The Production of Criminal Violence in America - Article Example

Module Summary ARTICLE Stell, Lance K. ‘The Production Of Criminal Violence In America: Is Strict Gun Control The Solution?’ The Journal of law, Medicine and Ethics. 32:1. (2004). Print. In the article, the author defines Strict Gun Control (SGC) as a group of activities that are defined to cause firearm scarcity among people (Stell 38). The gun control policy rests on the premise that dangerous gangs are the only ones responsible for causing violence; but also the situation may also be lethal if the guns are left in the hands of innocent civilians. The article makes reference to one of the most prolific theorists, Professor Zimring’s idea of advocating for gun scarcity among the population since 1969. This helps in demonstrating the speciousness of gun control policy in the reduction of the deaths resulting from homicides. While bearing in mind that the public is reluctant to give up their guns, Zimring proposes that stigmatizing guns is the only sure way of reducing the rate of possession of guns among the population. He suggests that this should entail the inclusion of the practice in the legislation. He associates the high rates of deaths resulting from homicides in America as related to the rampant use of guns for assaults. The article alludes that what matters in the successful application of the gun control policy is the consideration of who owns the guns, how these guns are used and the impact of the policy in relation to its implementation. Zimring’s makes reference on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics that indicates that guns are used in the 70% of the reported criminal killings. Additionally, other proponents of gun control policy such as Phillip Cook opine that the criminals determine the type of weapon they use. However, they discount the contribution of perpetrator factors in the enhancement of lethality in favor of the instrumentality effect. Fatality is viewed as an almost accidental outcome of a large number of assaults resulting from guns and knives. Zimring claims that in many cases, the perpetrator is also a victim of circumstance as well as the person he kills; just luckier because the gun was pointed in a different direction. It is obvious that some of the deaths that occur due to gun assaults cannot occur if less lethal weapons are used. The article stipulates that the perpetrators of assault are normally aware of their prior plans of inflicting lethal injuries on their victim. The author makes reference to the Behavior modification theory that suggests that the criminals transfer their intimidation levels to the guns they are carrying. The article disputes the idea that gun handlers are innocent people who possess the gun and respond whenever they are provoked. This is because most of these killers posses below-average cognitive ability, mental retardation, brain dysfunction or alcoholism (Stell 42). Professor Zimring opposes the use of gun in self defense, arguing that people who offer resistance when attacked are at a higher risk of getting hurt than those who submit. Additionally, his experiments proved that those who resisted attacks through the use of guns performed better than those than those that did not resist (Stell 44). This implies that legalizing the use of firearms for any reason enhances violence. The article recommends that the ethical complications occur when the proponents of gun control practices subscribe to certain practices that enhance violence. Such practices include the failure to recognize the right of the states for self defense, failure to provide minimal protection to the citizens, and the police department possesses the rights to prosecute and charge those possessing firearms for self preservation. ARTICLE 2 Congressional Digest. White House Plan to Reduce Gun Violence: Administration Proposals to Strengthen Firearm Laws and Protect Citizens. March 2013. Print. According to the article, tragic mass shootings have been witnessed in America despite the fact that most firearm holders are perceived to be responsible and law-abiding citizens. This can only be curbed through focus on various preventive strategies. One of the strategies involves closing the background check loopholes for those buying the guns. The current market statistics indicate that most private gun sales are conducted without prior background checks (Congressional Digest 8). The private firearm dealers should also be advised to sell their guns through the licensed dealers to enable them conduct background checks on the guns. The second proposition that the article recommends is strengthening of the background check system. This is conducted through addressing the irrelevant legal constraints that prevents the states from reporting the information on the people that are prohibited from possessing guns. Incentives should also be increased to enable the states share information through the application of the background check system. The federal agency should be held responsible for sharing the relevant information through the application of the background system. The background checks are necessary for ensuring that irresponsible people do not own or operate firearms. The military style assault weapons and high capacity magazines should be banned (Congressional Digest 9). This should be conducted through reinstating and strengthening the ban on assault weapons, limiting the ammunition weapons to ten rounds and eliminating the armor piercing bullets from the public. Additional law enforcement tools should also be created through establishing stern punishments for gun trafficking, addition of the number and efficiency of the police force, applying the technology for tracing data and ensuring that the reclaimed guns do not return to the wrong hands. Additionally, proper leadership should be granted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, firearms and explosives and provide it with the necessary powers that prevents importation of any form of firearms. Other enforcement efforts include imposing strict restrictions to prevent gun violence, prosecuting the perpetrators of gun assault and provision of the required information on the statistics of the stolen guns. The freeze on gun violence should be enhanced to identify the safe practice associated with the use of guns (Congressional Digest 10). The rights of the health care providers should be preserved to enable them warn authorities on the threats of violence as well as warn their patients on the destructive nature of firearms. Safe ownership of the guns should also be encouraged through undertaking campaigns related to gun safety and encouraging the development of the gun safety technology (Congressional Digest 11). Schools should also be made safer through the provision of comprehensive emergency management program and creating better learning practices. Coverage of mental health practices should be enhanced through employing more mental health specialists and launching mental health campaigns to enhance mental stability. The article proposes that the Mental Health Treatment Coverage practices should be enhanced in schools to enhance the mental health of students. The executive can also impose actions that can help in reducing gun violence. One such action includes issuing a presidential memorandum that enables the federal agencies provide the required data. Additionally, information sharing through the background checks system should be enhanced and the legal barriers that prevent the States from making information available to the background check system should be addressed. Read More