Mohammed Islam

 

America Needs to Limit Access to Firearms

Introduction

Gun violence has become a very critical matter in our country. This is because many incidents have been occurring where guns are wrongfully used across the nation. These events bring deaths to many citizens as well as terror. Debates have split many into two opposing groups in America, those who stand to support guns and those who stand against guns. We can’t avoid what the constitution has written in the second amendment. It is stated that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” This allows our citizens rights to own and have guns. However, an issue that comes along with this amendment is an over saturation of guns in America. When guns are more accessible, they are easier to access even by those who should not be allowed guns, and unfortunately people get hurt and many die. Specifically, 38,658 people died in 2016 due to guns (Al Jazeera).

Accessibility to guns needs to be controlled in order to save the lives of innocent people. The question in mind is how can we reduce accessibility to guns, while ensuring citizens second amendment rights, to help reduce gun deaths in America? There is no simple answer to this, but there are ways we can limit accessibility to fire arms. These limitations will help make it harder for criminals to get their hands on guns and make sure the people who are allowed guns are getting it in a more cautious manner. We can limit accessibility to guns to help reduce gun deaths in the United States by implementing stricter background checks, psychological evaluations, waiting periods, and safe storage for all guns. This is a solution that can reduce gun deaths and still allow our citizens to have guns, just not the wrong citizens.

 

Background Checks

Background checks are a major obstacle many face when trying to obtain a gun. Background checks are given before someone is allowed their firearm. To help reduce gun deaths in the nation, extensive background checks should be given when purchasing any firearm. Any firearm has the potential to harm and therefore we should treat each sale with the same discretion. This means requiring background checks on all sales including sales that take place in gun shows. These gun shows should be overlooked by government or law enforcement to take sure the wrong person can’t get their hands on a gun. These gun shows pose safety risks because almost anyone can purchase and leave the gun show with a deadly weapon.

Background checks are effective because it checks whether the purchaser of the gun has negative history and is not allowed the right to bear arms. On the other hand, an increase of gun violence can be the product of when background checks are not in place. “An evaluation of Missouri’s repeal [of background checks] showed that it was associated with a 25% increase in annual firearm homicides, or an additional 68 homicides per year through 2010. These changes occurred at the same time that the national firearm homicide rate declined 5.5% and the rate in the eight states bordering Missouri fell 2.2%” (Vernick, Jon S., et al.). This illustrates that when there are no background checks, there is an increase of firearm homicides. Missouri was just one example of a state’s homicides rates increasing when the background checks were conveniently repealed. Now if a 25% increase in homicides was a result of background checks being nullified, imagine a reverse reaction. If background checks were to be required again, it can reduce the annual firearm homicide rates. Now if all states would require background checks on all firearms, that can lead to a major reduction in gun related deaths all across the nation. This is one of the multiple systems that together can help reduce the number of deaths in the United States.

Psychological Evaluations

To add on, psychological evaluations are also crucial to the reduction of gun deaths in the United States. Many times after tragic events we witness on the news concerning gun violence, the perpetrator is deemed mentally ill. To prevent attacks from the mentally ill with guns, we should not issue licenses or allow guns to be owned by them. This is not a normal procedure to go through to obtain a firearm especially in different states. However, it is an important the purchaser of a firearm is mentally fit. Having a gun is a big responsibility and not anyone should be given that responsibility. This is because when people become irresponsible with guns, people can end up injured or dead. We need to find a standard to be able to know who is mentally fit to have and purchase guns and who isn’t. Mental health is a very broad category. In addition, not all mental health issues may conflict with whether someone is capable of being responsible for a gun. The goal is to keep people who can be of danger to themselves or others away from a machine that can kill someone instantly. This is how psychological evaluations can help limit access to firearms and reduce gun deaths in America.

Waiting Periods

Waiting periods stands to be a very effective method. This method helps prevent gun deaths in multiple ways. Mandatory waiting periods can range from days to weeks depending on states laws. The purpose of these waiting periods is to allow law enforcement enough time to complete background checks in order to see if the customer is eligible to own a gun. These waiting periods have alternative underlying purposes. It can be used as a safety percussion for a customer who is temporarily upset or unstable. This waiting period can give a person time to think about the decision he is making to buy a gun and possibly plans one has with the gun. Transitory motivation is a large factor when it comes to gun deaths. People who comit these crimes are often in a state of transitory motivation where they want to commit an act for a brief duration. With mandatory waiting periods, we can reduce gun deaths by waiting out possible transitory motivation and take time to look in the individual.

In the peer reviewed journal Reducing Gun Violence in America it states, “In their new paper, Luca et al. argue that the adoption of mandatory waiting periods for handgun purchases reduces gun homicides by about 17%. These estimated effects are enormous. Most remarkable of all is that the policy intervention that leads to these reductions in gun violence would seem to impose so few costs on society.” This shows there is a correlation in waiting periods to homicides. We should understand the effectiveness that mandatory waiting periods have and implement that to reduce gun deaths in America. We must make sure we trust who we allow guns to and this simple cost-effective method proves to promise results.

Safe Storage For Firearms

Not only is it important that we assure only eligible citizens can purchase guns. It is also important for the buyer to safely store the firearm. Especially in a house with children, we don’t want a firearm to all in the hands of the wrong person or child. For the safety of the members of the household and the people in the area of where the gun is, it should be properly secured where access to that specific gun is limited to the owner or other responsible people. It is not uncommon to see situations where people take guns from their families or people they are close to and misuse it. To prevent the wrong person from getting the gun, prevent accidents, and to prevent robbery of a firearm, it is critical that the owner safely stores the firearm.

In a research experiment to reduce unauthorized access to firearms, a program issued trigger locks and gun safes to multiple houses in a neighborhood in Alaska. The usage of these two systems for safe storage were observed and recorded. Results showed how gun safes were effective with 86% of the people used them. In addition, the overall proportion of locked guns went up from 15% to 85% (Horn, A, et al). This shows great success in this research experiment. A system similar to this one can help reduce deaths by guns in America if safe storage was suggested or even enforced for owners who have guns in their house, workplace, etc. Safe storage is a good practice and should be implemented in order to reduce gun deaths in America.

Opposing Viewpoint

Many argue that “Guns don’t kill people-people do”. This is a popular line used in defense of guns. All these gun deaths are not because of guns, but because of the person they say. “But the chances are that not being able to get their hands on a gun wouldn’t stop them killing – it would just force them to find a different weapon. Because the fact is that most mass killers don’t kill because they happen to stumble across a gun – they kill for some other reason” (Oxplore). This quote says that a person who wants to kill will try to whether he has a gun or not, he will look to use a different method. Therefore, it is not the gun that’s the issue, it is the person. While this may sound reasonable, examining this situation logically can clear things up. In a homicide, a killer would need to meet a certain criteria to commit a crime. This criteria includes: motive, means, and opportunity. Means is a very important factor because without it, a homicide physically can’t take place.

“For example, leaving the Parkland and Las Vegas tragedies aside, consider what happened in China just hours before the 2013 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting: A deranged man walked into a school and started indiscriminately stabbing everyone in his vicinity. Before his rampage ended, he wounded 22 children. The child killer in Newtown, Connecticut killed 20 children and six adults before his rampage ended; by contrast, because the Chinese murderer used a knife, none of these 22 child victims died. The distinguishing factor? Gun control. Effective gun laws prevented the Chinese man from obtaining a gun — with which he would have inflicted much more damage. As sociologist Ding Xueliang told CNN: The huge difference between this case and the U.S. is not the suspect, nor the situation, but the simple fact he did not have an effective weapon” (Shammas).

This quote clearly demonstrates the need for a more specific means in order to kill. A gun is a dangerously effective tool that makes killing easier. Yes, it is people that kill people, but it is firearms that make that job a lot easier and a lot of the time quicker as well. This is why it is important to limit the accessibility to firearms in the united states to prevent these types of attacks and reduce gun deaths in the United States.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is understood that America has an unhealthy problem with gun violence. Gun violence is not something we can make disappear with a new rule or law. It is a combined effort to counter as many loopholes there are. Accessibility to gun is too easy and that is why we face many tragedies a year. Implementing background checks, psychological evaluations, mandatory waiting periods, and safe storage is a way we can reduce gun violence in America. Implementing these systems can make it a safer place to be. If a person wants a gun and thinks he or she is responsible enough to have one, going through this process should be no problem. This is for the betterment of our quality of life in America. We can never be too safe and especially at a time where gun violence is a major issue, this couldn’t be a better time to start implementing this process.

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Horn, A, et al. “Community based program to improve firearm storage practices rural Alaska.” Injury Prevention, Sept. 2003, p. 231+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A108693684/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=0c3c01a5. Accessed 29 Oct. 2018.

 

Ludwig, Jens. “Reducing gun violence in America.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, vol. 114, no. 46, 2017, p. 12097+. Academic OneFile, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A517512940/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=55cc3a9f. Accessed 29 Oct. 2018.

 

Al Jazeera. “Gun Violence in the US Is a Human Rights Crisis: Amnesty.” GCC News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 12 Sept. 2018, www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/gun-violence-human-rights-crisis-amnesty-180912162309907.html.

 

Vernick, Jon S., et al. “Background checks for all gun buyers and gun violence restraining orders: state efforts to keep guns from high-risk persons.” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Spring 2017, p. S98+. Academic OneFile, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A494499150/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=022c92cc. Accessed 18 Nov. 2018.

 

“Guns Don’t Kill People – People Kill People.” Oxplore | Could We Live | without Laws?, oxplore.org/additional-resource/533/565#565.

 

Shammas, Michael. “It’s Time To Retire The ‘Guns Don’t Kill People – People Kill People’ Argument.” Medium.com, Medium, 5 Apr. 2018, medium.com/@mshammas/its-time-to-retire-the-guns-don-t-kill-people-people-kill-people-argument-60d91889f806.