Americans are faced with an ever-growing problem of violence. Our streets have become a battleground where the elderly are beaten for their social security checks, terrified women are viciously attacked and raped, teen-age gangsters shoot it out for a patch of turf to sell their illegal drugs, and innocent children are caught daily in the crossfire of drive-by shootings. America can’t ignore the damage that these criminals are doing to our society, and must …showed first 75 words of 1106 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1106 total…right to defend themselves, we find that criminals start looking for other victims out of fear that they will become the victims themselves. We must work to reduce crime in America, but should look at the problem realistically, and develop plans that would be effective. It is obvious that gun control laws are neither realistic, nor effective in reducing crime. Therefore, one must direct our efforts toward controlling crime, not controlling legal ownership of firearms.