in the united states, private ownership of handguns ought to be banned.

I affirm and value morality, defined as conformity to the rules of right conduct. morality is clearly the highest value because the resolution centers around whether the united states "ought" to ban handguns, and ought refers to a duty or obligation. we only have an obligation to do something if is in line with our perception of right actions the criterion is moral contractarianism, which is the concept that morality is derived from the idea of mutual consent among people. In the state of nature, without any rules to stop us, people have the right to do anything they please. This make interaction with other human beings difficult because your rights often interfere with the rights of others. for example, your right to own property may interfere with another persons right to own property when you steal something from them. thus, society can only come about when people decide to mutually constrain some of their rights in order to preserve the more important ones. for example, you give up your right to steal things and as a consequence, preserve your right to property because nobody will steal for you. It is important to note that the constraint must be mutual. everybody gives up the same rights and keeps the same rights. contractarianism is clearly the best criterion because it explains how morality is created- from humans. As the affirmative, my burden is to prove that the right to own handguns ought to be given up, because by doing so we will preserve more important rights, especially life. Contention 1: banning guns will prevent death The Brady Campaign writes "Interviews with survivors of near-lethal suicide attempts revealed that a quarter made the attempt less than five minutes after making the decision. About half of those did so within 20 minutes, and three-quarters of suicide attempts occurred within an hour." "Since many suicides are impulsive, separating someone from the means to self-harm takes away their ability to act on what otherwise might have been a fleeting impulse. Suicidal crises are often triggered by an immediate stressor, such as the loss of a job or the breakup of a relationship. However, the urge to act is fairly shortlived, typically lasting a few minutes to a few hours. That"s why delaying access to a gun is critical; it allows time for the suicidal impulse to pass without being realized." Basically, suicide attempts are often very impulsive, and easy access to a handgun helps facilitate this impulse. Banning handguns. but it will help eliminate some deaths because people will be forced to use other, more time consuming methods. Doing so will sometimes allow for that brief suicidal impulse to calm down, and gives them time to think. Thus, banning handguns is in the best interest of every individual, because doing so can help preserve life, so the people ought to mutually constrict this right in order to achieve morality. subpoint B: accidental deaths. The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine writes "more than 680 Americans per year were killed unintentionally with firearms." Additionally, over 7000 are involved in non-fatal accidental shootings. Injuries often occurred during fairly routine gun handling"cleaning a gun, loading and unloading, target shooting, and so on. It is important to recognize that although some people are at higher risk for unintentional shootings than others, accidents can happen to anyone." As we can see, the right to own a handgun can infringe on others because handguns can easily discharge, and so we ought to mutually constrain this right because by doing so we will preserve safety.