Higher Homicide Cases in the US due to the Increased Availability of Guns - Case Study Example

Higher Homicide Cases in the US than in the UK occur due The Increased Availability of Guns affiliations Higher homicide cases in the US than in the UK occur due the increased availability of guns Introduction Owing to its absolute gravity, homicide is among the most scrupulously recorded crimes in the world. Homicide data is mostly used to compare the levels of a country’s crime level. Data associated with homicide has been used as proof and comparisons have been made among countries that indicate that increased gun availability translates to increased homicide. There is a general proclamation that the United States has more guns per capita as compared to most developed countries. The augmented accessibility of both lawful and illegal guns in the United States makes the country be considered as one with the highest levels of homicide cases related to guns among modern developed nations (Hutton, 2013). The United States has a favorable gun policy as compared to the United Kingdom. The paper will discuss in detail the assertion provided above as we analyze and compare the United States and the United Kingdom. The paper will analyze data and present statistical evidence to indicate that the availability of more guns and the social and political policies in the United States regarding guns is the reason for the increased homicides. Definition of Terms Homicide: It is the murder of a person by another individual either in a lawful or illegal capacity (Riedel, 2011) Statistics Approximately 31000 people in the United States die annually due to gunshot wounds (Webster, Vermick, Vittes, McGinty, Teret, & Frattaroli, 2012). The high homicide cases in the United States can be attributed to its alarmingly high rate of guns availability. The United States has a 3.55 rate of gun homicides compared to a 0.06 rate of gun homicide in the United Kingdom (Alpers, Wilson, Rossetti, & Salinas, 2015). According to Alpers et al. (2015), the United States has a 10.64 rate of homicides related to guns for every 100000 people. The United Kingdom has a lower rate compared to the United Sates at 0.23 for every 100000 people. There are over 31000000 guns in the United States owned by individuals while there are only 4060000 guns privately held in the United Kingdom (Alpers et al., 2015). In the year 2013, over 33636 homicides occurred due to gun shots in the United States while only 146 gun-related homicides took place in the United Kingdom (Alpers et al., 2015). Discussion The statistics indicate a definite correlation between the availability of guns and homicide rates. The United Kingdom has stricter gun regulations than the United States that could be attributed to the moderate cases of homicide. Increasing the possession of guns in the United States might be considered as a security measure. The security measure is fatal and is never used where the perpetrator does not intend to kill the victim. An example would be attacking a knife thief with a shotgun. The thief poses harm to the life of the victim, but the owner uses the gun in an effort to prevent the victim from killing him. It is necessary to comprehend the social status and the social explanations for homicides to understand why there are more homicides in the United States than in the United Kingdom. For a homicide to occur there has to be a victim and the perpetrator. The perpetrator is driven into committing homicide acts against the individual because of three primary components. The essential elements that determine the levels of homicide are the desire, ability, and feasibility. The desire to commit a homicide is reflected in the murderous impulses that occur in a small percentage of a country’s population. There are several social factors that can lead to increased desires to commit suicide and include substance abuses, poverty, racial tensions and hostilities (UNODC, 2011). To compare the differences in social status between the United States and the United Kingdom the paper considers the inception and policies regarding law enforcement in the countries. The bill by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was the crucial path to the formation of a government controlled police system in the United Kingdom. The London Metropolitan Police was the initial modernized police unit. The police unit was established with the primary role of protecting the citizens. The police force was based on the ideology that people would be reluctant to commit crimes owing to the presence of a strong police presence. The newly created unit was expected to wear uniforms, with a military-like structure but was never required to carry weapons. To the present day, police units in the United Kingdom do not depend on guns and prefer adopting other measures to deal with criminals and law offenders (‘The History,’ n.d). In the United States, the government borrowed the United Kingdom structure of policing. However, the police units were developed with the sole intent of patrolling the streets and regulating slave activities. Later on, slave patrols increased their scope to manage and included the control of White servants. The units were permitted to search houses, ensure slaves don’t use roadways, and disassembling slave meetings. The police in the United States differed with those in the United Kingdom in that they were allowed to carry guns and also to use any force they deemed necessary to tackle law offenders (Whetstone, 2015). The United States was founded on the emphasis of brutality, and the emphasis on usage of guns by the police delivered a wrong message to the people. In the United Kingdom, the police and law enforcement officials are viewed as advocating for peaceful measures to solve a conflict. In the United States, the gun has been seen as the ultimate tool to solve a grudge and offer protection as well as solve other problems. The people have adopted similar strategies with the police force in both regions that have resulted to more homicides in the United States than in the United Kingdom. In the United States the police are responsible for 111 homicides in March, 2015 as compared to a total of sixty-nine homicides by their counterparts in the United Kingdom since 1900 (Greenberg, 2015). The vast availability of guns in the United States as compared to the United Kingdom results to the possession of these deadly weapons by children and youths. The youths are not able to control the usage of guns and end up causing accidental deaths through unintentional homicides or suicide. According to NASP (2013), there were 2711 child and teen gun-related deaths in the United States where an average of seven deaths occurred daily. The statistics by NASP (2013) indicate that approximately eighty percent of school-based homicides occurred due to the possession of guns by teens who acquired them from home and related members of the family. About five percent of high school students carried guns to the school property endangering their lives and those of other students (NASP, 2013). The prevalence of guns in the United States as compared to the United Kingdom facilitates the ability and feasibility to commit homicides. Where the individual has a desire to commit a homicide, the gun makes it easy to do so. Though heightened ability of homicide drives the perpetrator to attack with whichever weapon, guns are more efficient with minimal chances of survival. An equal ferocity in an attack with a knife and one with a gun can produce two entirely different outcomes. A knife would probably result in a severe injury while a gun attack would lead to the death of the victim. In the event of a knife, the perpetrator is not sure to get out of the situation as there are possibilities of the attempt going wrong where the perpetrator becomes the victim (UNODC, 2011). A gun dramatically minimizes personal risk while providing fatal results to the victim. The perpetrator does not come into proximity with the victim and a gunshot from a far produces disastrous results. Perpetrators commit homicides facilitated by the element of surprise, anonymity, or secrecy. The usage of a gun is more efficient in maintaining the desired confidentiality as it leaves no blood tales that link to the murderer. Guns make a homicide more feasible for the perpetrator to act on the murderous impulses. Eliminating the availability and accessibility of guns from the hundreds of millions in the United States would reduce homicide cases drastically. Gun control measures have been established in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has developed stringent laws regarding the use and possession of firearms. The primary legislation of the 1960s has been amended numerous times to restrict gun ownership and to seal loopholes in previous laws and amendments. Handguns in the United Kingdom are prohibited, and the possession of one entails a sophisticated assessment to determine the individual’s competence and status. Applicants have to present sufficient reasons as to the need to possess a firearm, and the law does not guarantee the issuance of one (Law.gov, n.d). In the United States, the rights of individuals to bear and keep arms are protected by the constitution in the second amendment. The people in the United States consider it a personal right and the heritage of the country to own guns. The courts in the United States have provided for the ownership of guns even in the States where the local authorities have tried to disarm the citizens. The courts strike out the banning of firearm possession preferring to have the weapons stored in locked places in the homes (Masters, 2012). Conclusion Guns are a significant factor in the levels of homicide witnessed in a given country. The United States experiences higher individual gun ownership than the United Kingdom. In the United States, the people are obligated to acquire guns for the sake of protecting themselves. In the United Kingdom, the government has adopted different approaches restricting the ownership of guns to those who deserve them with extreme rules governing the acquisition. Most homicide cases in the United States have been attributed to guns that are legally and illegally acquired. The police and the income inequalities in the country have contributed to the murderous instinct in the Country. The United States government is yet to realize that increased guns don’t protect citizens, and they contradict the process itself. In the United Kingdom, the government learned from its mistakes and amendments governing the use of and possession of guns put in place. The measures have seen the reduction of homicides while increased guns in the United States lead to more homicide cases. References Law.gov (n.d.). Police weapons: United Kingdom. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/law/help/police-weapons/uk.php Alpers, P., Wilson, M., Rossetti, A., & Salinas, D. (2015). Guns in the United Kingdom-firearms, gun law, and gun control. Retrieved from http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-kingdom Greenberg, J. (2015, April 15). Liberal blog: U.S. Police killed more people in one month than U.K. cops killed last century. Retrieved from http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/apr/15/addicting-information/liberal-blog-us-cops-killed-more-people-one-month-/ Hutton, R. (2013, April 24). U.K. gun curbs mean more violence yet fewer deaths than in U.S. - Bloomberg business. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-04-24/u-k-gun-curbs-mean-more-violence-yet-fewer-deaths-than-in-u-s- Masters, J. (2012, December 21). U.S. gun policy: Global comparisons. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/gun-policy/ NASP (2013). Youth Gun Violence Fact Sheet. National Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/youth_gun_violence_fact_sheet.pdf Riedel, M. (2011, May 25). Homicide - Criminology - Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0092.xml ‘The History’ (N.d). The History of the Police. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/50819_ch_1.pdf UNODC (2011). 2011 Global Study on Homicide. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved from http://www.unodc.org/documents/congress/background-information/Crime_Statistics/Global_Study_on_Homicide_2011.pdf Whetstone, T. (2015, February 2). Police | law enforcement: Early police in the United States | Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467289/police/36619/Early-police-in-the-United-States Read More