Correlation between Ownership Levels of Handgun and the Rates of Victimization - Essay Example

Introduction Most of the European countries have policies that allow gun ownership on an individual basis. There are strict measures in relation to gto gun ownership in countries such as the United stated to prevent misuse of these weapons. Though this is the case, there are still a number of crimes that can be attributed to gun ownership as well as the victimisation by violent crimes. Violent crimes occurring have the chance that they will be more serious in case a gun is involved. This paper criticizes the gun ownership article in view of its analysis of crimes. It reflects the critical analysis of theoretical framework, data analysis and the methodological approach. The point of the study This study seeks to identify the relationship between gun ownership and the crime levels in various countries of the world. The study classifies crime levels as either serious or less serious and this it explores in relation to gun ownership. It can be obviously concluded that gun ownership tends to increase the chances that it will be used inappropriately in some instances and result into more serious crimes as compared to a situation where the guns are not easily available. This paper examines the rates that such incidences have been involved and the seriousness of the crime by using the available data. From this perspective, it is true that crime levels will be serious in instances of gun ownership but this leaves behind the ownership status whether legal or illegal, (Bruce Wilcox, 1998). Gun licenced users need to be assessed their state of mind among other things before they are offered with the right to use such powerful weapons, (Draper,1981). According to Fessenden (2010), the legal side of gun ownership is a veritable snake pit of good and bad where all the gun owners need to take a crash course. This course is intended to reduce the incidences that are associated with gun misuse whether privately or in public places. Hence the various states that allow gun ownership have different laws that need to be adhered to enable minimisation of casualties to gun victims. This research needs to put across the ideology that there is the necessary training when awarding gun ownership licences in its detailed gun ownership concerns. There is a general assumption in this research that guns facilitate the violence witnessed in majority of the crimes reported in the better parts of the European countries. It is the general assumption of this study too that the European countries discussed are having stringent measures to ensure that the guns available to the citizens legally are minimised. For the better part of policy understanding, the measures put in place in assessing whether to issue a gun to an individual are stringent but practically such regulations are sometimes not working. Countries such as Mexico and Brazil are better known for increasing crime levels that the police have not been able to curb probably due to other propelling factors such as drug trafficking. Guns are a measure of self-protection as discussed in this research. This is not true to the extent that the same guns are used for crime purposes. Countries such as Mexico have been categorised as the worst in crime rates that deal with drugs and hence such guns are the main propagators of fatal and serious crimes that are dome intentionally in the name of revenge, (Stanford, Paladin Press and NIMCO, 1997). This brings up the question; is and individual really safe when carrying a gun? To answer this question needs an insight into the root cause of the crime as opposed to allowing citizens to carry guns for their own protection, (Martin, 2012). This research has failed to give criteria of the levels of safety when carrying a gun or when not having a gun for individual safety purposes. The kind of theoretical framework used The paper approaches the study topics from two major approaches to the criminology issue. For instance, some of the secondary data arguments ascertain that the availability of guns facilitates serious violence which is unacceptable. Another argument on the study topic argues that the ownership of guns prevents crime. Thus, the theoretical framework of the article is takes two key dimensions for and against the crime in relationship an increase or decrease of crime. From this standpoint, the possession of a gun can either add to or reduce crime in the given society. The in progression is acquired from both principal and derived foundations of data. The researcher is using the questionnaire to gather information concerning crime and that main source of information is the secondary. In this way, the researcher was able to generate as much information concerning guns and crime. Further, the article revisits the facts on the subjects based on individual and collective data on gun possession and persecution from the worldwide crime sufferer’s survey. The research utilizes the critical epistemological research approach which is principally action focused. The nature of the study objective is to derive a possible solution on the understanding of the relationship between hand guns and level of crime in the target populations. Thus, the critical research was the most appropriate as helps in solving of problems and breakdown defences that may restrict positivist and interpretive approaches. This approach views the human behaviour from the standpoint of the meanings and intentions as well as emphasizes on the peoples actions. The major assumption is that people and organizations have norms and strategies that dictate regular patterns in relation to behaviour and performance (Fikfak, Adam and Garz, 2004). In relation to the research, the critical epistemological view is that information is the consequence of past effort to deal with challenging circumstances. Knowledge is therefore gained by acting on beliefs and this is how we construct our own reality. Critical research does not disconnect hypothesis from practice and experiential theory from normative theory. The epistemological framework fits to the study in that it brings out an analysis of the hand gun ownership across the country as identified in the works of Fikfak, Adam and Garz (2004). In this case, the handgun possession is optimistically related to the grave brutality and less serious aggressive crimes. Furthermore, an analysis of the 26 residential countries shows that a hand gun amplified risk of unfair treatment by violence and crime. The hypothesis of the study is comprehensible and unique at the instigation of the study enquiry. First, the research ensures that the study objectives are clearly outlined at the beginning by indicating that the research intention is evaluating hand gun ownership and its influence on crime. This implies that research mainly concentrates on how people actions in relation to money influence the derivation of both negative and positive impact of handgun possession. The theoretical framework is fit for the research in that it helps cover a large geographical area as necessary to form a reliable opinion on the issues in question (Anfara Mertz, 2006). A small area approach would yield to limited information on the issue and hence no substantial solution to the problem or understanding. Other than overreliance on secondary data sources, the researcher would have combined both primary and secondary data sources to gain even more details information. How appropriate the methodological choices were related to doing the research? The method used is the most appropriate because it gives the researcher a wide range of area from which he/she can explore the study topic. Although the researcher does not disclose the reason behind the use of the method, it is evident that depending on the nature of the research, it is the most crucial method in order to achieve the researches objective. Primarily, the article uses an in depth strategy through which they get information from the participants concerning the study objectives and conclusion. For example, the researcher employs the use of a questionnaire on the participants to gather information. This strategy creates room for the participant to freely express themselves but with restrictions on the need of the question (McNabb, 2002). In addition, the participants are also given the privacy opportunity and hence a room to express themselves in regards to the study issue without the fear of their identity disclosure as the study topic is sensitive. The primary research methodology is the use of questionnaires to gather information from the participants. The researcher uses triangulation in that he/she gather information from three perspective including the local level, national level and international level. This allows for the achievement of the study objective from a wide geographical area that is not limited to a local area or restriction as indicated in Amoretti and Preyer (2011). On a critical analysis of the study findings indicate that the questionnaire method and triangulation approach basically answers the issue in question. To make the method effective, the researcher employed the ethical provisions in the questionnaires and ensured that the privacy of the participants is secured. This build confidence on them and hence they offered the information as required. Generally, the study topic is sensitive and many participants would shun away from participating in the study and hence why the most appropriate method for the study was a questionnaire that promotes privacy and does not disclose the participant. In addition, the online questionnaire ensures that the participants cannot be tracked and that no one can notice their participation in the study. The researcher is primarily an observer in the research process coupled with the cast that he/she analyses the past and the present data on the study topic. The participants primarily offer response to the study questions to which the researcher analysis to make a conclusion on the study topic. The study target population were individual above the required age in which they can own a hand held gun or can make a personal opinion on the issue of hand held guns (Neelankavil, 2007). Thus, the questionnaire applied restrictions to limit the participants to the minimum required age and avoid underage participation. This is based on the fact that the study observed a wide geographical area in the gathering of the study information. There were not ethical or legal complications as this were addressed before the commencement of the research. The researcher ensured the acquisition of the necessary permits from the authorities and addressed confidentiality, disclosure of purpose of research, learning about illicit behaviour on the study questionnaire to boost the participant’s confidence. The method used in the research is reliable because it offered information limited to the study questions and hence eliminated the chances of unnecessary data in the study findings. Effectiveness of data analysis methods In this study, the researcher explores secondary data; and derives this from the International Crime Victims Survey. The survey took a practical approach in the collection of its data using questionnaires that were presented to households’ respondents. This is an effort to reflect the real situation on the ground but on the other hand fails to recognise that the situation might have changed since the research done by the International Crime Victims Survey was concluded. The researcher should have chosen to get the data from the field on his own and get to even capture more data than was captured previously and hence offer more insight to the research. The data presentation has been done in form of simple tables and bar graphs which are pretty easy to read and interpret. It is also easy to do comparisons in this data presentation formats and in the process get an overview of what the specific rates of crime prevail based on country analysis. However, such methods have to be accompanied by other analysis measures such as correlation that the research has been able to explore fully to represent the data. This has been achieved by relating the numbers of handguns in the United States as compared to the rest of Europe. This gives a sign that in the United States the handguns are meant for personal protection more as compared to the propagation of crime. Further critically looking into the research fails to find any information relating to the modes in which the firearms end up in the arms of the crime perpetrators. This would have been a fine angle to get information on the relative ease of acquiring firearms to perpetrate crime within the regions observed. The study looks into data representing the multilevel results on individual and country levels and compares both the male and female sexes in handling guns based on varied reasons. Averagely, it looks like all the gun handlers are in the regions discussed are aware of the varied reasons that make them need the guns: - either for sporting activities such as hunting and to self-protection purposes. The conclusions of the study The study concludes that there is a correlation between the ownership levels of handgun and the rates of victimization in the aspects of contacting crime, gun related threats, assaults and homicide and other gun related issues. Looking at the individual level, the owners of the hand held guns are the most known victims in conducting crimes compared to non hand held gun users. In the situation where hand held gun acquisition is restricted to the age, income, educational level and social status the threat shifts to the people that do not have a capacity to own a gun. They are at a risk of threat from the parties with hand held guns. Further, the study adds that the participants emphasized that the availability of hand held guns in a nations increases the risk of victimization in relation to violence crimes associated with hand held guns. These among other findings clearly indicate that the participants offered reliable information that the researcher critically analyses and offers a substantial conclusion on the subject matter. The conclusion efficiently answers the study questions and objective as well as draws a significant understanding on the users of the study findings. The study findings also offer a reliable conclusion that critically matches with the study objectives to determine the relationship between the hands held guns and the crime levels in the targeted populations. It has thus effectively created necessary tasks to respond to the hypothesis identified at the beginning of the study. This implies that research mainly concentrates on how people actions in relation to money influence the derivation of both negative and positive impact of handgun possession. The theoretical framework is fit for the research in that it helps cover a large geographical area as necessary to form a reliable opinion on the issues in question. References Amoretti, M. C., Preyer, G. 2011. Triangulation: From an epistemological point of view. Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag. Anfara, V. A., Mertz, N. T. 2006. Theoretical frameworks in qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications. Bruce, J. M., and Wilcox, C. 1998,The changing politics of gun control, Lanham, Md,Rowman Littlefield. Draper, T. 1981,The Issue of gun control, New York, H.W. Wilson. Fessenden, D. L. 2010, Defensive handgun skills: The definitive guide for novice to expert, Iola, WI: Gun Digest Books Fikfak, J., Adam, F., Garz, D. 2004. Qualitative Research: Different perspectives, emerging trends. Ljubljana: Inštitut za slovensko narodopisje ZRC SAZU, Založba ZRC. Martin, M. 2012. Concealed carry and home defense fundamentals, Woodbury, Minnesota, Key House Press. McNabb, D. E. 2002. Research methods in public administration and nonprofit management: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. Neelankavil, J. P. 2007. International business research. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. Stanford, A., Paladin Press., and NIMCO (Firm), 1997, Fighting with firearms: Combat handgun, shotgun and rifle skills for the real world, Calhoun, KY, NIMCO, Inc. Read More