Ownership of Firearms - Essay Example

Gun Control Policy in the USA

Abdulaziz Alkhozami

106_N1

Gun Control Policy

Introduction

The paradigm shift of the world’s security status has led to increased concerns over how the world should maintain citizens' peace and safety. Safety entails being able to control harm on other people and self-defense. In a bid to improve citizens' protection, the United States engaged in the formulation of policies geared towards making people more defensive and able to avert crime. The most significant concern in formulating the policies is whether citizens should be armed or not. Agreeably, there can never be enough police officers to guard all citizens in all areas of the country. Therefore, various crimes are never thwarted because of a lack of immediate response by police units (Kalesan et al., 2016). Manning communities can be a significant challenge, especially in societies that are mired with numerous crimes. In such cultures or countries with high terrorist attacks, governments are torn between arming the citizens for self-defense or ban the use of guns to prevent the firearms from landing on the wrong hands. Another contested issue is allocating adequate funding to run a populous police force that can provide a highly efficient response to crimes and other disorderly incidences that threaten the safety and peace of the communities (Morrall, 2018). The cost of running a large police force discourages governments from investing in many police officers' employment.

Faced with such challenges, the United States Federal and state governments have passed laws that support the use of guns by citizens. Such laws allow citizens to obtain a license to own firearms upon meeting various set requirements. Despite the stringent measures put into controlling the issuance of guns to citizens, the misuse of weapons continues to dominate the U.S. A (Aronow & Miller 2016). Based on the increased homicide and terrorism, citizens must undergo a more involving procedure before allowing them to own guns regardless of what procedures are required of them by the state or federal government. Among the methods should be testing of mental fitness and social surroundings that may provoke them to misuse their guns. Gun owners must be put under regular review to track any imminent misuse of the arms.

What Should Be Added to The Existing Gun Policies

Gun ownership cannot be entirely abolished because of the changing times in regards to culture and technology. Therefore, the best approach towards improving gun policies is not a complete overhaul but rather the inclusion of stricter rules of gun ownership. Agreeably, there are stringent policies in most states regarding gun ownership (Morrall, 2018). However, the procedures should include a regular reassessment of the already licensed owners. The reassessment would involve checking the physical, social, and psychological status of the gun owners. Those who intend to own guns should be taken through prolonged testing that would include mental checkups and their culture and perceptions about society. For instance, persons who have had a history of trauma or been exposed to violence must not be allowed to own guns. A significant concern should also be directed towards the gun dealers. People smuggle weapons through the black market (Kalesan et al., 2016). Private companies must not be allowed to sell guns. One of the challenging issues is tracking weapons used in violence. People use stolen guns or use unlicensed firearms, making it difficult to trace the criminals or source of the arms. When selling guns is limited to government agencies, criminals will have limited access to the possession of firearms, making it easier to control gun ownership issues.

Another addition to the policies is the regular maintenance and checkup of the firearms owned by civilians. The requirement that gun owners must present their guns for maintenance to government authorized agencies allows them to keep track of the weapons. In cases where the gun owners do not show their arms for checkup, the government can easily trace the guns and control imminent crimes (Aronow & Miller 2016). The checkup will also make the gun owners more responsible. During the checkups, the agencies can remind the gun owners of the regulations and the appropriate use of guns. The maintenance checks would also help determine whether the weapons are safe for use and whether the users still understand the limitations of using their guns. Renewing licenses should be more regular. Regular renewal helps the government to evaluate the qualifications of the owners.

Licensing of Gun Possession Must Be More Strict

Licensing of gun-owning should be stricter for various reasons. The reasons include increasing mental illnesses, increased crimes, changing culture, terrorisms, and technological advancements. The world is shifting from a morally considerate world into a world of capitalism and a bystander effect where people are less concerned about the welfare of other members of society.

Mental health issues are a significant concern in the formulation of gun policies. According to WHO, the world has witnessed an upsurge in the number of people suffering from mental illnesses (World Health Organization, 2019). The diseases are a significant impediment to the world order. Mental disorders are mainly caused by the quest to match the affluent living standards of the modern world. As a result, people get stressed because of failing to achieve high standards of living. The social stratification that characterizes numerous societies has led to imbalances. The number of suicides is increasing throughout the world. In some communities in continents like Asia perceive suicide as an accepted approach to issues that compel people to take accountability for their actions (Kalesan et al., 2016). Allowing more people to possess guns will be allowing vulnerable populaces to commit suicide more easily. The increasing suicides are a warning that possessing firearms will prompt people to take their lives on the slightest psychological challenge.

Mental illnesses present a threat to safety in that it has led to increased violence. People perceive violence as a means of relieving themselves from stress. Mentally ill persons become violent and hurt relatives and the public as a means of "making a statement" about their situations (Morrall, 2018). Depressed persons confine themselves and only appear in public when attacking innocent people. Most of the mass killings witnessed in the United States are made by depressed persons (World Health Organization, 2019). Allowing people to own guns anyhow will lead to more mass killings that could be controlled if the holding of firearms is stricter. Agreeably, people may be sober at the time when they apply for ownership of firearms. However, with time, they may become mentally ill, putting their loved ones and the community at risk. Therefore, those who qualify for gun ownership should be vetted regularly to check their mental condition and status to establish whether they still qualify to possess the guns (Aronow & Miller 2016). Summarily, mental illnesses have led to increased crimes. Such crimes will be elevated if the gun policies are not firm enough to limit ownership of guns.

Gun policies must be stricter because of increased crimes. Homicide is one of the leading crimes in the United States today. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States recorded a 14.5% increase in murder cases (FBI: UCR, 2018). The statistics indicated that the United States witnessed 16214 murders in 2018. Agreeably, the murders were not solely perpetrated by the use of guns. The number of assaults was also high, indicating an increased level of violence in the U.S. Homicides are caused by family disagreements and social issues where individuals engage in revenge or elimination of perceived threats. Homicides are perpetrated through the use of an assortment of weapons, among them being guns.

The legalization of the use of guns is perceived as a remedy to the unwarranted attacks of innocent persons by criminals. However, in the face of increased homicides, the government should focus on restructuring the policies. Agreeably, it is a tough task to forecast occurrences of homicides. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation report, deaths in the United States are caused by suicide, accident, negligence, justifiable homicides, assaults, and attempted murder. The FBI classifies the justifiable homicides and attempted murder as aggravated assaults (FBI: UCR, 2018). The number of homicide cases is increasing. Allowing citizens to own guns without control will lead to increased homicides. The use of firearms will make it easier to kill and commit suicides. The possession of weapons will also lure people into engaging in reckless activities like shooting competitions that can lead to death by accidents. Stricter rules will ensure that the number of gun owners remains low, reducing crimes related to homicides, assaults, and manslaughter (Kalesan et al., 2016). Suicides perpetrated by shooting oneself will be minimized when people do not access guns. People who had previously acquired weapons can be reassessed to establish the possibility of them committing homicide crimes through the regular reassessment of the licensing of gun ownership.

Another challenge associated with the connection of crimes and gun policies includes the increasing human trafficking and drug smuggling (Aronow & Miller 2016). The southern borders of the United States have been the center for human trafficking and drug smuggling. Most of the human traffickers are organized bands of criminals. Arguably, one may argue that human trafficking is a forgone issue, but statistics portray a different picture. According to the Department of State, as of 2019, traffickers were robbing 24.9 million people their human dignity and freedom (Department of State, 2019). The secretary of state stated that the population of human trafficking victims is three times that population of New York City. The data represents the hefty yet unseen challenge of human trafficking. The report published by the Department of State exposed the human trafficking that occurred within the U.S. (Morrall, 2018). The report further established that traffickers exploit most victims within their country with minimal utilization of victims from other countries. Agreeably, there are firm policies that control human trafficking that has led to the calm in human trafficking faced today.

Human trafficking data shows the debilitating situation that requires more solutions than creating avenues through which human trafficking can be advanced. Arguably, gun policies may not directly lead to control of human trafficking. However, controlling the sale of guns will limit access to firearms by human traffickers (Department of State, 2019). Agreeably, controlling gun ownership cannot be achieved through the abolishment of gun ownership but rather the reduction number of owners. Human traffickers are criminals who can only acquire guns to perpetrate their crimes through the black market (Kalesan et al., 2016). Controlling the dealers of guns would come in handy to control the access of guns by traffickers who use the guns to facilitate their activities. The gun policies can also help track criminals through tracing the guns that have been used in conducting the human trafficking activities.

In addition to human trafficking, drug smuggling is a significant challenge that is advanced by easy access to guns. Drug cartels use guns to run their operations. Drug traffickers operate in a world that is mired with violence. Drug traffickers cannot operate smoothly without using guns (Crifasi, 2018). The drug dealers are criminals who cannot qualify to own guns legally. The lack of strict measures on gun ownership provides a loop hole through which drug criminals own guns. Stricter measures will ensure that drug crimes are limited due to lack of guns that help the drug traffickers to conduct their activities. Arguably, gun control polices may not directly limit drug trafficking. However, through the control of persons who can own guns can help limit criminal activities linked to drug trafficking.

Terrorism is a major challenge in the modern world. The highest form of terrorism in the modern world involves extremist groups that purport to represent ideologies of some religions. The basis of their activities is unjustifiable because such religions do not stand for the ideologies that the groups stand for (Aronow & Miller 2016). The terrorist groups recruit members across all countries of interest and focus on planning attacks from domestic fronts as witnessed in the 9/11 attack in the United States that was planned within the countries. The advancement of terrorism calls for advancement in the policies that govern gun issuance. Looking at the 9/11 attack one would argue that terrorism has changed and that the policies that thwart criminal activities must be well-choreographed. Terrorism groups range from small factions to large internationally ran organizations with the ability of running governments and controlling regions of countries.

The criminal activities are smoothened by friendly laws that allow easy access to guns. In the efforts of countering terrorism gun policies come in handy (Morrall, 2018). Most domestically recruited criminals acquire guns through the black market. Such markets are created through the lack o strict controls on who sells guns and who can be licensed to possess and use guns. Another challenge that has caused ease of acquiring guns by terrorists is the lack of regular inspection of licensed guns (Crifasi, 2018). Gun owners can easily lose the guns to terrorists through theft or selling the guns to them. With regular checking of gun owners one can easily detect loss of guns and trace the guns before they are used to perpetrate crimes. In numerous cases terrorists use unlicensed guns to attack to reduce being traced. Based on the prevailing terrorist actions stricter measures of gun control policies would significantly control terrorist attacks.

Another significance of controlling gun ownership is that it helps to stall the planning and magnitude of terrorist attacks. With limited access to guns terrorists will have less guns and other arms to carryout high levels of crimes (Kalesan et al., 2016). Lack of access to guns will mean that the terrorists can only access weapons from other countries. The process of acquiring guns from other countries making the process complex. The stricter gun control policies will also involve control entry of weapons through the borders. Controlling of borders significantly helps control terrorism.

The advancement of technology presents unforeseen challenge to control of crimes when gun policies do not limit ownership of firearms. The planning and perpetration of crimes is easier than before due to the advanced technological approaches that govern the contemporary world (Aronow & Miller 2016). Despite the technological advancement that help in planning for crimes, the execution of the plans requires use of guns. Through technology criminals can access information about important departments of the country like the security detail of the president and other highly ranked officials to help plan for crimes against them. However, no matter how successful the plans may be, the execution requires use of firearms. Stricter regulation of ownership and use of firearms helps avert eminent danger of successful criminal plans.

Imagine a world where accessing guns is easy especially now when through technology one can singlehandedly organize a highly devastating crime. People would maim and kill at will and as frequent as possible. People would organize high levels of crime that can easily wipe out large populations. Stricter rules on owning of firearms would ensure that the criminals do not access firearms that would help them complete their plans (Crifasi, 2018). Allowing people to own guns without strict measures will worsen the already alarming situation of terrorism, human trafficking, drug smuggling, and murder that have been heavily aided by the growth of new technologies.

Conversely, one can argue that allowing people to own firearms makes them safer in a world where insecurity has increased over the years. Criminals will always exist in the world. Agreeably, the number of persons joining criminal groups is increasing exposing innocent civilians to more danger and harm perpetrated by the criminals. Therefore, the suggestion that people should be allowed to own guns for self-protection is within the precincts of human reasoning (Kalesan et al., 2016). While lobbyists of gun ownership cite self-protection as a basis for reduced restrictions on possession of guns the question of the risks of weaponizing communities remains unanswered.

Conclusion

In summary, ownership of firearms is inevitable in the modern world. However, the ownership can be controlled through stricter rules governing licensing of guns. The stricter rules would include more frequent checkups on licensed guns. The stricter rules would also involve mental checkups to determine whether the gun owners are still fit to have the guns. The stricter rules will help minimize crimes significantly. Stricter rules will lower homicide crimes by denying perpetrators of the crimes opportunities that they can use to commit the murders. Stricter rules will also indirectly limit crimes like human trafficking that heavily rely on use of guns to “protect” their dirty businesses. Terrorists are also kept on check by lack of black market where they can acquire guns to advance their terrorism acts. The current technological advancement presents a risky scenario where if the citizens are allowed to own guns freely criminal activities will triple within a short period. Therefore, the United States and all other countries where gun ownership is legalized must install stricter regulations.

Licensing of Gun Possession Must Be More Strict

Licensing of gun-owning should be stricter for various reasons. The reasons include increasing mental illnesses, increased crimes, changing culture, terrorisms, and technological advancements. The world is shifting from a morally considerate world into a world of capitalism and a bystander effect where people are less concerned about the welfare of other members of society.

Mental health issues are a significant concern in the formulation of gun policies. According to WHO, the world has witnessed an upsurge in the number of people suffering from mental illnesses (World Health Organization, 2019). The diseases are a significant impediment to the world order. Mental disorders are mainly caused by the quest to match the affluent living standards of the modern world. As a result, people get stressed because of failing to achieve high standards of living. The social stratification that characterizes numerous societies has led to imbalances. The number of suicides is increasing throughout the world. In some communities in continents like Asia perceive suicide as an accepted approach to issues that compel people to take accountability for their actions (Kalesan et al., 2016). Allowing more people to possess guns will be allowing vulnerable populaces to commit suicide more easily. The increasing suicides are a warning that possessing firearms will prompt people to take their lives on the slightest psychological challenge.

Mental illnesses present a threat to safety in that it has led to increased violence. People perceive violence as a means of relieving themselves from stress. Mentally ill persons become violent and hurt relatives and the public as a means of "making a statement" about their situations (Morrall, 2018). Depressed persons confine themselves and only appear in public when attacking innocent people. Most of the mass killings witnessed in the United States are made by depressed persons (World Health Organization, 2019). Allowing people to own guns anyhow will lead to more mass killings that could be controlled if the holding of firearms is stricter. Agreeably, people may be sober at the time when they apply for ownership of firearms. However, with time, they may become mentally ill, putting their loved ones and the community at risk. Therefore, those who qualify for gun ownership should be vetted regularly to check their mental condition and status to establish whether they still qualify to possess the guns (Aronow & Miller 2016). Summarily, mental illnesses have led to increased crimes. Such crimes will be elevated if the gun policies are not firm enough to limit ownership of guns.

Gun policies must be stricter because of increased crimes. Homicide is one of the leading crimes in the United States today. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States recorded a 14.5% increase in murder cases (FBI: UCR, 2018). The statistics indicated that the United States witnessed 16214 murders in 2018. Agreeably, the murders were not solely perpetrated by the use of guns. The number of assaults was also high, indicating an increased level of violence in the U.S. Homicides are caused by family disagreements and social issues where individuals engage in revenge or elimination of perceived threats. Homicides are perpetrated through the use of an assortment of weapons, among them being guns.

The legalization of the use of guns is perceived as a remedy to the unwarranted attacks of innocent persons by criminals. However, in the face of increased homicides, the government should focus on restructuring the policies. Agreeably, it is a tough task to forecast occurrences of homicides. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation report, deaths in the United States are caused by suicide, accident, negligence, justifiable homicides, assaults, and attempted murder. Read More