Gun Ownership
Gun ownership has been a hotly-debated topic in the field of Public Policy. Some people have argued that the policy should be passed without regulation of guns among the public, but in reality, gun ownership should be regulated to monitor gun activities which will help to limit the effects of gun ownership such as suicidal and homicide rates, violence and crimes, and illegal businesses.
Skeptic arguments are based on the importance of gun ownership in the pubic. According to the arguments, gun ownership provides people with a defensive mechanism that they can use when attacked by other people. Their idea is based on the Second Amendment, which was established to solve the existing political struggles. The pubic was therefore allowed to have the guns to protect themselves from the federal government attacks. Hence, some people still hold their opinions based on the idea. However, the current judicial commission provides enough security, and interwar is dealt with by the military system; hence do not require public interference as the military system is responsible for providing security to the public (Dowd-Arrow & Burdette, 2019). Therefore, gun ownership is nowadays applied in negative factors, which has resulted in increasing rates of homicides and suicides, violence issues, criminal activities, and the introduction of illegal businesses; hence gun ownership should be controlled.
Ownership of guns has increased to homicides and suicide cases. suicide cases prevalence has increased in many nations due to an increase in the level of gun possession. “In 2017, over half of the nation’s 47,173 suicides involved a firearm. The US Department of Justice reports that about 60% of all adult firearm deaths are by suicide, 61% of deaths by homicide. One study found that military veterans used firearms in about 67% of suicides in 2014” (Joslyn & Haider‐Markel, 2017). The prevalence rates of suicides and homicides show that gun possession has contributed to the increase as the current generation is very weak in dealing with emotions, and some are easily provoked to anger. The factors cause depression, which many people cannot deal with, which causes suicidal thoughts. Therefore, possession of guns and other firearms stimulates the suicides and homicides as it limits second thoughts. People kill each other due to minor issues as they easily achieve their provoked desires by the use of guns. Therefore, the skeptic ideas on the ownership of guns should consider its adverse contribution to the lives of people based on the implication it has on the suicide and homicide cases.
Gun possession has also contributed to increased criminal activities. Criminal activities are associated with an increased rate of robbery and massive killings by the use of guns and other firearms. Possession of guns has contributed to the introduction of terrorist groups who commit both international and local criminal activities (Wallace, 2020). Some groups are based on political struggles, while others are formed by individuals aimed at making their income out of robberies and other related crimes. Even when people are allowed to have guns to protect themselves, guns act as crime stimulants. People are tempted to use them for their benefit by venturing into crimes. In addition, there are no attacks from the federal government, which led to the amendment of the law. Hence, further possession of guns will only stimulate people to criminal activities. Criminal activities have therefore been stimulated by gun ownership, which calls for control action through regulating the people who own guns through gun licensing and responsible handling and distribution of guns from the production to storage facilities.
Violence within the public has also been stimulated by gun ownership. The use of guns as a defensive mechanism has resulted in violence issues among people. It is difficult to control people with guns; hence, possession of guns within he public dominion has resulted in violent activities as people fight with guns, which has resulted in many deaths and injuries due to such occurrences (Kleck, 2017). The public is generally not trained as required in the military system, which makes them more violent and usage of guns for the wrong purpose. Most of the firearms require special training to know how they are applied as well as the ethics considered in using the firearm. The police are also having difficult moments dealing with criminals with guns as it has also resulted in police deaths when they fight back. Hence, gun control should be enacted in different states to monitor the people who have guns, which should be accompanied by recording their identification numbers of both guns and other firearms to have easy retrieval and identify the users of the guns.
Gun ownership has also led to the introduction of illegal businesses. The guns are illegally sold to the wrong hands in black markets, which are not legally accepted. Hence, controlling ownership of guns will lead to a reduction of such businesses and contribute to a stable and fair economic system. Illegal business lower the economic system due to evasion of taxation procedures and also contribute to massive violence as it limits governmental control of guns and hence expose the public to much potential suffering and expected gun violence.
To sum up, gun ownership is a debatable issue that should be explored based on its impact on both the public and the government. Hence, the skeptic ideas are partially acceptable. However, due to its adverse effects on both the government and the global public, gun ownership should be controlled.
References
Dowd-Arrow, B., & Burdette, A. M. (2019). Gun ownership and fear. SSM-Population Health, 8, 100463.
Joslyn, M. R., & Haider‐Markel, D. P. (2017). Gun Ownership and Self‐Serving Attributions for Mass Shooting Tragedies. Social Science Quarterly, 98(2), 429-442.
Kleck, G. (2017). Targeting guns: Firearms and their control. Routledge.
Wallace, L. N. (2020). Gun Ownership and Gun Purchasing: Before and After Mass Shootings. In Handbook of Research on Mass Shootings and Multiple Victim Violence (pp. 339-356). IGI Global.