Gun Control Synthesis and Paraphrase - Research Paper Example

Gun Control-Synthesis and Paraphrase Gun Control-Synthesis The American culture has always promoted gun use. This can be seen from the media and the movies and the influence that these mediums have on society. Young children and adults are increasingly finding themselves in situations where they need to actually use the gun in order to survive. This is a dangerous practise because most of the people who brandish these weapons do not actually know how to use them; they depend on information they get from the media, the movies and their peers on how to use the same.

(Lott, 1998)Through the media, the public gets to know how to act whenever they are confronted by a gun wielding individual. A recent Los Angeles Times article stated ‘active compliance’ is the surest way to survive a robbery. “Victims who engage in active resistance.have the best odds of hanging on to their property. Unfortunately, they also have much better odds of winding up dead." The data provided from 1979 to 1987 by the Department of Justices National Crime Victimization Survey, Lawrence Southwick of SUNY, Buffalo found that it is better to resist attack with a gun but if no gun is available, it is better to offer no resistance than to fight.

(Press, 2013)It is a different issue altogether when it involves criminals with guns. This is because it is assumed that criminals shoot haphazardly. Criminals are seen to be about self preservation thus making possession of a handgun to be less than likely. Further, convicted felons are more afraid of armed victims than running into the police. In such situations where deterrence is more important to the criminal because of the fear of getting shot, the criminals prey on the weaker members of society.

This is known as the ‘substitute effect.’ ‘Third party effects’ or ‘external benefits’ is the process through which people who are not directly involved in deterring the criminals through gun carrying are also protected as a result of the fearfulness of the criminals. Victims have also not been left behind with the ‘open-carry’ gun law. (Krouse, 2012)The question now arises; why would someone travel across state lines to shoot another in a different state after buying the gun in a different state?

Is it the policies that are in place that are wrong? (Lott, 1998)According to The Numbers Debate and Crime, there are a lot of misconceptions that are being thrown around as causes of gun related fatalities, key among them being that most people are killed by people they know. This is a misconception because being someone’s acquaintance does not necessarily mean you know them on a personal level. In most cases, these fatalities are gang related. According to the Chicago Police Department, 5% of all murders in the city were committed by non family members, i.e. people who did not know each other on a personal level.

(Morgan O. Reynolds, 1992)Characteristics of Criminals.They tend to have low IQAtypical personalities (assertive, unafraid, aggressive)Impulsive Role of the mediaThe media have a huge role to play because the public gets their daily information from them as relates to news around the world and this shapes our ideals and thinking. They should always try avoiding sensationalizing issues so that at all times they maintain peace and tranquillity within the populous. The focussed reporting on other issues at the expense of others creates the impression that the thing that is being most reported on is happening more frequently than the thing that is not getting media coverage.

This can be seen to apply to what we perceive as causes of death including but not limited to handguns, motor vehicle accidents, drowning, overdosing on drugs and burning up. (House, 2013)The law as it is is very different from the law as it is actually applied. This can be seen from the gun laws that have come up, all claiming that guns are the number one cause of death in the country. On application of these laws, people are still dying at a high rate. The laws create an avenue for illegal arms trade which is more dangerous as compared to the regulated gun trade.

What needs to be addressed is how a law banning guns would alter the balance of power between law abiding citizens who acquire the guns lawfully and criminals who acquire the guns illegally. (Krouse, 2012)Philip Cook, an economist at Duke University, argues that "if you introduce a gun into a violent encounter, it increases the chance that someone will die." He states this while realizing that accidents do occur and the presence of a firearm makes the occurrence of a fatality more probable. He also states that the U.S. Department of Justices National Crime Victimization Survey reports that each year there are "only" 108,000 defensive uses of guns during assaults, robberies, and household burglaries.

These polls seem to be partisan to particular interests because other polls come up showing the contrary. Fifteen national polls, including those by organizations such as the Los Angeles Times, Gallup, and Peter Hart Research Associates, imply that there are 760,000 to 3.6 million defensive uses of guns per year. Yet even if these estimates are wrong by a very large factor, they still suggest that defensive gun use is extremely common.  (Press, 2013)During state legislative hearings on concealed-handgun laws, there was a concern that letting citizens bear firearms would not be progressive as they may turn to the said firearms in moments of anger of everyday life.

These fears have proved to be unfounded because there exists only one recorded incident of a permitted, concealed handgun being used in a shooting following a traffic accident, and that involved self-defence. No permit holder has ever shot a police officer, and there have been cases where permit holders have used their guns to save officers lives. (Krouse, 2012)The law does not provide for firearms as self protection mechanisms. For most people, their security is the reason they advocate for the right to bear firearms.

Illinois State Representative Terry Deering (Democrat) noted that "we live in areas where if we have a state trooper on duty at any given time in a whole county, we feel very fortunate." These are double standards being employed, trading in the lives of people because they do not have enough money or they are not important enough to society. Bill Cosby, Cybill Shepherd, Laurence Rockefeller and Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell are but some of the few people who have been given gun permits while citing security for their money as the reason as to why they need protection.

How did money supersede the life of a human being in the hierarchy of needs? (Lott, 1998)Gun Control-ParaphraseIn cases involving gun control, the facts have to be true because this is a very emotive subject. Individuals have to refrain from substitutability. In the case of the shooting at the Empire State Building where one person died and six were injured, the question to be asked was why the shooter travelled across state lines to New York from Florida and how can we ensure it never happens again, and not accusations and counter accusations involving the Florida and New York State Departments.

(Investigation, FBI Uniform Crime Reports) Discussions on whether states can adopt concealed handgun laws are essential but there is always the risk that the population of these states will substitute bombings for shootings. The lawmakers must approach this issue with a sober mind and not try to serve selfish interests so as to prevent anarchy. It all comes down to the laws and policies that should be legislated upon and regulated so as to ensure that the maximum number of lives is saved. (Morgan O.

Reynolds, 1992)According to the FBIs Uniform Crime Reports, most murders are committed by people one knows. They use a very broad category to classify who knows who, not realizing that most people are acquaintances, and classifying them as knowing each other in itself skews the results as these people who know each other include rival gang members. On the other hand, The Chicago Police Department states that people who commit these murders in the city from 1990 to 1995 were nonfamily friends, neighbours, or roommates.

These two conflicting analysis are both produced by police forces. It is up to you as a citizen to inquire into the truth of the reports while seeking to analyze the truth as it is on the ground. This is because the most obvious explanations may not always be correct. (Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Hand Book, 2004)ReferenceHouse, T. W. (2013). Now is the time: The President’s plan to protect our children and our communities by reducing gun violence. Washington: The White House.Investigation, F. B. (2004).

Uniform Crime Reporting Hand Book. Clarksburg: U.S. Department of Justice.Investigation, F. B. (n.d.). FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Retrieved March 14, 2013, from Investigative Reporters and Editors: http://www.ire.org/nicar/database-library/databases/fbi-uniform-crime-reports/Krouse, W. J. (2012). Gun Control Legislation. Washington: Congress.Lott, M. (1998). More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Morgan O. Reynolds, W. C. (1992). Myths about Gun Control.

Texas: National Centre for Policy Analysis.Press, T. P. (2013). Gun Rights Proponents More Politically Active. Washington: www.peoplepress.org