In the US, high-profile mass shootings are the consequence of increased civilian access to military weapons, such as the AR-15, necessitating the implementation of stricter gun control and licensing laws as an intervention to protect lives. Gun control entails the laws that give the government the mandate of limiting the ownership of guns by its citizens. Most countries have reaped numerous benefits from such a move. The issue of ownership of firearms has become very critical in the United States, and thus, why most people are in favor of gun control. Previous studies have indicated that the United States is one of the leading countries with numerous cases of gun homicides (Binder, 2015). That is primarily because the US experiences at least one shooting daily. Also, almost half of the United States` population has guns, and hence the probability of shooting accidents occurring is very high. As such, most individuals believe that the government should strengthen the power of gun control. However, more than half of Americans are against gun control because they feel that gun control will increase crimes rather than reduce them. Thus, the paper will evaluate the two perspectives and explain why gun control reduces crimes.
Most individuals are faced with the issue of gun control daily. For instance, firearms are among the top causes of unnatural deaths in the United States of America (Hodges & Scalora, 2015). Individuals are provided with the right of bearing and keeping arms by the Second Amendment, while the Brady law ensures that firearms are not purchased by individuals whose conduct is questionable (Furmint, 2016). Over the past years, firearms are responsible for numerous deaths, and hence the citizens of the United States own guns as a means of protecting themselves. That has led to weapons being a part of the lives of the Americans (Furmint, 2016). Even though guns are utilized for protection, they have often been used in committing several crimes daily. Firearms are fatal especially when misused because they result in thousands of deaths. Since most people think that guns do not kill people, but rather it is guns in the hands of irresponsible people that commit such crimes (Khalil, 2017), it is vital to have effective gun control laws in an endeavor to decrease such deaths.
Gun control laws help to track the purpose and use of guns. The research by Binder (2015) also helped to reveal how the federal government can chip into assisting the unwavering state efforts to improve the set standards and promotion of the consistency of State gun laws. Additionally, the federal government should aid in the strengthening of the implementation process as well as the enforcement of the gun laws (Hodges & Scalora, 2015). The establishment of the licensing and registration system to track the purchase and use of guns turns out to be a big win on this campaign on gun control. That is because there has been a speedy recovery of firearms that have been used in crime scenes. In due course, the licensing and registration law will have significant effects since most of the arms will have been registered hence easily traced to their owners (Hodges & Scalora, 2015).
Gun control laws protect children and youths. The American citizens’ perspective towards the firearms regulation to protect children, as well as youths, is yet another factor that contributes to the need for stricter gun control laws. This is in addition to the evaluation of the chronicled inclinations in how the American public feels about guns. It is important to note that the public opinion that American citizens hold about guns is static and may not change soon (Binder, 2015). The strong public opinion about weapons and other firearms can be attributed to two distinguishing factors: Gun control issue is dated several decades away hence it was the current debate for many American citizens as they grew up in different neighborhoods. Secondly, individual citizens’ perspective towards gun may have primarily been attributed to previous experience with the gun in their neighborhood (Binder, 2015).
Federal weapon ban reduces the crime rate. The recent mass shootings have revived demands for meaningful gun control. The proponents of stricter gun control laws argue that the federal weapon ban, from 1994 to 2004, led to a decline of crimes associated with guns (Binder, 2015). However, gun massacres have been on the increase for the 15 years that have passed since the ban was ended. Such killings are associated with the growth in ownership of military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines (Binder, 2015) .
Guns cause threat rather than protection. In the United States, the guns that are intended to be utilized for self-protection, turn out to be the real threat. The weapons that are legally owned increase the danger of causing a firearm-related death or even an injury to the household members (Kocsis, 2015). This can be through either an accidental shooting, a suicide attempt or even a criminal assail. Most individuals who support stricter gun control laws condemn the public notion that in the event more people in the society possess guns the community will be safer (Kocsis, 2015). They have significantly critiqued the permissive concealed carry laws to have potentially increased the crime rate. It is common knowledge that the moment there are more guns in the hands of civilians, there will be an increase in the possibility that most of the personal disputes will end up will gun-related violence. That has been contributed by numerous loopholes in the current gun control law. For instance, the Brandy Act that requires the licensed firearms dealer to pull a background check on all the gun buyers does not apply to the private sellers (Kocsis, 2015). Such loopholes should be rectified by strengthening gun control laws.
The opposers of gun control argue that enacting such laws is not the answer to combatting the recent mass shootings. They state that weapon bans and gun violence restraining orders will achieve minimal results if guns and other weapons are not placed in places where they can`t be accessed by violent individuals (Kocsis, 2015). Opposers of gun control claim that such a move will increase crimes because citizens have to improve their self-defense by owning guns. The population density of the United States is quite high, averaging at 87.5 persons per square mile. Also, the land is of the US is relatively extensive and hence the police may fail to arrive in time whenever emergency cases arise (Hodges & Scalora, 2015). They thus believe that citizens can be capable of protecting themselves if they are freely allowed to own guns. Additionally, offenders are often intimidated by the citizens that have guns. Most people argue that if thieves were to rob families on a particular night, they are more likely to confront a family that they are aware of does not own guns compared to the one that has.
However, a careful analysis of the issue shows why gun control is likely to reduce the rate of crimes (Hodges & Scalora, 2015). Most people in America do not have proper knowledge of the usage of guns. That is why there are quite some incidents associated with reckless shootings. For instance, seventeen students and staff members were killed in 2018 after a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland(Kocsis, 2015) . That was a terrible incident that made people start advocating for effective gun control measures. The reason being that people argued that such events couldn`t be prevented as long as guns were still in the hands of people and hence the only way for the government combatting such crimes would be by taking the arms back (Hodges & Scalora, 2015).
In conclusion, gun control would lead to a significant reduction in gun-related violence in the United States. This would require the federal and national authorities to strictly implement the existing gun control laws as well as a formulation of additional comprehensive legislation that would control guns in the United States and make the nation safe once again. The recent mass shootings have provoked the need to ensure the use of weapons is strictly monitored since in most instances the firearms that are used by the perpetrators are legally acquired firearms. Hence gun control laws, for example, extensive background checks can minimize these regrettable occurrences that happen to even innocent school children.
We are known for our strong political science writing help team. Check out some of our services:
– Political Science Assignment Writing Services
– Political Science Essay Writing Services
– Political Science Dissertation Writing Services
