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Florida State Issue

Should there be stricter punishments for people that brandish #guns in public?

Score for this "YES" opinion :
Score is TBD

"Guns are for self-defense not reckless brandishing" Sep 02, 2024

Gun control and gun violence have been burning topics for debates and protests in America. It is high time for the government to tighten its grip on gun control and the safety of its people and make stricter punishments for those brandishing deadly weapons.

In America, gun violence is no new story. In Florida, police say a man who pulled a gun at a peaceful protest won't face any charges because he was acting in self-defense. You can pull a gun out, maybe shoot someone in self-defense, and still face no charges. 

He pulled a gun because he was knocked down. What if he pulled the trigger in the heat of the situation in self-defense? And again, he wouldn't receive any charges. Be it Jacob Blake or the Parkland shooting incident, the US government has passed several bills to address gun violence. 

Pulling a gun can bring several unintended and intended consequences. The person with a firearm or any deadly weapon may flaunt the weapon and terrorize the unarmed ones. This can be traumatic.

Secondly, the one with the gun might also pull the trigger in rage or sometimes in personal animosity and fake it as self-defense. You never know what intentions people might have.

We understand safety, and that licensed guns are there for a reason. But we should not forget that the safety of unarmed people should also be considered. 

The government now needs to make stricter rules on someone carrying a firearm or any deadly weapon and brandishing it in the name of self-defense. There's no point in making tighter rules or punishing someone after someone gets killed. The punishment should begin with brandishing weapons to curb the accidental shooting or murder that could follow later. 

An average of 100 people per day are shot and killed in the United States. Many Americans fear mass shootings because our rules are not strict enough to protect our people.

According to the Florida Statutes, a person carrying any dirk, sword, firearm, or any deadly weapon and exhibiting it in a rude, aggressive, or threatening manner shall be considered guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. However, no charges would follow if brandishing a weapon was done to defend oneself. 

Gun violence in America is not inevitable. It is preventable. The government can change the current scenario by passing stricter punishments for anyone who brandishes a weapon in a threatening manner.

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