Why America Needs Gun Control

The Need for Gun Control

In the United States, gun control will include controlling who gets a license to possess a firearm. This regulation would reduce the number of people who own weapons by authorizing them to own one only after due thought and declaration that they can treat a gun safely. This legislation is critical because, if those rules were in effect, the major fatalities that have happened in the near years would be significantly diminished. For example, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which killed six adults and twenty children, and the Taft High School shooting, which injured two people, were both avoidable events. There are several hindrances to the enactment of this regulation. The lack of political support and the placement of obstacles by lobby groups in the US have been primary reasons to this continued irresponsibility to the ownership of guns. The National Rifle Association is against gun control arguing that firearms never kill, but people do. In 2013, the Senate blocked the suggested new gun control laws resulting to non-enactment. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles gun control is essential for the security and safety of the innocent lives of the people of US. With proper laws and regulations, there will be high levels of accountability such that will strive to find healthier ways of resolving the conflict than just shooting. Alternatively, gun control will be infringing on the rights of a person.

Reducing Mass Deaths and Suicides

Should gun control legislations be successful, then mass deaths would be reduced significantly. Primarily the loss of innocent lives would be prevented as other methods of killing people are less accessible than using a gunshot. According to BBC News, in 2015, there was about 500 people murdered and over 1400 individuals injured in different mass shootings in the United States. The number has continued to grow as more people access the guns. Sadly, the shootings have become rampant in schools, and in one year alone there are about sixty-four schools that experience mass shootings (BBC, 2016). This situation leads to tension and stress among students as they see their friends lose their lives or are injured. It also affects the learning process given that these schools will take some time before recovering from the experience and being able to study well. Also, the control is equally important to reduce the cases of suicide in the US. In a sense, because a person has n access to a means of quick deaths, individuals may seek ways of assistance. People may develop skills of dealing with life difficulties and stress in better ways than suicide. Notably, among the developed nations, US has the most lenient laws relating to gun ownership and also high deaths and murders related to the shooting. States like Germany with legislations that limit gun control experience fewer suicide cases and mass deaths leading to the conclusion that more deaths are associated with the accessibility of guns. Chapman et al. (365) note that following the regulation of gun ownership in Australia, there were reduced deaths and a whole century without mass shootings.

Economic and Social Costs

Ownership of guns is a liability to the government since when the shootings happen, human and financial resources are deployed to those scenes to address the challenge. There are resources used in the process of seeking evidence and striving to find the motive and underlying circumstance of the criminals. Such time and resources would be directed to more economic activities that boost the wellbeing of the nations. The arraigning and arrest of the individuals who do not commit suicide is a costly venture. The US is currently experiencing crowded courts and crowded prisons. As more irresponsible people own guns, the court will get more crowded and the jails even more congested thus affecting the quality of services offered and the dignity of life. However, will only responsible people owning guns, the number of inmates would be reduced and courts would be able to handle the cases available more professionally. The whole process of dealing with gun-related crime uses the taxpayer’s people, and if the person was employed, they would be unavailable to work and thus unable to contribute to the GDP but using that which has been contributed by others. In fact, Branas et al. (365) allude to the fact that gun ownership and associated criminal activities harm neighborhoods and depress business growth. With more gunshots, the expenditure related to addressing such crimes will increasingly soar high, and the money allocated to the development of public facilities will be reduced (Smith and Kawachi 269). Alternatively, the taxes will have to be increased to deal with such expenditure. Such a scenario will affect all the citizens and might reduce the disposable income reducing the quality of life for the families. Therefore, continued insufficient control of guns, in the long run, will affect every single person in the US.

Reducing Crime Rates

Uncontrolled ownership of guns has a direct correlation with the level of crime. A gun is a handy tool that plays a significant role in the perpetration of criminal activities. To the eyes of most people who have never seen a gun, when seen it is an instrument of death, and the victims may cooperate efficiently. For instance, armed robberies at homes are most successful given that the individuals own guns. Assault, rape, homicide, and theft are high when gun ownership is prevalence. Moore and Bergner (4) suggest that ownership of firearms increases violence than ownership of any other instrument like a knife since a gun has the distance advantage. The argument that gun ownership will reduce crime is not valid given that the criminal will have the upper hand than the victim. For instance, the if a person attacks another, the offender will have prepared on the means and ways of doing the crime and escape route should it be unsuccessful. However, the victim will be unprepared and unable to deal with it. Also, the criminals work together in gangs to enhance their ability to go away uncaught. However, with reduced access to guns, violent robbery will decrease, and people’s safety in their houses increased significantly.

Freedom vs. Safety

The suggestion from the NRA that guns don’t kill, but people do, has some truth. If people were allowed to own guns but also empowered on various ways of handling conflict of difficulties apart from murder and suicide, then ownership of firearms would not be an issue. Restricting gun ownership would promote inequality because some would get licenses and others would not. Also, it denies people their freedom to protect themselves and be guaranteed of their safety at all times. When a criminal realizes that their target also has a gun, he/she may be rendered less powerless, and it may reduce the occurrence of criminal activity. The ownership also boosts the self-esteem of the individual as well as their confidence. However, these benefits come at very high costs as reality is the US proves.

Conclusion

In conclusion, following the research and the reality of the situation in the US, gun ownership control should be done through having various laws. This restriction is crucial as it will reduce mass killings, suicide, crime rates like robbery, rape, assault and reduce the unnecessary use of social capital. With that addressed, in the long run, there will be an improvement in the economic well-being with booming businesses in a safe neighborhood. Alternatively, gun ownership allows the citizens to enjoy their freedom, boost their confidence and esteem. However, these benefits come at very high costs that are not worthwhile. The trauma and depression that people go through as others utilize their freedom is not helpful.

Works Cited

Branas, Charles C., et al. “Academic, public health and the firearm crisis: an agenda for action.” (2017): 365-367.

Chapman, Simon, et al. “Australia’s 1996 gun law reforms: faster falls in firearm deaths, firearm suicides, and a decade without mass shootings.” Injury Prevention 12.6 (2006): 365-372.

Moore, Matthew D., and CariAnn M. Bergner. “The Relationship between Firearm Ownership and Violent Crime.” (2016).

Smith, Nathan Daniel Lucia, and Ichiro Kawachi. “State-level social capital and suicide mortality in the 50 US states.” Social Science & Medicine 120 (2014): 269-277.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34996604