More people kill themselves with guns than other methods. Every year, “approximately 400 American children needlessly die and more than 3,500 are wounded because of unintentional firearm injuries” (Glatt, 2005). According to Hahn, Bilukha, Crosby, Fullilove, Liberman, Moscicki, Snyder, Tuma & Briss (2005), although rates of gun violence in the United States have decreased since 1993, they were still the second reason of injury death in 2001. This research paper will clarify gun control and violence in the United States by responding to the following questions: 1. Why has gun control been such a difficult issue in American politics?
Although, all guns are deadly, the most dangerous is the handgun (Dolan 9). The handgun is responsible for 50 percent of the United States murders, leading to a figure of 30 murders a day and when you add suicides and fatal accidents the daily death-rate rises to over sixty (Dolan 9). All of this lea... ... middle of paper ... ...nst gun control reforms with a strong fight to protect their rights established by the Second Amendment. Gun control, at this time is vital to our society. To stand by and let over 150 million people be killed by this weapon and the person standing behind the weapon is almost as band as pulling the trigger yourself.
Most of the time they do not know what is going on around their precinct because it happens behind their back. So if the issue is brought to light, we are not only helping ourselves but we are also helping future victims of the abuse. When police officers feel like they have all of the power they need to do whatever they want, they don’t focus on the consequences of their actions. Everyone knows that sexual assault is illegal yet people on the law force do it anyways. Police officers need the correct discipline when it comes to controlling how much power they are giving.
Since 2006, there has been more than 200 mass killings in America (Overburg). Newtown, Aurora and Virginia Tech capture the nations attention, but similar bloody scenes happen with alarming frequency and much less scrutiny (Overburg). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) qualify a mass killing as the death of four people or more. With gun control and mental illness becoming a large topic due to these mass killings USA Today set out to find out who commits these killings, the weapons they use and the forces that motivates them. USA Today examined FBI and local police data and found that mass killings in America happen far more often than the government reports.
Out of that 100,000 people shot, some of those victims consist of children, bystanders, fathers and mothers. The lethality of guns in 2011 firearms was responsible for 32,163 deaths in America (Alpers). Firearms have been used recklessly and claimed thousands of lives of Americans, increasing the death rate. If gun control was in effect and passed by legislators the deaths in America from firearms would not be so large. What also contributes to these facts is the ability to obtain guns for violent acts of crime which why the government need to suppressed and monitored firearms.
Strict laws need to not only be enforced for criminals but need to be enforced for officers as well. As stated earlier, many officers continue to abuse their authority by showing a behavior that is unconstitutional. As of lately, many of these police brutality situations have turned into fatal shootings. “During the first week of September, police killed more civilians than the total number of police officers killed so far this year. By the end of the month, 99 people were killed, according to the Killed By Police database.
For whatever reason, serial killing is clearly on the rise, with the term itself coined only since the mid-1970’s, so perhaps 300 active serial killers at one time could be unfortunately possible. The number of serial killing in the U.S. is staggering. There are important differences between serial killers and other types of murderers. Motives... ... middle of paper ... ...e considered evil by their repeated acts of violence. An interesting point is that both Gacy and Dahmer had run-ins with the law prior to becoming serial killers.
Interpretations of the law allow a lot of leeway in order to shape legislation to the needs of the plaintiff or victim. General crime legislation serves the purpose of protecting the public, yet only certain motivations of crimes enable the judiciary to assign additional charges to a defendant guilty of a hate crime. The protected rights of citizens are believed to guarantee peace and tranquility. The most recent additions to everyday crime legislation have challenged this peace and created chaos between the supporters and opposers of these changes. Despite the United States developing hate crime legislation that suffices to maintain justice within the judiciary system, numerous legislative experts strongly believe these most recent changes create unnecessary bias.
By action, the criminal law “has attempted to establish those forms of conduct which its members desire to be declared criminal” (Goldstein, 1963, p. 141). However, these laws are often expressed in such broad terms so that the definitions of crimes are vague, and thus, trying to interpret and enforce this kind of legislation becomes difficult for police officers. The second point to note in support of police discretion is that, total enforcement of all laws is basically impossible. Police departments do not have the required manpower or sufficient resources to respond to every call for service. Furthermore, they cannot arrest everyone who has ever committed a crime and get them ready for prosecution.
It is true that more than 30,000 people are killed from guns each year but, it is also true that gun control laws only cause more murders and fatalities. Gun control effects hunters, outdoorsman, clubs, and most importantly the safety of American citizens. The effects of gun control range from the loss of food to the safety of American families. Gun control would cause a slippery slope situation. Though people think gun control is a good thing the effects will show to be too severe.