Gun Control in America

Gun control in America is among controversial issues regarding availability and restriction of firearms within the state. It is characterized by a stalemate that exists between the rights of individuals, which bear arms despite the government responsibility to prevent crime. The gun control restricts individuals to access weapons to avoid high risks of violence, emotional instability, and mental cases in the country.

It convinces people nationwide to avoid weapons being reached by the hands of the insane and criminals. In short, the gun control system focuses on criminals, not guns and also keeps an eye on individuals, who arm themselves, to ensure that they do not commit crime. The strategy of gun control in the US needs to incorporate the present regulatory regime that surrounds firearms in criminal justice system to enhance the deterrence. This enables the FBI, and the police to investigate the crimes after they occur, although they can do little to prevent the massacre. For gun control to be effective in the country, there is a need of discussion about the critical failure of the government of avoiding the overindulgence in violent crimes. For instance, president Obama offers a direction towards strengthening federal measures concerning gun control. However, the majority of gun legislation in the US incorporates the enactment at the state level.

 

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The advocates of gun control in America disputed that the second amendment had conferred individuals the entitlement to own a gun. However, their major policy goals were to make handguns acceptable and enroll all gun owners in the US for the federal database. The advocates of gun control became smarter after converting their message to one that is more appealing to moderate voters and Middle America. The approach of gun control groups and Democrats to the debates led to automatic alienation of the majority of gun owners.

Concerning violence among youth, gun related issues are common in urban areas whose residents are poor and associated with gang hostility. This form of violence involves male juveniles and adult males who are young. As a result, this situation led to fuel the debates concerning gun policies. In 2010, the US reported approximately 358 murders that involved riffles, while murder involving use of guns totaled to 6,009. For instance, the use of handguns led to shootings, which caused massacre in Columbine high school. Policies at local levels and federal states attempt to address gun violence in the US by incorporating a variety of methods. These gun control methods involved restricting purchase of firearms by youth and other population who are prone to risky behaviors.

The gun control in America also apply methods that involve establishing programs that allow gun buyback, setting waiting periods to purchase firearms, and policy strategies that offer stiff sentencing to violators of law. Gun control movements enforce law and offer education programs for children and parents. On the other hand, the federal legislation has an aim of prohibiting intentional interference that involves sale of weapons to the insurgents abroad and domestic criminals. However, the law in America influences gun policies especially by the interpretation of the second amendment to the US constitution. This amendment has been a disagreeable subject in many years until 2008, when the Supreme Court attempted to clarify what the amendment meant.

This law invalidated the ban of firearm in Washington DC, claiming that the second amendment protects the right of individuals to own firearm for traditional lawful purposes (Roleff, 2007). For instance, as much as the state attempted to control the use of guns in America, it assisted in self-defense within federal enclaves and home. However, gun control in America cannot stop youth violence, as they access guns using criminal channels via theft or purchase.

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The strict laws forbid illegal gun possessions by minors to avoid acts such as brandishing a gun, threatening the lives of other people, and assaults. According to the US National Academy of Sciences, gun control in the US is not effective because it fails to reduce violent crimes, gun accidents and suicides. The bottom line of this perspective depicts that gun control in the US is not effective. The only approach that the country can use to avoid violence among the youth is when parents involve in the lives of their children. This implies that adults, especially men, must act as mentors to youths who require them. Gun violence among the youth brings a serious threat to the society. The recent data released in 2000 reveals that in a year 3,761 teens and children died due to gunfire in America. The gun situation in the country is serious in that firearms overcount the total number of children by a margin of three to one. The United States has the highest rate of when it comes to owning a firearm in the list of peer countries (Goss, 2006).

Concerning school shootings, the massacre of children sways the views of Americans on guns; this has made president Obama convince the reluctant congress to pass the new law reforms. According to the polls, the majority of Americans, approximately 54 percent, think that there is a need of tightening gun control laws. The mass shootings in schools also led to an increase in the number of people who support gun control. The poll results reveal that gun proposals attracted a large number of supporters including the gun owners. In the urge of controlling guns in the country, the state orders for background checks that involve purchase of all guns. This implies that there would be elimination of the popular regulation that allows 40 percent of the guns to be sold by unlicensed sellers without checks.

In the attempt to control guns in the country, the majority of Americans favored this law, when 9 out of 10 respondents supported it. After the mass shootings at Tucson in 2011, and Virginia Tech in 2007, polls reveal that 47 percent of Americans supported the strict gun laws. Having analyzed the shootings in school settings, possession of guns by citizens does not guarantee that it will keep children in schools safer from strangers’ attacks. This is the reason why the US opts for gun control in the country by embracing the rules that will avoid violence in the country, and enhance the security. The new bills and laws of gun control in the US regulate the possession, sales and use of ammunition and firearms. They vary and do not depend on the existing federal firearms laws, but have a wide scope. The state level laws differ significantly in their content, form and restriction level. They impose restriction of firearm owners by subjecting them to firearm laws in their state (Miller, 2010).

According to the recent available data in 2010, the facts reveal that the gun control laws in different geographical areas represent random places, where firearms are possessed. In July 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal right to possess arms should apply to local and state level. The other bills introduced the involved ones that restricted sales of 100-bullet magazine. In December 2012, the state revived the debate concerning gun control. This followed after a man armed with semiautomatic weapons attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and killed 27 citizens involving 20 children. The purpose of gun control in America is to give hope to the members of victims affected in tragedy by promising to change the situation in the country.