Law Brief on Gun Control
GUN CONTROL: Our Streets Are Running Red Tom Coker English IA November 18, 1997 6:35 p.m. : William Wallace had a very stressful day at work and is now driving home. As he is travelling along the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles, he suddenly comes to a complete stop. Gridlock traffic is not an unusual sight for any motorist that travels on this freeway, and William decides to exit the freeway in order to escape the madness. He exits on the next off ramp and comes to a red light at a busy intersection. As he patiently waits for the stoplight to change illumination he thinks about his wife and his two beautiful daughters. Suddenly the driver's side window is shattered and glass disperses throughout the interior of the car. William looks over to find a brick resting on the passenger seat next to him. A hooded man runs up to the side of his car and violently opens the door. The man points a gun and shouts at William to get out before he gets hurt. As William struggles to unbuckle his seatbelt, the man hits him against the side of his head with the pistol. William is then forcefully pulled out of the car and thrown onto the asphalt in a manner of rage. William looks over and sees a man step out of the car behind him pointing a 9mm pistol with one hand and holding a police badge in the other hand. The off duty officer shouts for William's attacker to stop. The hooded man panics and opens fire on the officer. William watches the officer take three bullets to his chest and fall to the ground. The hooded man then jumps into William's car, slams on the accelerator and races straight into the busy intersection. The next sound that William hears is burning rubber, crushing metal to metal, and shattering glass. Willia...
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...f these countries, in order to possess a handgun the person must have a special license. Before they can get the license, they must pass a background check and have a good reason for wanting to own a gun. In these countries, self-defense is not considered a legitimate reason for wanting to own a gun (Miller 34). In Japan, the only people that are allowed to hold firearms are government security workers. Japan also has one of the lowest criminal violence rates of all countries. "In 1990, 37,155 people died from firearm wounds in the U.S. compared to 13 firearm deaths in Sweden, 91 in Switzerland, 87 in Japan, 68 in Canada, and 22 in Great Britain" (Safran 22). These statistics above show that by setting a standard for gun control will lower the death toll in our own country caused by guns. There is no reason for the senseless massacre on our streets to continue.
One of the most disturbing trends in American policing in recent years has been the militarization of police weaponry and tactics. In his new book, “The Rise of the Warrior Cop”, author Radley Balko traces the roots of American law enforcement from the constables of colonial times to present day SWAT teams and special response units. With the high controversy surrounding the “war on drugs” and the “war on terrorism,” policymakers have signed off on a dangerously aggressive style of policing that too often leads to unnecessary deaths and injuries. Some people say that modern law enforcement is on a collision course with our Bill of Rights and is unconstitutional. In the book “ Rise of the Warrior Cop” the author talks about how modern day policing are adapting mostly all military tactic. These wars are more than just metaphors designed to rally public support and secure all the money they can to support these programs. They change the way we think about what the police do. Wars mean shooting first and asking questions later. Wars require military tactics and weaponry. Wars mean civilian casualties. Are we at war with our own people?
...is novel with an outstanding salute to those who serve in law enforcement saying, “And so I tip my hat to all the good cops throughout our nation who risk their lives and strive to do the right thing when facing split-second decisions about life and death every day in the kill zone” (Klinger, 2004, page 274). Pulling the trigger of a gun can cause a variety of issues both within and outside of a police officer’s life, but it could also potentially save another human being from harm and keep the safety of our society intact.
McMahan backs up his premises by showing that in other “Western Countries, per capita homicide rates, as well as rates of violent crime involving guns, are a fraction of what they are in the United States.” (McMahan, 4) After reading this statement, we are to assume that those countries have more gun regulations, and ultimately our limited gun regulations and access to firearms are what is driving so much violence within our country. Gun advocates deny this claim,
A father purchased a toy gun as a birthday gift for his young son. His son went outside to play and and encountered a police officer who shot him seven times. This incident occurred in Sonoma County in October 2013. A similar incident occurred in November 2014 when Cleveland police killed a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun. Use of excessive force by police is common in impoverished "black" or "brown" communities.
According to Gerney, Parsons, and Posner (2013), in the wake of mass shootings and other types of gun-related disasters, an increase in interest among the public, community leaders, and elected officials occurs, with regards to identifying effective means through which to minimize the possibility for recurrence of such incidences. Some of the reactions at such times include the enactment of more strict gun control laws to limit the accessibly of firearms to individuals with the criminal intent of committing a gun-related crime.
In the same year the UK flooded the country with over 20,000 cops so the homicide rates would decrease. John R. Lott, Jr., PhD, gun rights activist, once said that "The problem with such [gun control] laws is that they take away guns from law-abiding citizens, while would-be criminals ignore them”.
”(Gopinak, 2007, p. 458 ). This demonstrates that United States is just not inclined to take any action on gun control which is leading to deaths of children and adults. Some individuals believe handguns are not needed in American 's society. Then those who oppose gun control argue guns are a necessity to: hunting in the wild, self-defense, and it is part of the American culture. Furthermore, gun violence is having a vast impact on loved ones; losing a family member can have enormous affect socially, physical and mentally.
Police shootings occur all over the world but are a huge problem within the United States. We continue to hear more and more about them. These shootings are making headlines. Front page news it seems almost weekly. All the shootings go one of two ways.
An interesting fact is that there is a country where guns are outlawed. That nation of peace is Japan. There is on average 1-2 gun related murders per year compared to the 10,000 in America. Just in 2008, there were well over 12,000 deaths caused by guns, which only 11 were committed by Japan. The murders tied with guns in the United States are more of the top 20 richest countries in the world (Fisher).
America is changing, the country that once was based on religious ideas is slowly becoming history, to the point that we can lose all traces of the America that was founded in 1776. As the days continue there is a continuous battle over the public possessing guns. A large portion believes and supports laws preventing civilians from owning military style rifles. With the growing support, these supports are trying to get guns all together out of the hands of people. With the recent mass shootings, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Colorado, and Virginia Tech, causing big support of these laws, many people fear that losing guns to the government will allow for criminals to do anything they want because civilians wont have a way to protect themselves. If guns are removed, the crime will increase, and there is more potential for foreign attacks to be held on U.S. soil.
Many Americans are now applying for a license to carry licensed concealed arms with them. The rate at which licenses are being approved is worrying. This development is concerning law enforcement authorities. Putting so many firearms at the disposal of the public is counterproductive to the gains that are being made on improving security and especially in the cities where incidences of gun crime and violence are on the rise.
Frates, Chris. “The Gun Debate Isn’t Over Yet.” National Journal (2013): Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
People have questioned gun control long time. Many people wonder if anyone, aside from those who join the law force, should be allowed to carry guns. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” (Wright 4). Franklin understood that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens would not uphold their liberty. Some people who argue for gun control state many violent crimes involve guns. Others believe a child could find the gun and something bad could happen to the child or others when a gun is unsafely stored. People who argue against gun control might say there is a huge psychological gap between citizens who shoot to protect themselves or their property and those who go into schools and shoot at others. Criminals will always find a way around gun control laws and will be able to obtain and use guns illegally. The second amendment protects gun rights for individual citizens. Reasonable gun control laws and educational steps can be taken to protect the majority of U.S. citizens. Gun control does not only take guns away from criminals, gun control also limits law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves and their families when necessary.
Thirty-five per cent more likely to be shot to death than Canadians are to die of a fall” (Paperny, 2015). Gun control is a huge problem in the United States and I believe that only United States Marine Corps, Armed Forces, and Navy should have access to guns. I understand that Americans want to own a gun for their own individual protection reasons; furthermore we have police officers and military support for that sole reason of protection. Some people may say that if there were stricter gun regulations, less people would have guns, less guns would be shot and shooting rates would decrease. Additionally school shootings would not be such a prevalent problem. Furthermore, this idea is proven many times to be
Policing relies on the public trust, police legitimacy and accountability, which can be destroyed by unjustifiable police shootings (Squires and Kennninson, 2010). Within this country, there is a recognition that the police do not always adhere to the rule of law (Newburn and Reiner, 2012: 809), which has led to consistent public outrage at the lack of effectiveness and legitimacy the police has maintained. Therefore the deliberate decision to enforce police to attend to the streets unarmed was employed to reassure the public that the police were not to be feared (Waddington and Wright, 2010). Ultimately, concerns derive from the belief that the police are completely ineffective when dealing with gun crimes (Farrell, 1992: 20). However, whilst arming police with guns can act as a protector when on duty it can also cause an increase in police misconduct. This issue will be discussed throughout this essay.