. With the many shootings and bomb threats in the last year; one would think that this would be a hot topic but it hasn’t had much time in the spotlight during this election season. The author is not named but the editor of the article Andrew Rosenthal is editor of the paper’s opinion pages (both in the newspaper and online), and oversees the editorial board. He also worked at Associated Press as Moscow bureau chief. His experience in editorial and opinion writing is strong. The author takes the stance of more gun control, safer America. He supports the renewal of the ban on assault weapons, and is against the ‘stand your ground’ laws. With deaths by guns sky high in American I can see why so many people support more gun control laws. I agree with the ban on assault weapons. If you are not military trained personnel, you have no reason to need an assault weapon. Those should be kept to war time and military use only. On the other hand, guns make many people feel safer. Many states have laws giving people the right to shoot trespassers or if they feel threatened. It gives people comfort knowing they have a way to defend themselves if necessary. Some gun control is necessary but going too far in the other direction could have negative side effects.