Gun Control and Crime in the USA - Essay Example

Gun Control and Crime in US An Analytical Report Contents of the Report Introduction: Need for gun Crime History in United States: Gun Laws Case Study: Hindering Crime or Causing Havoc Suggestions for better Future Conclusion References Introduction: Need for gun We are living in a time where comforts and technological advancements come with exceptions. On one side of our living where earning is becoming simpler, new inventions and technologies are making our lives better, we need to understand the fact that there are certain elements in society that cause havoc for our living. These elements none other than humans try to impose their domination over the weak. It should not be very surprising that to satisfy the personal desires, people can fall to the deepest zero possible. Murders, rapes, homicides, burglary, scams, scandals and what not, crime has become a common place in now a day society. Having the knowledge of these issues, there seems a necessity for self-defense. There are Government bodies to help and assist at times of need. However, at that instance it is people, who need to take care of themselves. This was the reason for giving license to self defense gadgets. The Government bodies with intention to increase security and reduce crime rate started giving licenses to these gadgets, guns in particular. However, this decision should be critically examined. It is important to understand if guns for personal security have really decreased crime or have become a catalyst for crimes. This article critically examines the gun laws in the United States. It also addresses the issue whether guns have increased or decreased crime rate in United States. It focuses on some key events that urge changes to be made for future. A case study for the same is given. The later part of the article throws light on the possible alternates and suggestions to be incorporated to reduce crime, that is, gun control to reduce crime. The article tries to analyze the relation between gun control and crime in The United States and gives a possible solution for this situation. Crime History in United States: Gun Laws Crime in United States is closely associated to gun violence and homicides. Crime rate is generally measured by the number of crimes reported per 100,000 people. (US justice stats, 2006) Crime rates have seen a sharp rise from the late 1960's.However recently the crime rate in United States is steady. A study revealed that the crime rate of United States as of 2005 is around 3991 per 100,000 residents. (US justice stats, 2006) Violent crimes in United States are much higher than other countries. Minorities, young and financially less favorable positioned are known to commit crimes. 6 out of the 17 known homicides in California in 2005 are by the poor. Around 35.3% of homicides took place here. (US justice stats, 2006) The year 2005 has recorded to be the safest in the past thirty years in United States history. Nearly 49% of murder victims were African Americans in 2005. It was recorded that 79% of murder victims throughout were males. (US justice stats, 2006) Gun laws in United States are independent to every state. There are a few state level bans for guns like shot guns and rifles. License holders have permits and only a few states allow for an Inter state permit. Alabama does not address the issue of carry permits where as Alaska does give a provision for it (Kasler, 2000). California has the strictest laws in United States that bans guns that have a thumb hole stack, a flash suppressor etc (Harrott, 2001). Almost 60% of states have the carry permit law and others excepting a few have very convenient licensing strategies that can be misused. Case Study: Hindering Crime or Causing Havoc Guns were given to people in order to facilitate self-protection that is defense against anyone who attacks them. This was supposed to ensure safety to life and hindrance to crime. However the Million dollar question is the effectiveness of this act. The free hand given to people to have these gadgets was a big disaster. People started to misuse this. This led to an exponential rise of anti-social activities in all parts of United States of America. The well intended thought of hindering crime has become a cause for havoc in practice. The crime rate has been increasing and this rate is much more when compared with other developed countries. This is one of the issues that are weakening the strength of United States in the World. The violence story with guns in United States has a very long history. The assassination of the former presidents of the United States like Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy are a few to name (Krug, 1998). The instances like the Virginia Tech massacre, Columbine high school massacre, University of Texas shooting and Red Lake high school massacre caused terror and can be regarded as some of the most deadly situations in the recent United States history. Virginia Tech massacre was such an incident that the United States is not able to totally cope up till date. This disaster pointed the pinching need for gun control in the United States. On April 16, 2007 thirty two people were killed and twenty five people were injured by a student of Virginia Tech, Seung Hui Cho who later committed suicide making the total number of deaths to thirty three. The perpetrator was a mentally ill person who was successful to own a Glock 19 and Walther P22. (vt.edu, 2007) It is estimated that he fired around 170 bullets that too hallow bullets which would hurt more. This clearly indicates the lack of proper gun laws and the ill effect due to easy availability of guns to the citizens. When a mentally ill person could cause such a terror, it becomes hard to imagine a scenario the other way. This scenario is quite possible if the reforms in the gun control laws are not looked into. Other incidents also high light the same need. Let it be the case of Columbine high school massacre or the University of Texas at Austin shooting have resulted in loss of thirteen lives each and each incident had many wounded victims. (Cook, 2006) There are many painful instances similar to these that is, school shooting and if all the situations of misuse of gun are consolidated the statistics become unacceptable. Suggestions for better Future From the above discussion, we come to a state where the need to stop the usage of gun as well to possess a gun are co-existing. The need to stop the usage of gun can be clearly understood from the Virginia Tech massacre and the need to possess a gun is strengthened seeing the crime history of the United States mentioned earlier in the article. Now, seeking a better approach to have a crime free United States would be ideal medicine for the situation. If we stop centering the problem to the possession of gun, we can have a solution to the problem of curbing crime. Let us hence center the problem to the "cause for which the gun is being used". It would be a better criterion to answer to the current situation and enhance peace in the United States. A few interesting facts about possessing guns are mentioned below. A twelve year old can have a rifle or a shotgun in North Carolina. (Alan, 1995) There is no minimum age to possess a gun in five states of the United States. Even Texas does not have one. (Alan, 1995) There is no need for registration or license to buy a gun in forty three states of United States. It is pretty similar to buying a chocolate. There is no limit on the number of guns a person can have in forty six states and in other four states one hand gun can only be taken in a month. Both of which are equally annoying. (Alan, 1995) After considering the above statistics, the need to have gun control looks alarming. The number of homicides and suicides are another worrying factor. Now that when we understand gun control is a compulsion, two questions are important to consider. 1. Who should be given a gun 2. What should be the licensing strategies to allot guns A Strategy mentioned below can answer to the above posed questions. Categorization of people based on their threat of encountering an attack could be a possible solution. Categorization can happen in the following manner. Category I - Probability of encountering an attack is high. Category II - Probability of encountering an attack is medium. Category III - Probability of encountering an attack is low or nil. The gun laws for each category are different. These laws could be made uniform to all the states in United States without any exceptions. However an encouraging sign is that a few states have laid restrictions on gun control and are strictly being followed. This indicates that people here abide by these rules and are following them. Hence, we can be assured that these laws would be accepted. Prohibition of the usage of gun is to be levied on the category III people who are mostly civilians. The people belonging to the category II should be encouraged to have private security rather than owning guns. Category I people can have gun but only a piece each that too after satisfying some important criteria some of which are discussed in later part of the article. From the first look it might look very vague but it is essential to curb crime which is the present requisite of the United States. Category III people are not allowed to handle guns or own guns but their protection is an equally important issue. So, in order to protect them a special department formed by civilians themselves can be made. This body is responsible for public safety and a part of tax paid by the people to state can be converted as salaries to this body. Not only that this curbs the crime rate but it also improves the employment chances. People in this body can be nominated and controlled by the US police department. The only duty of this body would be to patrol and protect the category III. Handsome salaries would attract people to join this new department. The idea behind encouraging this is very simple. It is always better that civilians protect civilians and reduce the time needed by the police to come to rescue. The cause is met in a more efficient and idealistic manner. Category II people can have private security in addition to the force mentioned earlier. Category I people can have a gun but they should satisfy the following requirements. Only one gun would be given. Registration or license is a compulsion. Guns that injure a person by releasing gas (not causing death) that could make the convict unconscious should be given. A thorough medical check up to assess the person's mental status needs to be performed to provide them with the license. The license should be renewed at regular intervals of time and similar medical check ups would be conducted to renew the license. An enquiry should be conducted to know whether the reasons stated by the person are true and how far the person's need to have a gun is justified. Shotguns as well as rifles should be banned for everyone. Gun should not be carried to public places. No permissions would be given to carry it. Apart from the categorization of people mentioned above, a more suitable solution that does not need much of changes to the existing system could be to replace the guns that swallow human life with guns that can release poisonous gas or a bullet that can inject itself into human body and make them unconscious. Gun manufacturing units should change their assembly lines to facilitate the production of this kind of gadgets. This kind of replacement is possible as we cannot reject the thought that self defense is not essential. Added to this gun should not be a toy. Only responsible people who understand the importance of life need to handle this gadget. Conclusion With the study above it is very clear that existing guns laws are doing no good and there is an ambulance situation to have reforms made. In my opinion, these types of drastic reforms in the gun laws are needed in order to have the crime rate reduced. These reforms have the potential to bring down the number of homicides and suicides in United States, changing the face of their crime history. The Government should also encourage programmes that would increase the feeling of fraternity among the citizens. These are becoming inevitable as people are not realizing the minutest fact that life is the most valuable gift given by God and divinity lies in protecting this precious gift of others and not in destroying it. The media should also look forward to start spreading the cautiousness among people. Movies are a huge influence on the youth and most of the youngsters tend to imitate characters shown in the movies. Hence, movie makers should keep this aspect in mind when they make a movie. Civilians should take active participation in forming these self protection bodies that are mentioned in the article above. Success of these things depends on the people's participation. All said and done Crime is not something that can be checked by imposing stringent laws on people. Awareness in the society is very important. Helping nature should be inculcated in people. The feeling of brotherhood, mutual help and love are something that can reduce crime. It is always better to find the root cause of the problem and kill it than going for symptom based treatment. References 1. Kasler v. Lockyer, Cal.4th (2000) Alabama Reciprocal Pistol Permit (Concealed Carry) Agreements 2. Harrott v. County of Kings, California Supreme Court (2001), California Code of Regulations, Title 11, Division 1, Chapter 12.9 3. Violent Crime since 1993, US Department of Justice, 2006 4. Krug, E.G, K.E. Powell, L.L. Dahlberg (1998). "Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle income countries". International Journal of Epidemiology 7: pp. 214-221. 5. Virginia Tech homepage. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (April 17, 2007). Found at: www.vt.edu 6. Bjerregaard, Beth, Alan J. Lizotte (1995). "Gun Ownership and Gang Membership". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 86(1): pp. 37-58. 7. Cook, Philip J., Jens Ludwig (2000). "Chapter 2", Gun Violence: The Real Costs. Oxford University Press. 8. Crime rates 1960 to 2004, 2006 US Bureau of Justice Statistics. Read More