Gun Control Issues in America - Research Paper Example

English Gun Control The Gun culture in America is a topic that has generated a lot of heat in the public spheres and yet a concession seems to be a dream whose time is not yet defined. Gun culture is a term that is used in this state to refer to the abuse of gun rights in the public sphere that has heighetening the level of crime to intolerable levels. Gun control is a move that aims at neutralizing the abuse of gun use in the public spheres that has become a source public criticism over the years. Statistics indicate that in United states gun violence has contributed to a higher rate of killing than even road accidents. The proponents of gun rights argue that the availability of gun in the public spheres allows the people to protect themselves, and this ultimately is a solution to the gun crisis that exist in the affected states. Gun control is indeed not a solution for the violence and killing that are evident in states such as America. The Gun culture is an issue that started back in the 1970s when citizens were given the right to possess a gun as a defense weapon. In the famous westward expansion in the history of America, the citizens were allowed to safeguard their lives from attackers and wild animals in a period that was characterized with war and rivarly. This implies that the initial motive of providing gun rights was to protect the people from criminal acts that were threatening the people. In a period of high crime like the 21stcentury, the purchase of guns has increased as people prepare to counter these crime rates in the public domain. The supporters of the Gun rights argue that this is the period that people need more personal protection than ever in the history of America (Moorhouse 103-124). Consequently, legalizing the purchase of guns in USA will empower the citizens to be more conscious of crime at their homes. Statistics compiled in 1990 have pointed out to the aggravation of criminal activities in the United States, most of which were perpetrateted by arm owners. Crooker (1) points out that atleast one person dies in America every 18 minutes which amounts to a total of about 30, 000 deathst very year. Of these, less than 50% of people who die are killed while the rest are victims of accidental gun shots and other commit murder using legally owned weapons. The question that emerges from these kind of statistics is whether legal arms or illegal arms result to the increased number of gun deaths in the united states. From the point of critical evaluator, legal arms as well are dangerous in the public sphere and the question of withdrawing gun rights can be raised at this point. Withdrawing the public right to own a gun would help to reduce the number of accidental deaths as well as the rate of suicide that has threatened the existence of the citizens in America. On this ground, most supporters of gun control feel that both illegal and legal arms should be withdrawn from the public to ensure that the people are safe from sudden deaths. However withdrawing the gun from the public spheres may not be an ultimate solution to the number of gun deaths that are increasing each day as more rifles find their way into the public sphere. DeConde (172) presents the pros and cons of denying the public the rights to possess legal firearms which has underpinned the death of more citizens every year. Depossessing the public with the right to own firearms will ensure that the rates of suicide would decrease considerably and the consequent drop in the number of people who die from stray bullets. However, the impact that this would have is that illegal arm owners, who are mostly criminals ,would have an advantage over the public, which is likely to trigger higher crime rates in the American society.In essence, this will be leaving the public more vulnerable to criminals which will lead to the death of loyal people and the thrive of criminals. Otherwise, the government would be forced to be more responsible of the security which is practically impossible given the high population whose needs cannot be adequately met. From this point of view, illegalizing guns as part of gun control would victimize the public other than save them. Another argument that the supportets of less gun control have used is that criminal murder cases are not as a result of the guns but a conseuqnce of ill motives of the people to kill their fellow citizens. The National Rifle Association (NRA) argue that in deed “guns don kill people; people kill people” to push for the right of the citizens to own guns for self protection (Mascarenas Para. 5). The implication of this statement is that gun control is a misdirected effort that tries to solve the problem of crime, not from the roots, but from the top, making it a rather worthless effort. The suggestion of the NRA is that the government supports the public by issuing them with gun licenses and beef up the search of criminals as way of ensuring securities (Porter Para. 2). If a person with a motive to kill another has no gun, they can perpetrate the act by using alternative weapons such as daggers that are still legal in the public domanin. Consequently, it would be more radical for the government to develop a strategy to target criminals and the social factors that make them resort to crime. For instance, streamlining the economy would go long way in reducing poverty which is a society pressure that forces more people into crime. The stereotype of the “the right man with the gun” and “the wrong man with the gun” is an issues that generated a lot of controversy in the topic of gun control (Moorhouse Para. 4). The “right man with the gun” refers to the peaceful legal owners of the guns while the “wrong man with the gun” refers to the legal or illegal owners of guns who have engaged in criminal activities. The latter is the dangerous person that the government should target rather than capitalizing in regulating the loyal public who have a transparent motive to protect themselves and their properties. On the other hand, the advocates of gun control makes a connection between the two people who own gun by suggesting that the two are one and the same person. In their opinion, once the “right man with the gun” becomes rogue, the are converted to the “the wrong person with the gun” and the cycle becomes more vicious. The implication of this is that posing more strict gun control meausures will ensure that the good people have no chance to turn into the wrong people, which guarantees security in the public domain. The constitutional attempt to impose gun control meausures has been faced with a lot of antagonism from the public spheres. The main reason for this kind of mixed reaction is because the public does not foresee a decrease in crime rate after illegalization of firearms. Crooker (12) points out that the people feel that the goverments has not been effective in defending the people from potential criminals. As a result, the public feel more secure with personal protection weapons and would hate the idea of losing these weapons in constitutional reform. Barack Obama is among those president of USA who have re-ignited the debate on gun control and has been determined to develop strict gun control measures. His action was triggered by a violent gun massacre that occurred in an elementary school and other national incidences that resulted to the murder of many citizens. In his 2013 proposal, he suggested that a check for sold guns be launched the gun magazines be limited to 10 bullets. He seems to support the notion that guns help people to kill more effectively and that reduction in the size of a magazine would ensure that there is less shooting, in the event of one (Neagle Para. 1-5). The fact that he did not mention the ban of sale of guns shows that he appreciates the necessity of the rights of the public to own a gun for personal protection. In this view, it is true to say that even the most strict gun control meausures would not eliminate crime in the world without a proactive action directed towards criminals in the society. As a matter of fact, Obama recommended that more research be conducted by the center for disease and control to ensure to find out whether gun control is indeed a solution to the crime rate in the American society. In this view, the notion that strict gun control would reduce crime is more of a speculation than a fact. Reflecting on the theoretical background and the arguments that surround the controversial issue of gun control, it is clear that strict gun control is not an end to the crime in America. Pro-gun activists argue that imposing regulation public use of guns would help reduce the high rates of death that result from crime, self-murder and accidental gun shots. Additionally, it would reduce instances when legal gun possessors turn rogue and become potential criminals in the society. However, those against gun control feel that illegalizing arms would only expose the citizens to more death as the crime perpetrators often have a fake identity and can acquire an illegal arm by any means. In addition, they criticize this action on the ground that it better to fight the problem of crime by fighting against them rather than adopting an indirect approach. A more reasonable argument is that people who have the motive to kill cannot be stopped by the virtue that they have no gun. They will do anything to kill and more severe alternative methods of killing are at their disposal. Resulatantly, the government’s efforts to ignite a fierce war against gun control has been down trodden by the public antagonism that emanates from the feel that more people are likely to dies from such an act. In short, there is no faith than strict gun control would protect the people of America. Works Cited Crooker, Constance E. Gun Control and Gun Rights. Westport (Conn.: Greenwood press, 2003. Print. DeConde, Alexander. Gun Violence in America: The Struggle for Control. Boston, Mass: Northeastern Univ. Press, 2003. Print. Mascarenas, Hyacinth. Gun Control Debate is Part of a Vicious Cycle. Accessed from: < http://www.policymic.com/articles/70335/gun-control-debate-is-part-of-a-vicious-cycle> [Accessed on 9th Nov, 2013] Moorhouse, J.C. and Brent Wanner. “Does Gun Control Reduce Crime or Does Crime Increase Gun Control?” Cato Journal, 26(1), 2006: 103-124. ProQuest.Web. 9th Nov, 2013. Neagle, Colin. "3D-printed gun may be unveiled soon; Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, may soon disrupt the nationwide gun control debate with a 3D-printed gun." Network World 2013: Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Nov. 2013 Porter, Henry. American Gun Use is out of Control, Shouldn’t the World Intervene?The Gurdian. 2013. Read More