Gun Control in the US - Case Study Example

Gun Control in the U.S Introduction 2. Body a. Pros of gun ownership i. Self-defense ii. Decrease in crime iii. Human factor b. Cons of gun ownership i. Very few Americans are deprived of permission to carry the gun. ii. Despite the prohibition to own a gun for teens under 18, they can get guns from their parents or illegal dealers. iii. Gun ownership by adolescents leads to mass shootings and suicides. iv. One of the factors influencing adolescents’ gun misuse is domestic violence. v. Widespread gun ownership has become a source of fear for the U.S. c. Governmental attempts to improve gun control i. Gun Violence Task Force was established to handle the issue. ii. The new legislation package caused much debate in Congress. 3. Conclusion a. Gun ownership remains an issue of cotroversy b. Gun control policy should be improved to insure safety for American citizens. c. The improvement should be made from the inside, through the level of mental health care and cultural education, rather than through mere prohibitions. Introduction The issue of gun control in the U.S. has always been relevant because of the government’s initially tolerant policy regarding weapon ownership. The right to carry arms was originally entrenched in 1791’s Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (Congressional Digest). Moreover, this right was initially intended to insure safety and protection for citizens, but in the course of time, it turned into a threat, and American government seems to be unable to fully control gun ownership, legal and illegal sale and abuse. Thus, according to Congressional Digest, there «has been ongoing tension between the right of an individual to own and use firearms and the responsibility of government to prevent crime». While the initial intention of mass gun possession was prevention of crimes and lowering the level of risk both for gun owners and non-owners (Cook& Ludwig), in reality it has increased risks of gun misuse. Advantages and disadvantages of gun ownership/control were laid in the basis of mass nationwide debate. Pros of gun ownership As far as gun ownership was entrenched in the constitution as one of the fundamental rights, motivated by the need for equal opportunities of self-defense for all U.S. citizens, this remains the main advantage of legalized gun ownership and – at the same time – the main argument against stricter gun control laws. Permission to own a firearm gives law-abiding citizens an opportunity protect themselves against crime and predation, while ban on gun ownership would deprive them of protection leaving them at the mercy of criminals, who will still be able to find illegal guns. Moreover, right for self-defense becomes crucial as police forces prove to fail in preventing all the crimes; therefore, there is a great chance that police will be unable to prevent assault or murder, if the potential victim him/herself has no means of protection, i.e. firearm. Another positive aspect of gun ownership in the U.S. implies that, with legal permission to carry guns, crime rates are likely to decrease. With the new legislations of the early 1990’s, crime rates went down, whereas the considerable increase in privately owned guns was observed. Particularly, there was a decrease in the nationwide murder rate and overall crime rate. Finally, as practice shows, level of violence doesn’t directly depend on gun control policy and number of guns owned privately, as the human factor weighs much in this respect. Finally, people kill other people, not firearms; therefore, banning gun ownership or restricting it to minimum wouldn’t act as a deterrent for crime; instead, ban would spark boom in illegal firearms trade and spreading, which would result in even higher criminal activity. On the other hand, guns owned by people who have passed a thorough background check is believed to provide safety for households. Cons of gun ownership As far as the issue is rather controversial, there are also many cons coming out of the current situation in the U.S. Nowadays, very few adult citizens are deprived of the right to purchase firearms, while weapons and violence are widely showed and popularized in all types of mass media. Although gun ownership is prohibited for individuals under 18 years, they can access firearms possessed by their parents, as these guns are usually stored in accessible areas, or get a cheap stolen gun form illegal street seller. It is natural that such guns cannot be controlled, as they are difficult to trace. Even with the increased limitations for gun ownership imposed by the recently changed gun control acts, children and adolescents are likely to get guns from their parents as a gift, or means of protection (Sprinkle). This means that – willing to protect their children from assaults and predation, parents create additional risks, because there is undeniable correlation between the level of accessibility and frequency of accidents, violence and homicides involving firearms. Moreover, it is especially risky as, for instance, adolescents are characterized by unstable psyche and are more vulnerable to depressions, violence and suicide. The situation is similar for people of student age, as they can be prone to violence. Thus, the number of accidents involving mass shootings has been increasing in the U.S., with many of them taking place in such institutions as schools and leading to deaths of many children. Charles Collier provides an awful example of shooting, when a former high school student murdered twenty schoolchildren and several adults in Connecticut at a time (Collier). The fact that this student owned a rifle similar to military weapons used in Afghanistan is extremely disturbing, because it means that he had an opportunity to access it somehow. The concern is that either easy access to guns at home or from illegal distributors might lead to great damage including deaths and serious injuries of many people. In the recent years, the U.S. has been stricken by such accidents – especially school shooting – for already several times, but the system seems unable to prevent such domestic terrorism at the moment. The most terrifying thing about the situation is that nobody can be completely secured from such accident and thus guns that were initially intended to provide more safety just create a great threat. Widespread gun ownership has become a burning issue and a source of fear for the U.S., and this fear penetrates into the culture of the country, because not only people who were directly affected by firearms misuse, but also those who realize the level of risk come to understand that the danger of being shot is everywhere in their cities. Also, this tendency has already got deep into the culture and became an almost inevitable realia of American society. According to the data provided by Gary Younge, in Chicago alone, up to 20-30 per cent of children have seen school shooting. Government and gun control debates The rising frequency of mass massacres involving firearms in the recent years has raised concerns and – at the same time – debates in American government. Panic reached its peak after the Virginia Tech accident of 2007. There is an excerpt of Obama’s speech concerning that accident provided in Congressional Digest: “We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” After that, a special Gun Violence Task Force was established and given a task to do a thorough research on the problem and prepare a comprehensive set of proposals for the legislative branch of government (in 2013). The new gun control policy consisted of compulsory background checks for everyone buying a gun, limits in ammunition magazines, strict prohibition for assault weapons, increase in school funding for development of more effective emergency plans and even more developed coverage for mental health (as individuals misusing firearms and shooting many people dead mainly have serious mental health issues, and this had to be prevented). However, this legislation package caused much debate, because the issue of gun control is a bone of discord for the Congress – there are disagreements both on political and regional basis. The supporters of the proposed policy and stricter gun control in general state that American government should be concerned first of all with safety of the citizens and the package developed by Biden’s group is the reasonable option for controlling use of military-style guns and misuse of weapons by mentally unstable and marginal elements. On the other hand, the opponents of stricter gun control – and partisans of gun legalization - are the National Rifle Association and its supporters: they state that stricter gun control will result in bureaucracy and that the right entrenched by the Second Amendment of the Constitution will be infringed. However, opponents of gun control laws also state that the best way to deal with the current situation is to influence the society on the levels of cultural impact (propaganda of violence in mass media and entertainment should be banned) and mental health of the nation. Conclusion Gun ownership splits the public into two opposing parties, each offering its own arguments either supporting or criticizing the right of each citizen to carry a gun. Gun control policy resulting from these tensions sparks debates in the government. However, in the issue of gun ownership and control, the standpoint of National Rifle Association seems very reasonable, because such deep issue should be treated from the inside, through people’s cultural and family background, mental health care (which is often neglected nowadays) and promotion of true values instead of creating an external and inefficient system of prohibitions that can be overcome. In other words, its is not guns that are to be banned, it is people’s minds that are to be cured and cleaned. Works Cited: “Gun Violence Prevention The Right to Bear Arms vs. the Need for Public Protection”. Congressional Digest vol.92, no.3, March 2013. Cook, Philip J. & Ludwig, Jens. “The social costs of gun ownership”. Journal of Public Economics 90 (2006) 379 – 391. W. Collier, Charles. “Gun Control in America: An Autopsy Report”. Dissent, No. 60, Number 3, Summer 2013, pp. 81-86. Kaplan, Mark S. & Geling, Olga. “Firearm Suicides and Homicides in The United States: Regional Variations And Patterns Of Gun Ownership”. Soc. Sci. Sprinkle, Julie E. “Domestic Violence, Gun Ownership, and Parental Educational Attainment: How do They Affect the Aggressive Beliefs and Behaviors of Children?” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2, April 2007. Younge, Gary. “TERRORISM IS NOT THE REAL PROBLEM: The greatest threat to U.S. citizens is mass gun ownership». CCPA Monitor, July/August 2013. Read More