Strict Gun Control refers to a plethora of officially authorized restrictions that is meant to impose firearm security on the general populace. It is governed by the fact that good citizens as well as notorious criminals inflict a high percentage of death and injury due to widespread prevalence of guns in society. In order to prevent criminal gun violence, one should introduce measures for gun control. According to scholars, one should ensure handgun scarcity among the general population. In addition, carefully- crafted firearms control policy can lead to a decrease in criminal violence. This paper will try to show how measures of gun control can reduce the homicidal rate of America.
The United States of America is plagued by violence in the form of massacres and mass murders that is caused by citizens who possess firearms, most notably guns (Cornell, 2017). The gun control issue affects many Americans whether they support the right to possess guns, or gun violence has a detrimental effect on their community. Apart from reducing violence in the streets, by making guns scarcer in society, America’s suicide rate will also decrease, as the general population will have less access to guns. Greater availability of guns leads to more crime that is violent in nature (Cornell, 2017). Gun control will lead to a decrease in accidental shootings, murder, non-lethal gun violence and mass murders as well as suicides. Gun control laws lead to reduction of violent crime and the government should pass stricter laws against gun control. Stricter laws against gun control would reduce the instances of mass murders. One should criminalize the production, sale and possession of guns by the general population. The easy availability of guns, whose only purpose is to kill human beings, only leads to massacres. Guns should be banned from the streets because they have no purpose other than to kill. Keeping in mind the safety of the public, the responsibility lies with the government to ban weapons that are commonly used for purposes that are criminal in nature (Cornell, 2017).
In the wake of the December 12 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Newtown Connecticut, wherein a person killed twenty first-grade students and six adults, surveys have shown that a majority of American population favour banning “assault weapons” in order to prevent school shootings and also minimizing casualties (Jacobs, 2015). The Sandy Hook massacre led to state level proposals to ban assault weapons. Maryland passed a ban against assault weapons for the first time. Colorado, Delaware, New York and Connecticut tightened their existing Assault Weapons Bans (Jacobs, 2015). Assault weapons are weapons of war and are not meant to be used on city streets. Assault weapons are manufactured with one purpose in mind and that is to kill human beings. Assault weapons have no place in civilized society and ought to be banned. Banning assault weapons is a stepping-stone to broader gun control (Jacobs, 2015).
It has been noted that in nations where the majority of the people owned firearms were more susceptible to gun violence and mass shootings, for example the United States of America (Lewis 2018). There is a strong relationship between gun control and deaths caused by firearms. For example, the United States of America, most unfortunately surpasses all other nations when it comes to incidents of mass shootings. However, due to the training provided by the police on ways to respond to a mass shooting, the casualty rate per incident is comparatively low than other countries (Lewis, 2018). Thus, gun control is the need of the hour since gun control is associated with a decrease of instances pertaining to mass murder.
A plethora of factors lead to gun violence, which includes institutional and ideological forces which creates a context wherein so many people are willing to take the life of others, poverty, law enforcement, population density and mental illness such as people who suffer from schizophrenia and personality disorders (Lewis, 2018). Population is one of the major factors for gun violence. A higher population offers a greater number of opportunities to commit crimes and a big pool of people from where the perpetrators of gun violence can draw from. Emotions are another factor as emotions motivate behaviour, which can facilitate anger. Aggressive acts of violence are preceded by increasing feelings of anger, contempt and disgust. Outrage or anger, contempt that is based on a feeling of superiority, and disgust motivated elimination also leads to incidents of violence and carnage. Thus, appraisals and emotions lead to violent behaviour. Strain, victimization, social learning also are also factors that lead to carnages in society. Apathy, devaluation of the life of humans and social isolation also facilitate gun violence. Gun violence is also related to gun ownership that is irresponsible in nature, i.e. people not abiding by rules on gun safety, parents failing to ensure that their guns are out of reach from their children among other factors. Gun violence is also perceived to be caused by an individual who is suffering from some deep aberration (Rostron, 2013). A highly materialistic society where people embrace a highly materialistic life leads anything that lies outside the material realm, including human life, to be devalued. This is one of the most significant factors that facilitates gun violence. Stiff and increased levels of competition prevalent in society also contributes to dissatisfaction with oneself, one’s work and leads to anger and disgust thereby promoting gun violence. It is in this social context, that homicides that are related to gun violence takes place. The feeling of powerlessness that people feel in a neoliberal society also contributes to gun violence. Since social ties tends to get weakened and individuals are reduced to “consumers” in a materialistic society, a lot of people perceive themselves to be incapable of making a difference to society and feel irrelevant (Lewis, 2018). Thus, the multitude incidents of gun violence, carnages, mass murders and killing of innocent people, could be a way to reclaim a sense of power, what sociologists call “a sense of mastery” (Rostron, 2013) over people, outcomes and events. Thus, occurrences of gun violence could be a way of protest against a society that makes an individual feel irrelevant, insignificant and powerless.
It has been observed that majority of gun related violence in the United States of America do not involve shooters killing people who they don’t know but rather killing people they know, i.e, friends, family, relatives, acquaintances, employers and co-workers (Rostron, 2013). Of all the women that were killed as a result of gun violence, majority of them were killed by their partners. The hyper-masculinity prevalent in a neo liberal society leads most men to perceive themselves as one entitled to control and power which forms the basis of relationships, which are abusive in nature (Stell, 2004).
In addition, the neo-liberal structuring of the economy of the United States of America in the 1980s has led to a decline in jobs that are well paying in nature, wages that are stagnant, lack of work benefits for individuals, and the curtailing of expenditure for social services, i.e. for those people who live in poverty and are in need. These factors are responsible for increased levels of stress, financial instability and financial insecurity in a person, and dissatisfaction of workers all of which has a detrimental effect on close family ties, intimate family relationships (Stell, 2004). This has been a major contributor towards domestic violence, interpersonal violence and gun violence. In order to thoroughly understand and gain a proper insight to the problem of gun violence that is prevalent in American society and have a greater understanding of the problem, one should consider all these factors and consider them thereby helping one to minimize this problem (Rostron, 2013).
Research has found various types of mass murderers. They include pseudocommado, i.e. people who are preoccupied with ammunition and firearms who plan on a rampage in order to seek revenge in society. The second type includes the family annihilator, i.e. people who kill their own family members out of jealousy, hatred and revenge. The third type includes the hit-and-run killer or the set-and-run killer, i.e. those who use explosives or set fires in order to kill people while planning probable escape routes (Lewis, 2018). Social scientists have asked for an additional typology, i.e. the disgruntled employee who sets out or kills his colleagues at his workplace because he feels he has been wronged and hence wants to seek revenge on his colleagues (Lewis, 2018). In addition, research shows that that those who commit carnages has a tendency to externalize the blame. They feel that their friends, family, teachers, employers and coworkers are persecuting them. Perpetrators of gun violence also tend to be loners. Therefore, it is essential to conduct research and educate people on how to recognize warning signs. This may help to reduce gun violence in society (Lewis, 2018).
A decrease in gun violence can also be brought about by socioeconomic and law enforcement factors. One should also use gun legislation to reduce the number of victims who are killed in carnage. One can do so by reducing ammunition in order to reduce the number of victims during incidents of mass killing. There should also be a ban on gun enhancers like bump stocks and a ban on ammunition magazines in order to reduce victimization in incidents of mass murder. Carnages in schools can also be prevented to an extent if school authorities conduct rigorous and comprehensive background checks of the student and his or her family before admitting a student to their institution. Guns can be used to kill people but they can also be used to save lives. Therefore, one should ensure that guns in schools are in the right hands, i.e. in the hands of teachers and armed officers and not in the hands of students. Officers who are armed and well trained should guard all schools and protect the students and staff members of the school. Thus, armed resistance along with counseling sessions for students can prevent gun violence in schools. Lawmakers should also invest in financial resources and energy in conducting behavioral studies in order to identify the personality traits that leads a person to commit such barbaric behaviour. There is a strong relationship between stringent gun control laws and number of mass murders in the United States of America. States that have stricter gun control have lower incidents of carnages (Jacobs, 2015). Private ownership of guns ought to be banned. There is an excessive prevalence of guns among the American population, which leads to a high rate of gun violence. Thus, there should be stronger enforcement of existing laws in order to curb gun violence. The practice of procuring firearms at gun shows should also be curtailed as people who buy guns from gun shows do not undergo background checks especially in Michigan. Terrorists thus often take the advantage of the “gun show loophole” to procure weapons of mass murder (Jacobs, 2015).
Gun violence is a normative feature in the life of an American. Gun violence is linked to a lack of stringent gun control laws and the excessive prevalence of guns in American society. In addition, accessibility to guns is another factor that facilitates gun violence in American society. One should stop telling young boys and men that masculinity is synonymous with violence. This should start in homes and schools and children should be taught not to read books that glorify war and warriors. Manhood should not emphasize violence and dominance. One should take steps to expand masculinity that is anti-violent in nature. Structural and social forces fuels violence in society and thus, substantial societal changes ought to be implemented to reduce the prevalence of gun violence. One should heavily promote interconnectedness and community in society through families, places of worship, schools and through media so that people feel that only individuals matter. Popular movements are also required to ensure that these reforms are fruitful.
References
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