A stronger focus on gun control in the United States involving restriction or even an outright ban of guns could serve to help the problem greatly. In 2015, 13,286 people were killed by firearms in the United States, with 26,819 suffering from non-lethal injuries (qtd. in “Guns in the US”). Taking away guns, the means that many urban criminals have to commit their crimes, would be very beneficial to cities. Recent studies found that the most effective way of reducing gun crime is to lower the amount of guns available in circulation. In the US specifically, studies show that the stricter gun laws are in a state, the lower the amount of deaths related to guns occur (Graham). While many believe that further restrictions on guns would not be feasible, both Australia and the United Kingdom managed to highly restrict or ban guns from their nations in order to reduce gun-related deaths and crime (Graham). Australia was able to rid the country of around 650,000 guns and their rate of robberies per 100,000 people sank from about 100 to 60 (cite later 1). This program of complete gun confiscation costed Australia $230 million. If a program of the same relative scale were to be done in the States, it would cost the government around $4 billion (Rieck). The alternative to a complete gun ban would be simply to restrict gun laws to make it much more difficult for a dangerous individual to purchase a gun. Background checks for all purchases of guns would become a requirement and
The sociological concepts behind the majority of all gun control arguments theorize that with stricter laws and regulations criminals and emotionally unstable individuals might be intercepted. Macrosociology, concerning the processes used to distinguish America as a gun culture, holds that constraints on Americans gun usage limits personal options at the micro level. Laws, the legal rules for functioning in society provided by a governing body that is capable of reprimanding those who do not comply, function to prevent gun violence to a degree. The second amendment guarantees protection of rights to keep and bear arms. In America, 37 states abide by the ‘Shall Issue’ providing that, upon completion of specified requirements, a law-abiding person
Gun control has been a controversial issue for years and numerous solutions have been proposed and enacted. The debate sparked after tragic civilian attacks, like school shootings. An example, is the tragedy in 1999 at Columbine High School. Two teens attacked the school, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others before killing themselves. Following this attack, numerous solutions have been argued and purposed. However, a definite solution still has not been reached and America is split on the topic. The solutions currently enacted focus on guns, yet America still has a serious issue with gun related crime attacks, and fatalities. Solutions should not solely target the actual guns, because guns are powerless without the person who fires the weapon. The solution should not be to take away guns, but to consider the people who have access to them. Addressing mental health is the real solution to preventing gun violence and attacks.
Even though there are recent tragedies that happened in the country that resulted on many fatal injuries due to gun violence, gun laws are basically remains unchanged. One of recent gun law that was passed was The Brady Handgun Violence Act that was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 that allowed a waiting period for criminal background check that dealers must perform before selling a handgun. However, an amendment was added to this bill which replaced the waiting period with National Instant Criminal Background Check System by licenses (Vizzard, 2015). The following year, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act became law. This law allowed ban on guns that is considered as assault weapons. However, the law has an expiration which was in 2004 and the Congress failed to renew the law (Vizzard, 2015).
John Lott’s book, More Guns Less Crime explains how guns don’t increase crime however, guns do decrease crime rates in the United States. Chapter 2 titled, How to Test the Effects of Gun Control which contributes to one of Lott’s main focus in this book. Lott reviewed and conducted many surveys to determine whether gun control will increase or decrease the death rate. The question that arose and drew much attention to surveyors was, “Will these laws improve or degrade the quality of life when it comes to violent crime?” (22) This question forced an answer on everyone even those who support gun control due to the demanding need of self-protection against violent crime. While the midst
Gun control as stated in the last source is a major issue in America. Studies
The world should not spend anymore time following the fallacy that many people have. where they, instead of providing deterrents for people who want to commit a crime with a firearm. They put restrictions, on citizens who want a gun and leave them vulnerable to criminals who can, and most likely will, procure firearms from other sources. Whether they do this because of the despair of losing a loved one in a shooting. To the simple fear that the existence of guns in a country will cause an outbreak of murders. They all follow the fallacy that stricter gun laws will prevent more homicides involving the use of firearms. When the statistics show that,
Nationally, guns are used in 68% of homicides, which helps explain why America experiences more gun homicides than any other modern nation in the world (Hirsh 86). If America wants to make a real change, then its legislators and constituents must have the will to improve its current gun control laws. By recognizing the lack of any meaningful laws, society can start focusing on the failures of the political system. Currently, there are twenty-two thousand gun control laws in place (Hirsh 86). Due to the large number and minimal impact on America, it appears that these laws are ineffective and in need of a restructuring focused on the gun retailer. Restrictions that only target the consumer have not worked. This is due, in part, to the ease
It is said that if a word is said too many times, it loses it’s meaning.This can apply to phrases as well, phrases such as, “Breaking news, another mass shooting in America.” It is almost frightening how acts of violence like Columbine and Orlando have become a common occurrence in the United States. Even more frightening is the fact that the American populace seems to have become desensitized to seeing such headlines in the news. Yet no matter how many of these shootings take place, the government rarely makes any significant changes to the nation's laws regarding gun control to prevent similar catastrophes in the future. Gun control in America should be more strict because stricter laws prevent gun deaths, current laws are not that effective,
Guns have been a part of America’s history since its creation, so much so, even an amendment of the very Constitution it was founded on is devoted to civilian possession of firearms. It therefore comes as no surprise that any initiative to somehow enforce stricter laws and regulations regarding firearms, or God forbid, strip the people of their Second Amendment right, is faced with some resistance, to say the least. However, following the example of countries that have virtually solved some crime or firearm related issues by employing somewhat unorthodox measures, could potentially reduce the amount of violent crime that is sweeping the US.
One argument for gun control is that gun levels affect the violent crimes rates. There have been several studies to determine if gun control laws actually decrease the levels of crime. However, it is impossible to accurately measure the changes over time of gun levels and crime because there 's no valid way to measure of these changes. (Kleck, Kovandzic and Bellows, Does Gun Control Reduce Violent Crime?)
Gun control has always been a heavily debated issue in the United States and around the world. Would tougher gun control laws help with the high crime rate and save lives, or would those tougher laws for gun control cause a rise in crime and gun related deaths? It is really only in the wake of tragedy that questions of gun control are acknowledged. (Bitto, Dana, and Elisa Juliano, 2015) Laws concerning gun control need to be altered in order to fit everyone’s needs. When there are not enough laws concerning guns it can lead to leniency with firearms, too many laws can create problems with those firearms, and coming to a balanced set of laws will improve society in which firearms are concerned. There are pros and cons of gun control as well as many different policies concerning this around the world. Therefore being informed about these various issues will help citizens understand which would be the best policy.
Gun violence is a hot topic in international politics, and has been in the United Stated since the Gun Control Act passed in 1968 (Frank 2013). Constantly debated, this issue has been dealt with uniquely in each country, making it hard to pinpoint the tactics that work best to manage gun crime in each situation.
Everyday in the United States, ninety families are changed forever; guns claim an average of ninety lives every day in the United States, 33,000 lives in a single year. Gun control has been a debate in the United States for many years and is constantly thrusted back into the public’s attention by horrific shootings. These shootings constantly cause individuals to petition the government to place stricter and stricter regulations of guns. However, these policies cannot be the solution to this problem. To determine a solution that will be both effective and constitutional, we must look at statistics and research that has been conducted to determine the best course of action. Instead of banning or limiting guns, the evidence will show that removing the current restrictions and targeting individuals instead of guns will be a more effective process.
The big issue of gun control in the United States, is that many people believe that it takes away the 2nd Amendment rights, which is the right to bear arms. Citizens of the United States are promised the the right to bear arms in the Constitution, and by applying gun control laws takes away that same right. Crime is high enough in cities with very few laws pertaining to gun control, but taking guns away from people who are registered with license will not solve the problem either. Placing more limitations on gun owners, particularly responsible gun owners, will not reduce gun violence. Although there are rules and regulations already in place there still is a lot of crime occurring, because laws on gun