The United States Bill of Rights contains the second amendment that allows the citizens a right to bear arms. This is translated to the right of firearm ownership for private use. Some Americans take to owning a gun as a right of passage and a need within the society. In the United States 43 of the 50 states enacted in the State constitutions to affirm a right for their citizens to own firearms for personal use with out being a member of the state's militia (Winkler, 2007). While this is one freedom many American enjoy gun deaths is still one of the highest forms of fatality that occur in the United States. In 2011 alone there were 32,163 fire-arm related deaths in the United States, and include deaths due to suicide which were 19,776 (more than half of all suicides) and also were found to be the cause of death in 11,101 homicides (as cited by O'Brien, Forrest, Lynott, & Daly, 2013). Violent acts are committed with high frequency in the United States with firearms. School shootings have become more prolific in the news such as Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and Columbine. Literature Review One question one might ask is what compels someone to own a firearm inside the home. Fear of crime has been found a factor in increased gun ownership. In an analysis of 16 studies from Hauser and Kleck (2013) found mixed results of fear of crime and gun ownership but most studies found a positive relationship between fear of crime and owning a firearm in the house. Owning a gun for self protection is often one of the most cited reasons by gun owners for possessing a firearm. Fear of victimization spurs buying firearms and a spike of sales can be observed when a national tragedy occurs due to clever marketing from gun manufactures. Personality fac... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Refrences Celinska, K. (2007). Individualism and collectivism in america: The case of gun ownership and attitudes toward gun control. Sociological Perspectives, 50(2), 229-247. Frankfort-Nachmias and Leon-Guerrero: Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, Sixth Edition GSS Dataset. (n.d.). Retrieved from CSUF TITANIUM database. Kleck, G. , & Hauser, W. (2013). Guns and fear: A one-way street?. Crime & Delinquency, 59(2), 271-291. O’Brien, K., Forrest, W., Lynott, D., & Daly, M. (2013). Racism, Gun Ownership and Gun Control: Biased Attitudes in US Whites May Influence Policy Decisions. Plos ONE, 8(10), 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077552 Winkler, A. (2011, July 24). The Secret History of Guns. The Atlantic. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/the-secret-history-of- guns/308608/?single_page=true
The topic of gun control became an element for discussion among Americans in the early 1930s when mob and gang crime was at an all-time high. The term “Gun Control” refers to a set of laws set in p...
Wellford, C. F., Pepper, J. V., & Petrie, C. V. (2005). Firearms and violence. Washington, D.C.:
Gun Violence Opposing View Points. Ed. James D. Torr. Greenhaven Presss.Inc., San Diego, California: Daniel Leone, 2002, Print
Tushnet, Mark V. Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can't End the Battle over Guns. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
Lunger, Norman L. Big Bang: The Loud Debate Over Gun Control. Brookfield, Connecticut: Twenty-First Century Books, 2002. Print.
An innumerable amount of gun deaths have occurred in the united states as a result of weapons being in wrong hands. Fatalities have taken place due to guns being in the hands of people ranging from terrorists to children. Another prominent issue is that people are unsettled by the idea of anyone with a mental illness owning a weapon, such a depression or schizophrenia. Overall people are troubled by the idea that “in the United States, the murder rate doubled in the ten‐
The problem of gun control laws, their correlation with the Second Amendment, and the federal laws and policies for reduction of gun violence is widely discussed in many theoretical sources and scientific research literature. For example, Phillip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig (2000) speak about gun violence in the everyday life of America. They put forward the facts about the crime and mass massacre connected with gun ownership and inappropriate use. They consider political, social, and economic reasons for gun ownership control by analyzing the psychological and moral influences of gun violence victimization and the main trends of overcoming it. The authors also make an outline on the major measures that should be taken to reduce gun violence (Cook & Ludwig, 2000).
“The link between guns, freedom and the American way of life runs long and deep in American history and culture. The link between the capacity to inflict violence on others and freedom goes back as far as the Revolutionary War.”(Approaches to Gun Violence)
6. James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, and Kathleen Daly, 1988, Under the Gun: Weapons, Crime, and Violence in America. Colorado: Sage Books.
Guns are not all bad they provide protection and have recreational benefits. When guns get in the wrong hands is when violence occurs. Keeping them out of the wrong hands is more difficult than you would think; “30 to 40 Percent of all guns in circulation were purchased without a licensed firearm dealer.” Many stolen guns are used in crimes with 500,000 guns stolen on average each year (Ludwig, Cook 4). People argue that if you take away guns you can reduce violence but, violence can occur without guns. If you take away a childs toy are they going to stop having fun or find another thing to play with? Although guns make for more lethal crime they can also be used to fend off crimes(Ludwig, Cook 3). Guns are a necessity for many families in the United States, especially in the south. Many people believe that the number of guns affect violent crime rates. In the 1960s and 1970s the United states had an increase in violent crime rates; in the 1990s violent rates dropped substantially. The amount of guns owned by Americans increased every year(Burger, Warren 13). The amount of guns in circulation will keep increasing and the violent crime rates will fluctuate with other variables if this stays true. The Kansas City Gun Experiment, a test where poli...
There are more than 44 million Americans own guns, implying that 25% of the adults in the US own guns and that 40% of the American households owning a minimum of one firearm. These gun owners normally possess 192 million firearms whereby 65 million of these firearms are handguns of all the legal owners of the guns, the main reasons for their ownership of the gun include sporting, hunting as well as home protection (McLeigh, 201-202). Among all the individuals who own the guns, 75% of them allege that self-protection is their chief reason for owning the firearm (Seabrook, 2014). The majority of the young people in the United States are normally surrounded by regular reminders of the threat that gun violence poses to their community. The constant
Although many of the new gun control laws put into effect target the firearm itself, firearm sales have been increasing. Since 2003, murder has decreased by 17%. Advocates need to review their assumption that more guns equals more crime. Private guns are now in the hands of about 300 million Americans, yet crime has diminished in the U.S.’s past 20 years. To halt any more mass killing shooters such as Adam Lanza, the 20 yr-old shoo...
Kellermann et al. attempt to address whether owning a fire arm increases the risk factors for violent crimes in the home instead of conferring protection against delinquency as commonly thought. In essence, the article seeks to examine whether a policy that reduces residential gun ownership would have a positive effect in decreasing violent crimes in homes.
Stell, L. K. (2004, Spring). The production of criminal violence in America: is strict gun control the solution? Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 32(1), 38+. Retrieved from
Guns have been a major problem for years upon years in the United States. Many people have concerned about gun control and they are protesting strongly against “bearing arms”. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed firearms as the #12 cause of all deaths between 1999 and 2013, representing 1.3% of total deaths. They were also the #1 method of death by homicide (66.6% of all homicides) and by suicide (52.2% of all suicides)” (qtd. in "Gun Control"). A gun is a big factor that threatens human life. People use it to commit suicide or commit crime, and in those situations it can cause death and serious injuries. The FBI says, “Firearms are used in roughly 7 in 10 killings” between 2013 and 2014 (qtd. In Simon and Sanchez). Considering the amount of gun death that involve in dire situations are more than in the cases that protect or help civilians.