Gun control

Pro, according to your statement "In some of the recent mass shootings " for instance those in Aurora, Tucson, Oak Creek, Virginia Tech " it has been suggested that the killer was mentally ill and that lack of treatment was a bigger issue than gun ownership.” according to Listverse, rampage shooters, such as Seung-Hui Cho and James Holmes, like to target softer targets such as schools, movie theaters, etc. that they know they can attack with little resistance given by the target. Allow me to repeat that comment again, “it has been suggested that the killer was mentally ill and that lack of treatment was a bigger issue than gun ownership.” The key part of that sentence is that “the killer was mentally ill” and it has been scientifically proven that people who suffer from mental illnesses are not themselves when they commit this crime and if they had been dealt with accordingly or reported by friends or family, they wouldn't’t have gotten the opportunity to do these awful crimes. Like our friend in the comment section of this debate said, “we have two large countries attached by border and an entire continent below us can reach us without leaving a landmass. Australia is an island nation, so if they destroy tons of weapons, it will be much more difficult to bring that number of weapons into the country through illegal means.” He is not wrong about Australia simply because they can check what is being shipped in and out of Australia while America is prone to having guns illegally brought into the country unannounced and unnoticed. I’m sure all of you that are reading are aware of the bill of rights, most presumably the 2nd amendment that was signed into the Bill of rights that says “"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." This amendment is saying that we as Americans have the right to own a gun if we want to. I would like to repeat the last part of the amendment saying “shall not be infringed.” This says that no matter what, congress can not pass a law that restricts Americans from owning a gun since the Bill of Rights was signed. According to theclause, “The second amendment guarantees the people a way to defend themselves, should the need arise. In past times, arming the population was a safeguard against possible government tyranny and dictatorship.” The quote here is basically implying that all throughout history, guns have been used by the people of America to protect either the country or the people of this country. Guns have been used throughout American history to help protect the country or its people, the Revolutionary war and the Charles Whitman (The Texas Tower Sniper) incident are a few cases that come to mind. Now I want you to just imagine what it would’ve been like if guns were banned during these two times, the British would’ve won the war and there's no telling how many people Charles Whitman would’ve gone on to kill if guns were banned. According to gun owners of America (GOA), guns have been proven to save more lives than they take. “Guns used in 2.5 million times a year in self-defence. Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year.” By banning guns, America is opening the door for even more crimes to occur such as robbery. “As many as 200,000 women use a gun every year to defend themselves against sexual abuse.” If America was to ban guns, these women would suffer even more crimes such as rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. American’s will suffer even more crimes that are sex related or robbery related if we were to put a ban on guns. Sources: http://listverse.com... http://www.theclause.org... https://www.gunowners.org... https://www.law.cornell.edu... http://www.texasmonthly.com... I will now hand it over to pro to argue for this round.