Progress in Communication Facilitated Criminals in a Way that is Astounding for Them - Research Paper Example

Introduction What with the modern technological advances and myriad conveniently used equipments like mobile phones, handheld transceivers, and sound-proof weapons, the devil of crime has undoubtedly changed into a highly elusive and stubborn sort of a creature in the present times especially. It has never been so tediously hard and sometimes even impossible to track down the most notorious criminals as it is presently because of the phenomenal progress in communication that has facilitated many criminals in a way that is astounding for them, harassing for the innocent people, and extremely worrisome for the law enforcement agencies. These contradictory demands of convenience and crime originating from the technological advances has in fact resulted into a catch-22, since the world cannot do without technology now and crime has also spurted from the excessive reliance on technology. Many societal structures around the globe are getting adversely affected by the exponential growth of the crime rate. Crime control is associated with shooting down the notorious criminals through implementing various complex strategies and ensuring safety for the human rights and public freedom. Efforts to be made to control crime This is the general consensus among all the eminent criminologists that intent and opportunity are the two major drivers of crime. If a person who shows tendency towards any criminal act is deprived of a convenient opportunity to act upon his/her bad intentions, crime would not occur in the first place. This means that crime can be effectively controlled if the most common opportunities favored by the criminals are scrutinized, and then different policies are implemented to avoid a lot of trouble. (Omoyibo, Atere, Adegoke, & Yesufu, 2010) Gun control policy According to Spitzer (1995, p. 1), gun control refers to the safety norms and issues associated with the use of firearms. This ideology is based on the concept of various liabilities, rules, regulations, and restrictions for the use, ownership, and distribution of the weapons. Many times, crime is aggravated by those people who defend their gun ownership as means of resisting violence and ensuring safety. Various efforts to regulate the guns distribution and sales come under the heading of gun control policy. The power to enforce gun control policy is practiced in many countries these days. This happens for a number of reasons, the most important of which is domestic violence. This is a reality that those people who possess guns for safety reasons apparently are more likely to engage in violence then those who think that the presence of guns at homes is highly predictive of criminal acts. Gun control legislations prohibit the private possession of fire arms and see this tendency of the general populace towards weapons as an absolute pointless behavior that is reflective of psychological satisfaction in some cases, but potently capable of domestic violence and illicit smuggling. Gun possession increases the violence risks Civil liberties are obviously somewhat threatened by such an absolute ban on the public possession of handguns, but the myriad benefits offered by such restrictive laws are so astounding that they outweigh the civil libertarian costs making them literally nonexistent. (Drinan, 1976, pp. 44-59). It is suggested by Drinan (1976) that the handgun prohibition effectively prevents the purchase of harmful weapons by mental incompetents, suicidal people, and notorious felons who are neither capable nor qualified for owning a weapon, let alone purchasing them for distribution purpose. In an article by Cliffs Notes (2010), the many positive results offered by gun control policy are emphasized and reasons are explained like why such gun control laws should be exercised everywhere. It is identified that gun control is a hotly debated topic presently between those who favor the rigid control of guns and those who prefer no gun regulation due to multiple personal reasons. Whatsoever reason is mentioned by the advocates for gun rights, this remains a firm reality that most of the suicides involving youths are committed with handguns. “Homicide is the second leading cause of death for youths 10–19 years old. Daily, 13 children under the age of 19 are killed by gunfire and more are injured.” (Cliffs Notes, 2010). Aims and impact of the gun control laws In a survey conducted by Lott (xxxx, p. 34-35), it was concluded that the gun control laws have either huge or minimal impact on the public. But, saying that such legislations have absolutely no impact on the people would be a false statement. The number of people supporting rigid gun control greatly exceeded the number of people supporting less forceful laws. Brent (2006) also favors the gun control policy by saying that incidents of violent crimes are drastically reduced by the gun control laws, because they decrease the widespread prevalence of guns. Critics claim that reduced weapon circulation in the society is reflective of decreased criminal tendency in the people, so the easy and cheap availability of guns should be taken into consideration by the Government. It is mentioned by Brent (2006) that gun control laws have basically three goals to achieve. They restrict the certain types of firearms that may be purchased, scrutinize the mental state and qualifications of those who are willing to purchase firearms, and ensure that firearms are used and handled safely. Arguments against the gun control policy Chung (1994) argues against the gun control policy by saying that the waiting period enforced by the Government before the purchase of guns is used to check the background of the person like if he/she has been convicted of felony in the past. This poses little harm for the real criminals who know better than buying weapons legitimately like getting guns from the black market, if they have to go through such background searches. Hence, the gun control policy and the waiting periods for gun purchases are not so effective in reducing violent crime and rectifying the root cause of the problem. This is true that many people start using weapons illegally once they possess them and even kill sometimes without proper justification, but that does not mean that the guns should be absolutely prohibited in the society. Rather, ever person purchasing a gun should have his entire family go through the gun education and acknowledge the safety measures. According to a research study by American Medical Association (cited in Blanks, 2010), all the claims of reduced crime because of gun control held by prestigious gun control groups like Handgun Control, Inc. are absolute myths, since the rate of crime began to fall down three years before the gun control law called Brady Law was enforced in 1994. Also, there occurred no significant increase in the crime reduction rate after the gun control law enforcement. This shows that gun control has no prominent impact on murder or suicide rates and it is not capable of reducing the crime rates. Stossal (2007) also mentions that after the 1997 shooting incident that occurred in England, one of the world’s strictest gun control laws was enforced there that prohibited the people from owning any type of handgun. Still, research studies indicate that even that law has not managed in decreasing the rate of gun-related crime, rather it has doubled in the UK since the ban was enforced. This result shows that crime control laws like gun control policy do not heavily affect the real criminals, because they will never abide by the law. Such laws, however, only affect the innocent people who have no criminal intentions. Kleck (2005, p. 354) presents his viewpoint against gun control by saying that while the New York Law requires every citizen to get a license for gun purchase, it certainly reduced gun carrying but had no conspicuous impact on crime in the start when the law was first enacted. The increasingly strict gun control laws also pose real problems for the innocent citizens who intend to possess guns for safety reasons. This is because the extra expensive permits for gun possession are not in reach of every citizen and this strategy renders the deserving people absolutely defenseless against their foes. Another argument against gun control is identified by Tonso (cited in Kleck, 2005, p. 377), who claims that the concept of gun control is fraught with racial discrimination. It is said that most of the gun control laws are merely exercised to keep a check on black people and creating problems for them, rather than equally treating people from every racial background. Gun control laws are not purely enacted to reduce crime, rather they are used to control blacks and other minorities. Conclusion Summing up, this much becomes clear from the above discussion that many criminal cases happening every other day like kidnapping, drug trafficking, terrorism, and smuggling are reflective of the pandemonium caused by poor crime control. In an effort to decrease the crime rate even by some degrees, gun control should be exercised everywhere. But, this should not be considered the only solution for the increasing criminal activities. The real strategy is to implement the gun control policy along with keeping a heavy check on the black markets, which are most commonly sought by the real criminals when they cannot purchase weapons legally. References Blanks, J. D. (2010). Does Gun Control Equal Crime Control? Retrieved from http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=409 Brent, W. (2006). DOES GUN CONTROL REDUCE CRIME OR DOES CRIME INCREASE GUN CONTROL? Retrieved from http://www.allbusiness.com/management/3586665-1.html Chung, M. K. (1994). Gun Control Legislation Ineffective In Reducing Crime. The Tech, 114. Retrieved from http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N1/chung.01o.html CliffsNotes.com. (2010). Does Gun Control Reduce Crime? Retrieved from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-10065,articleId-9923.html. Drinan, R. F. (1976). Gun Control: The Good Outweighs the Evil. Civil. Liberties Review, 3, 44-59. Kleck, G. (2005). Point blank: Guns and violence in America. USA: Transaction Publishers. Lott, J. R. (2003). The bias against guns: why almost everything you've heard about gun control is wrong. US: Regnery Publishing. Omoyibo, K. U., Atere, M. A., Adegoke, T. A., & Yesufu, A. R. (2010). CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN CRIMINOLOGY AND SECURITY STUDIES. Retrieved from http://www.nou.edu.ng/noun/NOUN_OCL/pdf/pdf2/CSS657.pdf Spitzer, R. J. (1995). The Politics of Gun Control. Chatham House Publishers, Inc. Stossel, J. (2007, April 26). Gun Control Isn't Crime Control. Abc News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3083618&page=1 Read More