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Gun Control
Introduction
Gun control refers to a set of policies or laws regulating the sale, manufacture, possession, use, modification, or sale of firearms by the citizens. Over the last ten years, the United States has experienced several mass shootings of civilians in Califonia, Gilroy, Texas, and Dayton. The world provides every person with a fundamental right to life. However, this right is under threat from gun violence. Laws or policies designed to regulate gun ownership in America are the primary cause of gun violence. They need to be changed so that it becomes hard for people to obtain a gun, and any person with an illegal firearm should face a stiff sentence in prison.
According to Amnesty international, violence committed with guns cause the death of more than 500 people every day around the world. Gun violence affects every person in the community, but women, children, and men of color are the most impacted. In most cases, a gun in the community can create a sense of fear and insecurity, creating a psychological effect on community members and individuals.
Gun violence in the United States has turned out to be a human right crisis due to a lack of proper federal and state laws regulating firearms. More than 39,000 people in the U.S that include women, children, and men, die every year because of complete and easy access to guns. Furthermore, there are about 360 gunshot survivors in the United States who end up in hospital (Webster, 77). Most states in America allow people to legally carry guns openly in public, while others only allow concealed handguns in public. The lack of uniform law in the country to regulate the use and taking of a firearm is a significant challenge. Some states have no laws to regulate the use of weapons: people in 12 states in America can carry concealed firearms in public without a permit or license, and 30 states allow people to carry handguns without any consent or permissions in public openly.
According to Amnesty international, gun homicides in the United States led to the death of 14,542 people in 2017. About 58.5% of people who died were African Americans. Furthermore, the primary cause of death in 2017 for black boys and men aged between 15 and 34 was firearm homicides; black men and boys were at risk ten times more than their whites boys and men. The firearm homicides were caused by failure to provide gun violence prevention programs, failure to prevent those who misuse firearms from accessing them, and failure to avoid discrimination based on race.
Between 2009 and 2016, about 156 mass shootings occurred in the United States, with 848 deaths and 339 people reportedly injured. In the United States, shooting in schools and hospitals has been very common in the past few years. Such cases hurt the rights to healthcare and education when people fail to go to school because of fear of gun violence. There were 316 cases of the school shooting in the U.S between 2013 and 2018. The shooting in school has been associated with peer pressure, need for protection, fear, criminal activities, and responding to police distrust (Carter 68)
Reducing gun violence requires passing new laws or enhancing the already existing laws to prevent crimes committed using guns like robberies, homicides, or gun accidents (Gold, 102). Such rules and policies include carrying concealed firearms, extreme risk protection laws, universal background checks, minimum age requirement, permitting and licensing requirements, banning assault weapons, and child access prevention laws. According to Siegel et al. (52), the states with gun laws requiring background checks recorded a 15 percent drop in homicide cases than states without background check laws. Also, the law prohibiting firearms for those convicted with violent instances resulted in an 18 percent reduction in homicide cases. According to Siegel et al. (98), universal background check policy has the most significant impact on gun control and reducing gun violence; states without background checks recorded a 58 percent higher rate of homicides than states with background checks.
Conclusion
Gun violence can be stopped by effectively changing and implementing violence prevention and gun regulation policies. But first, every state in the United Staes should identify gun violence as a threat to the right to life. It is the responsibility of governments to protect human rights. There is an increased case of insecurity; by conducting community interventions, tightening firearms regulations, and creating and enforcing a compliant law. States’ efforts should focus more on protecting those at higher risk of gun violence like women, children, and black men or boys. Achieving a reduction in gun violence will require adequate funding, working in partnerships, and having evidence-based policies. Gun reforms have been seen to be effective in many parts of the world. The reforms should come with strict controls to reduce the access and use of firearms and enforce firearms regulations. Gun reforms have led to low gun violence cases in countries like Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.
Work Cited
Amnesty International. Gun Violence. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/arms- control/gun-violence/
| Carter, Gregg. Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2006. |
Siegel, M., Pahn, M., Xuan, Z. et al. The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide and Suicide Deaths in the USA, 1991–2016: a Panel Study. J GEN INTERN MED 34, 2021–2028 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-04922-x
Gold, Susan. Gun Control. Marshall Cavendish, 2004.
Webster, Daniel. et al. Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis. JHU Press, 2013.