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

Definitions: Private ownership: tangible and intangible objects owned by individuals which their owners have exclusive and absolute legal rights, and can only be transferred with the owner's consent. Handgun: “A handgun refers to a firearm designed to be operated with one or both hands, but otherwise unsupported.” Ought: A moral acceptability, this places the burden of showing that banning handguns is not morally acceptable, but the main BoP continues to reside on me For today’s debate I value Deontology Deontology is the theory formulated by Immanuel Kant. In this theory, he claimed that actions are morally wrong if they are inconsistent with the status of a person as a free rational being, and only those acts that further people as free and rational beings are morally right. Therefore, the goal of justice is that we all have an absolute duty to avoid acts that treat people as a means to some other end and to perform acts that affirm people as ends themselves We should weigh today’s debate based on the Categorical Imperative The Categorical Imperative is the mechanism Immanuel Kant used to establish moral rules, he argued that moral requirements are based on a standard of rationality he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). Immorality thus involves a violation of the CI and is thereby irrational. The CI is made up of 2 components… First, act so that you can at the same time will your maxim should become a universal law, and second, act so that you treat humanity, both yourself and others, never merely as a means, but always as an ends.Simply, we must weigh the round on whether or not each side can achieve the absolute standard of treating people as people, not as a step to a further objective. By using the categorical imperative, we can make the correct judgment of the debate. 1: Current Gun laws are not consistent with the CI A: The United States Embodies Militarism The United States is one of the greatest military powers in the world. The social consequences of this are disastrous. As a society, we have become engulfed in militarism, defined by David Kinsella as disposition to “employ military over non-military means of conflict resolution." Because gun ownership represents a disposition to employ violence, it perpetuates this militaristic mindset. Carl Boggs elaborates, writing that "Due to decades of conflict, foreign and domestic, the United States has become the hub of global violence, gang warfare, domestic violence, spontaneous outbursts of youth violence like the one at Columbine High School, and a mass media saturated with images of violence and bloodshed. Linkage between military and civilian forms of violence has come to play in politics, the economy, culture, media, and everyday life since the brutally violent culture has been ingrained into the people of the United States. People are taught to behave like those who are most respected in society, and the military is at the top of that pecking order in America. Politicians put the military on a pedestal while the media downplays their atrocities. Due to this, American citizens will think that the way to resolve a conflict is by force, or that knee-jerk military action. If governmental elites appear as regular purveyors of death and destruction, an ethos of violence can be expected to develop as ordinary people follow the lessons taught by the power structure. As a result, a quarter-century of war has polluted American politics, culture and media with the glorification of military violence, and the normalization of everyday violence waged against black youth, immigrants, and others considered disposable, which ultimately promotes individual and small-group violence.” Essentially, we have become so normalized into a culture that values violence as a solution that we view attack as the first means of conflict resolution. This has resulted in high rates of homicide, domestic violence, and aggression throughout society. Handgun ownership only contributes to this militaristic and immoral in reference to the CI society in the United States. B: Handgun Ownership Exacerbates Militarism Handguns are commonly associated with defense, and as a result contribute to violence in society. "God may have made men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” describes how handguns have fooled society, Samuel Colt, inventor of the handgun for years was unable to discover any demand for his perfect weapon for militaristic countries so, Colt created the demand. He engraved guns with heroic scenes, such as a man protecting his wife and children against a pack of savages, armed only with a Colt revolver. This disposition is still associated with handguns today. As a matter of fact, protection, according to PEW research center, is now the reason that handgun ownership is so common, and as a result, society has become more militarized. School shootings are an example of a society engulfed in fear, militarism, a survival-of-the-fittest mindset, and a growing disdain for human life. Which is in direct contradiction to the CI. As the public collapses into these values of a war hungry culture and the lure of private defense, American society walks the line with forms of irrationality that are in complete contradiction to the CI, handgun ownership only sustains this militaristic mindset. According to Dr. Phyllis F. Agran, "The handgun is all too often seen as the quick solution to conflict, and there has been increased incidence of handgun suicide and homicide among adolescents, ages 15-24." The violent connotation of handguns was also supported by psychologist Craig A. Anderson, who found that the mere presence of a firearm dramatically increases aggressive behavior. Guns in particular, due to their association with violent behavior, reinforced through common experiences in movies, television, and front-page stories, are linked closely with aggression-related concepts. This militarism in itself does not respect human beings, and as shown by the evidence, handgun ownership only supports this non-CI supported mindset. It views lives primarily as a means to security, not as ends themselves. Therefore, it is universally accepted to oppose this militaristic mindset. Contention 2: Handgun Bans are Consistent with the CI Militarism has invaded our concepts of security and defense. To address this issue, we need to begin combating this idea, which begins with instituting a ban on handguns. Levi Asher writes on the subject stating that “The world remains war-torn, and many Americans believe the country is surrounded by military threats. This has led to "muscling up" against all possible threats, a practice that has gotten badly out of hand. Our nation muscles up with big weapons, and the people muscle up with guns. The psychological tie between hysterical militarism and hysterical gun violence, and American paranoia caused by a perception of constant global warfare is a subconscious cause of our obsession with guns.” Militarism is reflected through gun violence... Look to the example of Dylann Roof or Harper Mercer, who went on an armed rampage, all because they had an idea they felt they should take up arms for a greater purpose. The lesson to be learned from this is that action needs to be taken to combat the militarism in society as it leads to gun violence… This is done by banning handguns in the United States. This is consistent with the CI because by banning handguns we are treating humans as an ends, by protecting them from the gun violence that is accompanied by militarism. Thus, because our current gun laws are not consistent with the CI, first because of militarism in the United States, and second because the fact that handgun ownership exacerbates militarism as well as my second contention which is the fact Handgun bans are consistent with the CI. We ought to affirm because the only morally acceptable decision ought to be based on CI. And affirmation is the only argument that can be made under the CI