Prohibition against Importing - Term Paper Example

? Midterm Midterm An assault rifle refers to a selective fire rifle, which utilizes a detachable magazine and intermediate cartridge (Alpers, 2012). Assault rifles stand for the same meaning as assault weapons, a term that is widely used in the United States. Assault rifles are also the customary service rifles in a majority of modern armies. They are classified in terms of the intermediate cartridge power they use. This type of rifle became the standard army rifle after the Second World War. The first nation to adopt these rifles was the Soviet Union. However, as time went by, the rifles become widely recognized, and now citizens all through the United States can own one just by filling out a permit form. This has seen the crime level all over the United States increase more than any other nation out there (Alpers, 2012). This paper will draft a law to the House of Representatives in an effort to restrict the American law regarding the possession of these assault type rifles. Policy Prohibition against Importing Importing assault type rifles should strictly be a governmental task or if a permitted party wants to import an assault type rifle into the United States, it should be done with the knowledge of the government. Any coming in rifle, whether through the boarder, port or airport terminal, should be checked to clarify whether the government has allowed the importation of the firearm (Strassel, 2013). Also, in order to ease the importation of these firearms, it essential that the government imposes extremely huge taxes on the people importing the assault type rifles. People import these weapons from other nations because of the cheap cost of assembling them abroad, as well as the affordable taxes imposed on them during importation (Jones, 2013). Ownership Specified parties should also be the only groups allowed to possess assault type rifles. It is essential for people to note that guns are meant to kill people (Simmons, 2002). Therefore, ownership of assault type rifles should strictly be left to bodies, which seek to protect the citizens of American such as the police force (Strassel, 2013). Regular citizens who want to possess assault type rifles should have extremely strong reasons as to why they want to possess the weapons. For instance, if they notice an impending danger, they should be allowed to possess an assault type rifle only for a short while till the danger capsizes. Transportation Transposition of assault type rifles should be done with strict consent of the government. If it is possible, a law officer should be present whenever there is mass transportation of these assault type rifles (Jones, 2013). Also, in order to avoid any tension or theft during the transportation of the rifles, it is essential to transport the weapons through vehicles that are not recognized by ordinary citizens. Some might attempt to steal them during the transportation. Huge taxes should also be imposed on the transportation of these assault type rifles, and the transportation should be done during the day. The destination of the weapons should be known by the government before the transportation is done (Jones, 2013). Use of Assault Type Rifles Capable Of Firing in Semi-Automatic or Automatic Modes Use of assault type rifles capable of firing in semi-automatic or automatic modes should be permitted to people who have undergone certified training on how to fire a weapon (Malcolm, 2012). This is to avoid any stray shots in case a situation arises where a person with a permit is forced to use the assault rifle in public. An assault type rifle, which is capable of firing semi-automatic or automatic modes, should also be made more expensive than normal assault rifles that fire only a single shot. In this way, people will shy away from purchasing this rifle and settle on the less ordinary assault type rifle. Only wealthy people can afford the above extremely expensive assault rifle that can easily be tracked by the government (Malcolm, 2012). Rationale or Purpose It is positively true that existing policies in the area of assault type rifles ownership should be re-examined, as well as changed (Malcolm, 2012). Nevertheless, the specific amendments cannot and should not be done randomly. Debate, discussion and evidence ought to be applied so as to produce useful policy change. If assault type rifles are used by anybody unstable or untrained, if the weapons are not stored securely, or if they are used for inadvertent intentions, then they can pose a threat to security. Addressing how the society, along with the help of the government, copes with such threats is the just path to stopping horrific acts of aggression against our most defenseless and innocent people. The purpose of this law is not only to promote public safety, but also prevent the mass killings of innocent children being witnessed across the United States and portray a positive image of the United States (Simmons, 2002). The previous gun control law permits people to hold assault type rifles due to self-defense and domestic violence (Jones, 2013). Domestic violence is a critical factor in the United States, and assault rifles are considered as a way of protecting the party being taken advantage of. Even though, assault type rifles can be used to protect the individual, killing someone should not be the number one priority (Malcolm, 2012). The assaulted party should report the matter to the police, and the matter will be dealt with accordingly. This matter, however, holds water when it comes to self-defense. Self-defense is a situation where a person has to defense him/herself from another or an immediate impending danger. Self defense normally leaves one party injured whereby in most cases it is the person causing the harm. It is not advisable for people to harm others, and; therefore, if assault type rifles could assist a person to not get harmed by another, then they should be used. The United States has one of the most powerful police forces and technology in the world. Therefore, they should be utilized to the fullest in order to enhance the safety of the Americans. The policy that this paper advocates should be considered as a sound one because it gives the police force a task for ensuring that the security of the nation is upright and that firearms are controlled (Malcolm, 2012). The killing of innocent children is also not a matter to play with, and should be stopped. Stakeholders This policy involves a couple of stakeholders who have extremely high importance to the American economy (McCarthy, 2009). These stakeholders are sportspersons, representatives from the entertainment industry, wildlife interest groups, gun owners’ groups, representatives from the justice department, felons, and representatives from the ministry of social welfare. Felons should be the first group to be considered in this issue. Being the cluster with the largest gain or loss, they clearly have the most at risk (Simmons, 2002). Criminals feel left out on societal matters, which causes stigma in them, a master status that will track them for almost the rest of their life. Rather than trying to fight for their social rights, they opt to take away the lives of innocent Americans. This is through the help of assault type rifles. They appear to be the most primitive of the stakeholders, with extremely little optimism to assist themselves. For this reason, they should be incorporated in decision matters on this arms control law. The rest of the groups mentioned above use statistics to determine their chances of survival and having a permit to possess firearms. Their application of statistics, and the inclusion of numerous groups, including survivors and victims of firearm related offenses and violence provides them a large push in the eyes of the society. Even though, their statistics might be a little deceptive, that does not imply they are not right (McCarthy, 2009). A lot of people are dying through gun related offenses – assault type rifles to be specific. The above groups do not want to see criminals own firearms, and their stand is extremely clear. In this instance, these groups have the most convincing, as well as the most common sense of argument. Sportspersons and wildlife interest groups are being targeted daily for God knows what reasons. They die because of the wrongs they walk into innocently (Simmons, 2002). A number a wildlife rangers a killed annually by poachers, who are interested in poaching wild animals. These individuals know best what should be done regarding this law, and how firearms should be controlled. At least their lives will be spared from them on. Also, loosing people from the entertainment industry seems to be the notion of the day. The nation has lost some of its best musicians through guns related offenses. These individuals should also be incorporated in this law in order to give insight on what should be done to avoid such matters (McCarthy, 2009). Analysis In the stir of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, a majority of people in this country are in favor of amending the law, which would prevent the repeat of such an event. What this law would do is remove the worry in innocent Americans about the safety of their lives. Everybody wants to be assured of his/her safety (McCarthy, 2009). Having firearms around the house often bring additional dangers. Homicide and/or suicide are more prone if an individual is depressed or annoyed and there are firearms within their reach. People often hear stories about someone who walked into a residence and took a shot on someone, and the person listening to the story later realizes that they casualty is their offspring or spouse. Cases also flourish when an individual goes to their home, finds their spouse in bed with another person, and shoots both the spouse and the person who was in bed with their spouse. At times the killer might even take away his/her live after killing the other two (McCarthy, 2009). Killing oneself because of inappropriate handling of assault type rifles is a matter that the nation wants to stop. Therefore, this law will see that this matter is eased and the killings are reduced (Simmons, 2002). It will be helpful to our nation, which wants to reduce the number of deaths and crimes related to assault type rifles. Politicians, as well as the ordinary citizens, want to put an end to this recent trend of deaths, as well as school attacks, and this law will assist them. It will work at the implementation stage because this is a matter that people want to see end almost immediately. The bodies that will implement this policy are the police forces and gun licensing bodies. The police forces are supposed enhance the safety of the Americans in order for them not to require guns. Gun licensing bodies, on the other hand, should make is extremely hard for ordinary citizens to acquire firearms in order to improve their safety. Within the first year of the implementation, the government should carry out a survey about how many deaths or criminals offenses are related to the assault type rifles (McCarthy, 2009). Definitely the numbers will have reduced. Therefore, no other law seeks to assist the Americans than this one. References Alpers, P. (2012). Gun control: Change is possible -- and fast. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2012-12-16/opinion/opinion_australia-gun-laws_1_gun-control-gun-buybacks-gun-trade Jones, A. (2013). With new Congress comes a new push for gun laws. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2013-01-05/politics/politics_new-congress-gun-legislation_1_gun-laws-gun-sales-gun-show-loophole Malcolm, J. (2012). Two cautionary tales of gun control. The Wall Street Journal, 4(5), 19-21. McCarthy, E. (2009). The US policy of gun control and the effect it has on its citizens. New York: Oxford University Press. Simmons, R. (2002). Guns and violence. New York: Harvard University Press. Strassel, K. (2013). The real gun-control consensus. The Wall Street Journal, 4(5), 13-15. Read More