Gun Control and Crime Problem in the US - Research Paper Example

Client’s 23 April The purpose of this paper is to shed light upon gun crimes and how the same can be controlled. This paper will also shed light upon some important theories related to Gun crime. “Roughly 16,272 murders were committed in the United States during 2008. Of these, about 10,886 or 67% were committed with firearms.” (Gun Control) Gun violence has become very common these days and it is very important to get hard on gun crimes otherwise the situation will soon get out of hands. It is very important to get tough on gun violence because gun crime has increased at a significant rate in the recent past. People are using guns against each other in the US, hand guns can be found commonly and this is really a bad sign. It is also reported that most murders that take place in the US are carried out with the help of a firearm and in most cases it is a hand gun. “In 2005, 11,346 persons were killed by firearm violence and 477,040 persons were victims of a crime committed with a firearm. Most murders in the United States are committed with firearms, especially handguns.” (Gun Violence) These statistics are very alarming and it is more of a national issue, the recent statistics are even worse. It is really easy to get weapons and especially guns. It is very important to bring about a change and it should be done soon. It is important to ensure that people do not get their hands on these guns easily, it is sure to bring down the crime rate and especially gun violence. There must be stricter laws in place to ensure that people do not get easy access to arms, this is a certain way of bringing down gun violence. Gun control has always been a very debatable and a complex topic, law-abiding citizens are expected to follow the law but these days law has become a donkey on which the rich people ride. In several Asian countries people get away with gun crimes because of their influence and authority, there have been several cases in the US also wherein the guilty have gotten away with heinous crimes. There are many who just cannot handle firearms safely and it is quite obvious that firearms are not meant for those individuals. It is also a fact that firearms can be used for protection and guns can be useful provided they are in the hands of right individuals but it is very difficult to determine who is right and who is not became many a time the so called right people end up doing wrong things. This is exactly why this topic is very debatable and complex. Mental illness is also a very big factor when it comes to gun control, mentally ill people can easily go and purchase guns and run riot in the street, the very same happened in Norway a few months ago, a mentally ill person had easy access to firearms and the same resulted in a massacre. It is extremely important to place restrictions but this is something which is implausible, there are hardly any laws when it comes to purchasing a firearm, yes, one needs a license to obtain it but everyone these days is fully aware of the fact that licenses can easily be obtained by bribing officials and this is especially true in several Asian countries. There is a catch once again, John Hinckley, who tried to assassinate President Reagan had easy access to the firearm which was used to assassinate the President but at the same time a police check was conducted on John Hinckley days before he obtained his firearm and there were no cases of felony found and hence, he was given the firearm. John Hinckley was obsessed about Jodie Foster but he was not mentally ill, he tried to impress Jodie Foster by trying to assassinate the President, this was a very unique case and thankfully all the people involved in this bizarre case came out unscathed. The Brady Bill was passed in the US after the John Hinckley incident; this bill is greatly effective when it comes to avoiding crimes of passion. Crimes of passion are avoided because police usually conduct a five-day background check and this helps cool off any animosity towards a person. There is a catch yet again, in states like Virginia crimes of passion usually occur because the police conduct an instant background check and the results are determined within a day which means a person who applies for a firearm can get it within a day and this complicates things even further. There should be uniformity in law and it should not waver from state to state, this wavering in law has made things very difficult. “Marine Cpl. Rayna Ross of Woodbridge, Virginia, might be dead if a waiting period had been in effect. Instead, the instant check system in place in that state allowed her to defend her life against a former boyfriend three days after she purchased a pistol. The man, a Marine under orders to stay away from Ross because of previous assaults and threats, broke through a door and rushed into her bedroom with a bayonet. Ross fired twice, mortally wounding him. The shooting was ruled to be a case of self-defense” (Armed Citizen) Gun crime can be prevented should there be punitive laws in place to punish the guilty but the laws are perhaps weak and this is why gun crime incidents dominate the headlines in several leading newspapers almost every day. “The Brady Bill and the "Assault Weapon" ban in last years Crime Bill are examples of bad legislation, but some good firearms-related legislation was also passed last year. The Arizona Legislature recognized the benefits of firearms to our society and passed a law which enables many Arizona residents to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. There are restrictions in place to ensure that only responsible citizens are issued a permit. These restrictions cover age, criminal record, and mental competency.” (Korwin, Alan) To conclude it is very fair to say that firearms in the right hands can save lives but several lives are taken away each day when the same firearms are used by people who are incapable of handling them. Theories Biological theories: Violence in our society has grown significantly in the last decade and this is a very alarming situation for everyone. Violence is prevalent in almost each and every country, there are steps that are being taken to counter this menace but these steps have not been good enough to stop goons from doing what they best at doing. There are many people who are impulsive and do not think about the consequences of their actions and such people are very vulnerable, they become vulnerable because their impatience can ruin their life. It may be because of their hormones and their genetic makeup that they act in such a way, it is also about how they have been brought up. Bringing up plays a pivotal role in the life of an individual, people who have been brought up well by their parents usually think about the consequences of their actions and this is really important. Anyone who has money and a clean track record can buy a firearm and with the help of it can kill a person, there are many who think that this is bravery but it is not bravery, it is tomfoolery and absolutely nothing else. It is also possible for people to kill others in a fit of rage, biological theories are crucial here. Many people do not know how to control their anger and how to deal with it, those who know how to deal with their anger make fewer mistakes in life. The motive behind buying a gun is also important, many buy a gun for self defense but there are some others who buy it to harm others and most often than not end up killing others and also end up landing themselves in a lot of trouble. Psychological Theories: ID, Ego and Superego are terms coined by the great psychologist Sigmund Freud. He made significant progress in the field of psychology, his daughter Anna Freud followed in the footsteps of her father and carried on the great work. All human beings have aggression in them but some people are more aggressive than the others, Civilization dwells deep into aggression and why human beings get aggressive. Sigmund Freud has given logical explanations which sound really convincing to the readers. There are set laws in almost all the countries and this helps in keeping the aggressive people at bay. The most aggressive people tame their aggression when they think about the laws according to Freud. According to Freud the most important reason of aggression is unhappiness, an unhappy person reacts differently in most circumstances when compared to a happy person and this is very true and easy to understand. Unhappiness is also the root cause of several other problems; depression is directly related to unhappiness. People who become depressed often give up hope and try to inflict pain upon themselves, all this happens because they feel there is no place for them in the society. Psychological counseling comes into play here, the psychologist tries to explain to the victim the importance of their life and the ones closely related to him. According to Freud aggression also results from a very burdensome guilt, for instance a person who has committed a murder and is on the run would inevitably be more aggressive than a normal person because the burdensome sense of guilt will chase the accused everyday an make their life miserable. The other reason which triggers of bursts of aggression is psychological neurosis which means problems in the nerves. Some people are more mentally stable than the others and the ones who are mentally stable act appropriately even in the most difficult of all circumstances, on the other hand the people who are unstable act as they like and do not care about what the other people may think about their behavior. The disintegration of society is the result of over aggression; people get together and embark on an ambitious journey to rebel against a behemoth and this is when the disintegration of the society begins. Freud also talks about the role of aggression in Eros and Thanatos, Eros refers to life and Thanatos refers to death drive. Freud talks about how we have a drive for death; this is why some bike riders especially the youths go at top speed. They do it because of the death drive and the aggression in them. “Freud argues that civilization is intrinsically inimical to human happiness. The process of "civilizing" the human being involves stifling many of the sexual impulses that lead most directly to pleasure. Freud also notes that participation in civilized life entails the renunciation of ones aggressive impulses. Thus, to be civilized we must do without the two strongest claims to our instincts, sex and violence.” (Civilization and its Discontents Theme) To conclude it is very fair to say that aggression plays a key role in the life of everyone, a person can make a grave mistake should he act aggressively where it is not at all required. On the other hand a chaotic situation can easily be avoided if a person decides not to act aggressively. Eros and Thanatos are also linked with aggression, the death drive forces people to do unprecedented things. Aggression mainly stems from unhappiness; people who are unhappy with their lives tend to be more aggressive than the ones who are happy with their lives. Sense of guilt is also more than capable of causing people to be really aggressive; people also tend to be really aggressive when there is a problem with their psychological neurosis. “Individuals have consequently begun to rebel against civilization with an aggression that exceeds the level of aggression originally suppressed, threatening the disintegration of society.” (Civilization and its Discontents Theme) It is very important to be levelheaded and not to make rash decisions in life. An aggressive person is likely to make more mistakes than a less aggressive person and this is why it is always good to be sensible and a little less aggressive than the others so as to avoid making grave mistakes in life. Rational Choice Theory: There are many who are incapable of making rational decisions and some even try their best to extract revenge because of their vindictive and irrational nature and this leads to a lot of trouble. Being rational in life is extremely important for everyone but there are many people who are simply incapable of thinking rationally and end up committing crimes. Several gun crimes are often committed by people who are irrational and think that revenge is a dish best served cold. Works Cited "Armed Citizen." American Rifleman October 1993: 8.  Civilization and its Discontents Theme (2012). Civilization and Happiness. Web. Retrieved from: Gun Violence (2012). How Prevalent is Gun Violence? Web. Retrieved from: Gun Control (2012). Crime and Self-defense. Web. Retrieved from: Korwin, Alan. The Arizona Gun Owners Guide. Phoenix: Bloomfield Press, 1994.  Read More