How Should the Government Employ the Usage of the Non-Forceful Methods in Fighting Gun-Related Crimes - Essay Example

Gun Control According to Webster and Jon (76), the USA tops the list in households’ gun ownership across the globe leading to the subsequent high numbers of gun related crimes. Criminal justice like prison sentences does not alleviate gun crimes but stringent measures like gun control is the best policy in tackling this demise. In the USA most of the crime-related injuries and deaths are usually caused by gun violence. Currently, the issue of gun ownership and control is the most debated subject in the country. In the year 2010 alone, the UN Drugs and Crime Office recorded that 67% of the US homicides were caused by the use of a firearm. In 2012 FBI statistics showed that a total of 8855 homicides were caused by firearms and from the total, 6371 were committed using handguns. On the contrary, 40% of the deaths were also attributed to gun related suicides. Last year, gun related violence accumulated to 16,829 (Webster and Jon 76). Usually the gun related violence is common in the poor-urban areas and is mostly linked with gang violence. Majority of the violence is frequently caused by the youths commonly attributed by the males. Several legislations have been instituted at the state, federal and the local level in an effort to prevent gun violence. Gun purchasing restrictions, law enforcement systems, prison sentencing, community-outreach and education programs are some of the many measures to prevent guns possession. Gun control and prevention measures minimize the ownership of guns leading to the reduction of gun violence (Webster and Jon 79). Contextualization Over the past decades the common prison sentencing has not yielded much in the prevention of gun related crimes. The crimes continue to happen even with frequent arrests of the criminals due to their easy acquisition of firearms. The main idea is to stop the gun possession at inception in order to prevent gun related crimes in the nation. Hence, among the strategies to be used will be the use of gun control mechanism to prevent crime (Webster and Jon 34). During the 19th century, firearms violence contributed a big part in the civil disorders for example the Haymarket riots. During this period, the gun related homicide rates in the cities were much lower than in the current times. Between the periods of 1980 and 1990, homicides caused by the use of handguns during this period increased significantly while the usage of other weapons declined proportionately. The firearms homicides were mostly associated with the unemployed male persons who had low incomes. The majority of the offenders include the youths and the African American US citizens where the deaths and injuries numbers tripled in the black community. The youths’ gun violence is mostly linked to the usage of drugs especially cocaine during this period. The number of firearm homicides committed in the US is significantly greater than those in the developing nations. However, in the United Kingdom gun related violence is much lower than in the US due to the existence of tougher handguns regulations (Webster and Jon 30). Guns Ownership Findings from the research institutions indicate that numerous US citizens own guns. Like in 2014, there were approximately 500 million gun owners in America where the majority were handguns. Increase in gun purchases has been largely promoted by the sale of guns at the gun shows as well as from the gun vendors. The major factor that has fastened the purchases is because of the possibility that the government may tighten the gun control policy caused by the mass killings in the country (Webster and Jon 101). Personal Protection There is still the debate on the use of guns for personal protection. Research indicates that the frequency of guns being used for personal protection is low per year. This is because the personal guns are frequently involved in criminal offences. During personal protection the usage of firearms were involved in prevention of incidences such as rape, assault, violent crimes and robbery. In the wake of self defense, 71% of those crimes were implemented by strangers, the acquaintances or the people close to the victim. In order to prevent such scenarios where the weapons have fallen in the wrong hands, the government has implemented various gun control measures (Webster and Jon 150). Government Gun Control Policies The government has formulated various public policies in the prevention of gun violence in the country. The gun control measures have attracted political as well social debates in the bid to restrict and prevent the availability of the guns in the country. This is because many states have accepted the usage of the weapons while few states prohibit gun ownership. The Firearm Laws were enacted in order to govern the usage of the guns; in which some of the guns were used for recreational while others were used for their personal protection purposes (Webster and Jon 176). Minimizing Access The US Firearms Law restricts the sale of guns to certain people in the community due to their high chances of misusing the weapons. The US firearm dealers are prohibited from selling the long-guns firearms to under eighteen teenagers and the handguns firearms to the under 21 citizens. This is because they can easily misuse the deadly weapons due to their emotional immaturity. Additionally, the US Law restricts guns to foreigners who live within the country. Reports indicate that the juveniles held at their correctional facilities, majority of them had guns where they acquired at the tender age of fourteen. The juveniles mostly acquired from friends, family, street barons or from the drug dealers (Webster and Jon 121). Child Access Prevention (CAP) Many states enacted the Child Access Prevention laws in which it required the parents to keep the firearms safely. Through safe keeping of the deadly weapons, it prevents accessibility of the guns by the children. The CAP laws provide that the parent would be held liable in case the loaded firearm was stored carelessly and was used by the child. A majority of the states in US consider the violation of the CAP laws as unacceptable. For example in Florida, the violators are charged with felony by the state. The CAP law has the benefit of reducing accidental injuries, especially in the states that prosecuted the violators with felony (Webster and Jon 137). Local Restrictions In some states like the Washington, D.C., it has strict laws regarding the firearms usage. The state has its own Firearm Control Regulations which bans the residents against owning handguns. Further, the firearms that were permitted were supposed to be disassembled and thereafter locked under a trigger-lock. Additionally, there are also other states like the New York which also have strict gun control rules, as a way of preventing gun crimes in the city (Webster and Jon 141). Experimental Design In order to understand the problem more widely, a theoretical approach is however necessary. A theoretical victim criminal approach can be used to provide more insight into the gun control measures and the subsequent influence. Since the universal disarmament can be impractical to implement due to political infeasibilities, a more precise population is however effective. In case there is the hypothetical high increment of the firearms costs; there would be an effect on purchases of the firearms. The costs would be exclusive of high taxes which would not only affect the gun restrictions, but also the time costs in looking for the firearms in the black market. There can also be a prolonged waiting period for the access to firearms, and a thorough background check on the buyer. The government can effect such a rule in order to affect the buyers decisions (Webster and Jon 55). Analysis From the hypothetical implication of highly increasing the costs of firearms, the effect would tremendously reduce the availability of guns in the nation. The firearms being sold at abnormally high prices, will in turn form a government gun control mechanism in preventing the supply of guns. The mechanism will prevent the usage of guns from both the victims as well as the criminals. The victims for instance will stop arming themselves while the criminals will have no money to purchase the weapons. The aftermath will lead to lack of confrontations in times of an attack which would hence prevent fatal gun injuries and deaths. Additionally, through the prolonged waiting period of the buyers, it can lead to lose of hope. Thorough background checks can also put pressure on the buyers and can lead to discontinuations of the gun buying process. The government can engage in other non-forceful gun control measures that gradually facilitate change (Doeden 89). Prevention Measures Gun education and prevention programs have been instituted in many learning institutions and community forums across the nation. The programs have been formulated in order to minimize the forceful sentencing that does not yield much progress, in order to adapt a more friendly approach. These measures focus on changing the parents’ behaviors as well as the children behaviors. The programs encourage the parents to keep their weapons safely and while educating the children on how to control their anger. The programs can be categorized as active or passive according to the level of participation. The passive behavior changing methods require little effort from the individuals while the active require participation like supervision of the children or locking of the guns (Doeden 109). Parents Counseling As a less stressful mode of preventing gun violence, parents counseling assists in the prevention of injuries which was broadly commissioned under the Brady Campaign. Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury Program (STOP) were a move by the nonprofit organization to facilitate gun control. The program also enlightened the parents on the dangers and importance of storing the weapons safely to avoid misuse by the children. The campaigns also incorporated the healthcare providers and communities in order to wholly promote safe usage of the firearms (Doeden 144). Buyback Programs The government can undertake buying of firearms in a bid to minimize firearms in the market. The guns bought can be from the crime scenes, illegally purchased or owned by the citizens. The initiative has been successful through the use monetary rewards to the owners, in return for surrendering the weapons (Doeden 173). Children Gun Safety Programs There have also been prevention programs that are aimed at educating the children against firearms violence. The children occasionally engage in gun crimes due to curiosity, lack of knowledge or because of peer pressure. The safety programs are normally are offered by the shooting clubs and by the firearms dealers; for the purpose of educating adolescents and children on handling of the delicate firearms. The children are taught on the importance of gun avoidance in case of misplacements by the owners. The Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program is predominantly offered to younger children where they are cautioned against gun usage and encouraged to avoid at all costs. The program provides the children with basic knowledge on how to act when they encounter a misplaced firearm (Doeden 201). Community Programs Youths’ gun related violence can also be minimized by the use of community programs for example media campaigns, community revitalization and after school programs for the purpose of reducing gun violence in which the children are occasionally exposed to (Doeden 254). Hotline Initiatives The Center to Prevent Youth Violence provides the youths with safety initiatives on how to handle or prevent gun violence. The youths are educated on how to uphold safety precautions in their learning institutions. Through the use of Speak up initiative, the program has a hot-line number where the students can report gun violence in the school or the community they are in, anonymously. The hot line number is operated in a protocol through the enforcement authorities and the national education. The initiative is facilitated by trained counselors and foreign language translators who collect and report the incidences to the relevant law enforcement authorities or schools (Doeden 109). Conclusion The government should aggressively employ the usage of the non-forceful methods in fighting the gun related crimes. The high increase of the firearms costs and buyback programs; will efficiently reduce the supply of the weapons in the nation. The restrictions of guns ownership and accessibility should be tightened in order to promote sanity and accountability by the owners. Lastly, the guns education programs for both the children and adults should be maintained in order to foster safety and peace within the citizens. Works cited Webster, Daniel W, and Jon S. Vernick. Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Print. Doeden, Matt. Gun Control: Preventing Violence or Crushing Constitutional Rights? Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2011. Print. Read More