In the United States, private ownership of handguns ought to be banned.

(I would like to apologize now if it takes me a while to respond because I am currently taking classes). I do not believe that banning handguns would better America, make it safer, or reduce the violence that seems to dominate many American cities. Point 1- In America, it is estimated that there are more than 200 million firearms owned by more than 80 million people. Many of these are hand guns. Which brings me to my first point. How are all of these handguns to be removed from the public? If the government attempted to get private handgun owners to turn in their handguns, I have no doubt that most law abiding citizens would do just that. What about criminals that use guns to commit their crimes? Would they be as willing to turn them in? Probably not. That would give the criminals even more opportunity to commit crimes since they know that the citizens are unarmed. The government could try to forcefully try to take the guns away from the citizens and criminals alike, but what stops the guns from being sold illegally. America has been battling with the illegal drug trade for many years yet drugs still pour over our borders. I have very little faith that the government could completely remove handguns successfully. Point 2: I have heard stories of children accidentally shooting and killing a sibling or parent. This brings me to my second point. Accidental death. However tragic, easily preventable. The easiest way to prevent accidental shootings is to acquire a lock safe of some kind that is out of reach of children and has a combination. Parents that do not take the proper precautions to ensure that no harm can come to their children should be locked up and stripped of any right to buy a weapon in the future. Point 3: Although handguns are used in many murders, banning them in the United States would not make the streets safer. If hand guns are outlawed, people with the intent to murder someone would resort to other alternative weapons such as knives, shotguns, rifles, and even blunt objects like baseball bats. Banning handguns will, no doubt, make the streets safer, but it will not completely rid the streets of violence. Point 4: Handguns do make suicide easy, but would banning them really decrease the suicide rate? Many people that own a handgun own some kind of rifle, shotgun, etc. as well. Would it not be just as easy to shoot yourself with a shotgun as it would a handgun? As you said, people with a handgun that have suicidal thoughts are more likely to commit suicide. I, however, think that somebody intent on taking their life will use any firearm that is readily available. Point 5: Some people think that handguns are to easy to conceal. There is a simple fix to that. Require open carry. If a person is carrying a handgun in public, make it a law for them to carry it openly where everyone can see it. That would decrease the amount of handgun murders because people will be more aware of who exactly has a gun. It will allow them to be more prepared if someone does try to attack them. In conclusion, I do not believe that private ownership of handguns should be banned. There is a solution to every problem but the banning of handguns is not the correct solution to America's violence problem.