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

I affirm the resolution resolved, In the United States, private ownership of handguns ought to be banned. To clarify, I will define the following terms with Collins English Dictionary. Private Ownership-the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body Handguns-a firearm that can be held, carried, and fired with one hand, such as a pistol Value: Social Justice It is because of this my value of today"s debate is Social Justice, as defined by: Ferree SM, PhD, Rev. William. "Introduction to Social Justice." (1997): 35,43. "Common Good must be a primary object of solicitude.The Common Good is not a means for any particular interests;it is a good so great that very frequently private rights"even inviolable private rights"cannot be exercised until it is safeguarded. It might be good in order to make the notion of Social Justice clearer, to compare its characteristics with those of individual justice.The first great mark of Social Justice is that it cannot be performed by individuals as individuals, but only by individuals as members of groups." We need social justice because it is important to uphold the common good in today"s society. Upholding the common good is the most important as it benefits the society. Standard:Infinite Regression My value criterion for today"s debate is infinite regression, which is a series of propositions arises if the truth of proposition P1 holding with many support requires of P2, then P3, and so on if P1 holds. If P1 must hold, then the sequence of P2, P3, etc must hold. If one of these events fall, then the whole chain falls. In order to achieve social justice we have to have interconnected infinite regression in the face of banning private ownership of handguns, which is what the affirmative provides. This gives access to the protection of the common good that democracy provides, thus, maximizing justice, reasoning, and the quality of life. Observation 1: The resolution talks about handguns only. Thus, the evidence in today"s debate must only talk about if handguns in private ownership should be banned or not, and no other guns, like assault rifles, sniper rifles, etc. Observation 2: The affirmative does not have the burden to answer for the handguns already sold, and how the ban will affect these guns. Instead, the affirmative only has the burden to prove why we need to ban handguns currently. Contention 1: Individualism destroys the environment Note:Individualism is a theory of favoring freedom of individuals KATRINA FISCHER KUH,Duke Law Journal,March 2012 "Emerging environmental problems reveal with new clarity the harms that individual(ism) inflict on the environment. Individual(ism) lie(s) at the core of both the climate-change problem. Individual(ism)s directly pollute(s) a range of environmental media in significant volumes; indeed, individual(ism) (is)responsible for approximately "a third of the chemicals that form low-level ozone or smog."Four "types of constraint[s]" operate on individual(ism)and thus offer potential paths for reorienting environmental law and policy to better capture or control harms from individual(ism) that directs behaviors by threatening sanctions; social norms; markets; and architecture, or features of the world.A growing body of legal scholarship recognizes the environmental significance of individual(ism)critiques the failure of environmental law and policy to speak directly to individuals as sources of environmental harm, and suggests and evaluates strategies for capturing individual(ism)"s harms going forward." Analysis: As seen individualism harms the environment, and it is responsible for many chemicals and harms social functions. Thus, we cannot let individualism become unrestricted, and we need to limit the right to bear arms for the better of the group to protect the environment. Subpoint A: Individualism harming the environment can cause for the next Ecological Crunch Simpson, David. "Scarcity And Growth Revisited: Natural Resources And The Environment In The New Millennium." 2005. "Many natural scientists now warn that we are entering a "sixth extinction crisis" caused by the increasing dominance of a single species: Homo sapiens, the numbers we cite above concerning the growth of human population and our economies may have a darker side(using individualism). Peter Vitousek and his colleagues (1997) has estimated that humanity appropriates either directly or indirectly 40 percent of the world"s net primary productivity. Other indices of our impact are equally alarming: we note earlier the accelerated extinction of species. Biodiversity loss stems from many causes. In addition to natural threats from competition and predation, a number of human-induced factors threaten other species.Many biologists believe, however, that the greatest threat to biodiversity today comes from (individualism) the conversion of natural habitats to alternative human(ism) use." Analysis: These are the causes of individualism. It will lead to the next Ecological crunch and leads to many species going extinct while not benefiting the common good. Subpoint B: Individualism violates the infinite regression of the society Bitman,mark,"What is the purpose of society",2015 "Shouldn't adequate shelter, clothing, food and health care be universal? Isn"t everyone owed a society that works toward guaranteeing the well-being of its citizens? Shouldn"t we prioritize avoiding self-destruction?" Thus, the infinite regression of society is simple Provide the well-being of citizens Provide care for all citizens Work together to prevent self destruction These steps result into a happy society Individualism over guns violates the 2nd step, thus breaking the society, which the Neg is violating. My value of infinite regression achieves this because if we restrict the right to own handguns, I am following the process of the society, thus achieving the common good using my value of social justice. Contention 2:Individualism leads to a number of social and psychological disadvantages. Note:Individualism is a theory of favoring freedom of individuals GREG SCOTT, JOSEPH CIARROCHI, & FRANK P. DEANE "As expected, higher levels of individualism within an individualistic society were associated with a number of social and psychological disadvantages. Idiocentrics(Individualists) had smaller and less satisfying social support networks, low emotional competence, poorer mental health indicators and lower intentions to seek help in times of need. (Individualism)did not moderate the link between stress and depression. That is, (individualists) tended to feel more hopeless than allocentrics regardless of how much social support they had. Finally, social support (amount and satisfaction) appeared to mediate the relationship between idiocentrism and, hopelessness and suicide ideation," Analysis: Individualism causes for various emotional and health factors, and thus we should not prioritize guns; we must care for ourselves first before we get in rights. My value of infinite regression achieves this because we know that individualism is bad; we must follow the path of the society to fix these social and psychological issues. This leads for the fix into the social and psychological issues, thus achieving my value of social justice. Conclusion: In conclusion, prioritizing the rights of guns harms the environment, and mental and emotional health. My value of social justice achieves this because we cannot prioritize the right of guns; we must prioritize the common good. My value of infinite regression helps this because we must follow the path of the society to achieve the common good, which the neg is violating. It is because of these reasons and many more I strongly urge a aff ballot. Sources Used: http://scholarship.law.duke.edu... http://www.cesj.org... Simpson, David. "Scarcity And Growth Revisited: Natural Resources And The Environment In The New Millennium." 2005. http://www.nytimes.com... http://www.acceptandchange.com...