Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

main deontological and utilitarian debates. The detailed application of both philosophical the-

ory, accompanied with a comparison and contrast of each, will give a solidified argument to-

wards determining the best possible actions to be taken in the Gun Control of Chicago. After

researching and finding that gun control is effective against gun crime, by utilitarianism,

through Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill states that it is the best solution, as it provides

the most pleasure for the most amount of people. However, the reasoning behind the Second

Amendment and the opportunity of tyranny creates a counter argument, again of utilitarian-

ism theorem. Gun control thus being viewed as a risk to the liberties of US citizens. From the

deontologist perspective the natural rights theory can be applied to the US amendments; ‘di-

vine command theory’ dictates that the use of guns is wrong. Immanuel Kant’s categorical

imperative condemns gun violence, therefore supporting gun control in argument. From these

applied philosophical ideals, the ‘Social Contract Theory’ adopted by a multitude of philoso-

phers comes into assistance when reaching a resolution on Gun Control. Without the applica-

tion of Statistics based solely on utilitarianism and deontology stricter gun control in Chicago

is favourable.

Gun Control

Evidence for the effectiveness of gun control against gun crime can be demonstrated in for-

eign countries such as Australia (Appendix C), but with different laws and foundations

America sets itself apart from the rest of the world. Gun control isn’t necessarily the elimina-

tion of the sale of guns but is more about taking weapons out of circulation. The amount of

guns that were seized in Australia after the Port Arthur Mass shooting was one per five peo-

ple; whilst in America there is about one gun per person (Purtill, 2016). The mentality of citi-

zens in the US is completely different to that of other countries; new gun control laws that