Tuesday, March 31, 2020

An Argument against Gun Control

An Argument against Gun Control Introduction One of the most valued liberties by the American people is their right to bear arms; a right enshrined in the Second Amendment. This right, which was included in the bill of rights in 1791, has continued to be upheld by successive governments up to today.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on An Argument against Gun Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, this right has come under heavy criticism in recent years because of the numerous incidents of gun related violence’s in the country. The destruction caused by firearms in school shootings and the public at large has enraged many and led to calls for tighter gun control measures. The government has responded to this by imposing gun regulation, a move that has greatly angered gun control opponents. This paper will argue that the US government does not have any right to control guns and as such, it should respect the second amendment and stop t aking up measures to impose gun control on its citizens. Why Gun Control Should Be Abolished Gun control is an infringement upon the basic rights of the Americans to possess firearms. This right is explicitly protected by the Second Amendment, which states, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed (Barnett 265). By trying to impose gun control measures in the country, the government is going against the constitution. Considering that the government is required to uphold the constitution at all times, gun control measures are essentially unlawful. Advocates of gun control argue that the Second Amendment cannot be used to justify an individuals right to own firearms since this right was conditioned on service in an organized militia. This advocates state that the individual’s right to bear arms was tied to a military context and citizens were only empowered to have guns in readiness to serve when called to duty. Legal scholars refute this claim by st ating that the Second Amendment protected the right of the individual to possess firearms. Barnett states that even at the time of the making of the Second Amendment, the term bear arms did not have an exclusively military connotation; the term was also used to connote purely private use of arms (244). Therefore, the right of individuals to have fire guns in the present era is still protected by the US constitution. The control of bullets or even the ban of assault rifles will not prevent murderous people from engaging in killing. Domenech observes that most of the calls for stricter gun control measures come following tragic incidents like the mass killing of students in school by gun wielding individuals (25). Gun control proponents use tragedies of mass murders such as the Sandy Hook incident to make a case for further restrictions on the gun-owning rights of American citizens.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is in spite of the fact that there is no research data supporting the theory that gun possession increases the likelihood of mass murders taking place. Stricter gun control legislation will not prevent sad incidents like the Sandy Hook case which robbed 20 children and six adults of their lives since, as Domenech explains, no laws can make the murderously insane sane or remove their ability to destroy innocent lives (25). The government should try to identify the reasons for such incidents and take measures to avoid them from occurring in future. Blaming gun possession for action of deranged murderous is neglectful and it will only leave the public vulnerable to such attacks in the future. The ability of an individual to protect himself by having guns is reduced by having gun controls measures. Opponents of gun ownership hope to make it impossible for citizens to buy and have guns for self-protection. Most people invest in firearms so as to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Domenech reveals that most handgun sales in the US are made to individuals who are interested in defending their homes (27). Strict gun control legislations will prevent many people from being able to acquire guns for this defensive purpose. It can be expected that the crime rates in the country will increase if individuals are barred from having guns. This is because guns have a deterrence effect on criminals who are discouraged from attacking homes where the owner has a gun. If criminals are not worried about being confronted by lethal legal weaponry by the person they intend to rob, crime rates will rise. Proponents of gun control argue that individuals with firearms still are attacked and even murdered by criminals. While this is true, it should not be used as the basis for denying people a right to protect themselves and increase their chances of fighting off criminals. The government should therefore stop all gun control since thes e measures have a negative impact on the safety of the citizens. Gun control will amount to an intrusion into the private lives of individuals by the government. As it is, the US has a gun culture that stretches back to centuries. This culture is connected to ideals such as individuality and liberty due to the deep relationships that guns have with the war for independence, which took place from 1775 to 1782 (Wolpert and Gimpel 244). Gun restrictions ignore the fact that guns have many legitimate users such as sporting and hunting. By imposing these laws, individuals are denied the right to enjoy their freedom to bear arms. Wolpert and Gimpel declare that by implementing gun control measures, the government is using coercive power to directly shape individual conduct (241). In a country that prides itself for having liberties for all its citizens, this government action should not be tolerated. The government should respect the privacy of its citizens and allow them to have firearms if they want to.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on An Argument against Gun Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion This paper set out to argue that gun control is an infringement upon the most basic of rights or American citizens and the government should not be empowered to control guns. The paper began by nothing that gun control measures are a violation of the constitutional rights of the American citizens. While these measures are mostly demanded to try to reduce incidents of gun related violence, research indicates that possession of guns by citizens does not reduce violence since people who intend to commit murder will still find a way to engage in these acts. Gun control also prevents people from engaging in legitimate personal activity such as hunting and protecting themselves form assailants. By stopping its attempts at gun control, the government will not only be upholding the constitutional rig hts of its citizens but it will also ensure that the citizens are able to enjoy the benefits that firearms bring to the individual and the society at large. Barnett, Randy. â€Å"Was the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Conditioned on Service in an Organized Militia?†. Texas Law Review 83.1 (2004): 237-277. Web. Domenech, Benjamin. â€Å"The Truth about Mass Shootings and Gun Control†. Commentary 135.2 (2013): 25-29. Web. Wolpert, Robin, and Gimpel James. â€Å"Self-interest, symbolic politics, and public attitudes towards gun control†. Political Behavior 20.3 (1998): 241-262. Web.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

The Little Theatre Accounting Flexible Budget Analysis Essay Example

The Little Theatre Accounting Flexible Budget Analysis Essay Example The Little Theatre Accounting Flexible Budget Analysis Paper The Little Theatre Accounting Flexible Budget Analysis Paper The Little Theatre Case 9. 26 Case 9. 26 After the beginning of the year, the board of directors of the theater authorized expanding the theater’s program to seven productions and a total of 168 performances. Not surprisingly, actual costs were considerably higher than the costs from the planning budget. Grants from donors and ticket sales were also higher. After completing the analysis for the Little Theatre we found that several items could be implemented to have an accurate cost model in the future. First, we prepared a flexible budget for the Little Theatre based on the actual activity of the year. We found that there were a number of cost items such as wages, scenery items, and administrative expenses that were under estimated compared to the original anticipated budget. We also found that there were items such as the theater hall rental and the cost of the printed programs that cost less than the budgeted items. Secondly, we prepared a Cost Budget Performance Report for the year that reflected the breakeven point. We have identified the price and the number of tickets we have to sell in order to cover the cost of the number of productions and the number of performances. The breakeven point was based on the actual cost of each expense. The question was asked, â€Å"If you were on the board of directors of the theater, would you be pleased with how well costs were controlled during the year why or why not? † We were not totally satisfied with the way costs were controlled during the year because the costs below were higher than we anticipated. Wages Costumes Publicity Administrative Expenses The market may be the reason for the expenses being higher than we forecasted. For example, the theatre may not be able to pay a lower wage to the actors. In the future in order to have an accurate cost model we may improve on expenses such as costumes. We may submit bids to other vendors to see if we can lower costs. Finally, the cost formulas provided figures for the average cost per production and average cost per performance. We wanted to find out how accurate these figures would be for predicting the cost of a new production or of an additional performance of a particular production. Our analysis revealed that if the Little Theatre did six productions and one hundred and eight performances, the total cost would be $514,921 and the number of tickets that would need to be sold would be 10,298 at a price of $50. 00. We also found that the cost to produce seven productions and one hundred and sixty eight performances would be $726,900. In addition, the number of tickets that would need to be sold in order to cover this cost would be 14,438 at a price of $50. 00. Over all we project the Little Theatre will be successful if they continue to master the flex budget model.