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Gun Ownership and Control

Raymond Beck

Columbia Southern University

Literature Review

Americans’ Safety – Gun Control in the United States of America

Introduction

Control of guns in the United States has been a topic in the news for quite a while where people who are licensed for guns are supposed to take care of the guns which they hold. Controlling of how the people are using their guns requires legal measures to be put in place which select people who are trained on using the guns to be given the guns. The use and approval for gun holding is usually affected by the policies which are put in place by the department of defense in the country. Guns are vital for every person to own as they can assist in defense. In the US we have had a decrease in the rate of crime due to licensing of individuals obtaining their gun permit. It has been of great help since during earlier times firearm selling was not illegal. There are both advantages and disadvantages for this case which will be highlighted later in the paper.

When the use of guns is limited and restricted to only people who are well trained then we expect the rates of crime to go down since they will be having nothing to use when they are getting into criminal activities. For the other group they think this restriction is not necessary and people have to get guns to be in position of protecting themselves from the criminal groups that are in the nation. From the news we have heard in the media a case of murder of larger group of people guns are involved. An example is the recent case of terrorist attack in the US where people were murdered in Church where the guns were key in this attack. For the Americans they should be keen and concentrate on knowing the new policies which are being implemented, in every aspect the guidelines which are given should be followed to the latter which will ensure a decrease in the rates of crime and all the people who hold the guns have got the necessary qualifications required for holding the gun. In the state of gun licensing the appropriate procedure has to be followed to ensure it’s effective.

Gun Ownership benefits in America

When individuals own guns there are several benefits they enjoy when they’re responsible for the guns which they have. Guns can be used during leisure time where the individuals can use their guns for various games of shooting that is of great advantage to their health. The benefits for owning the gun include confidence, physical discipline, relief of stress, taking pride in owning the gun and personal responsibility.

Personal Responsibility

When it comes to gun ownership it requires accountability where no room for mental vacation exists. This is so because according to gun control bill it requires those people that buy guns to have their criminal records checked and obtaining permit to acquire the firearm (Langmann, 2012; Cook, Cukier&Krause, 2006).This is a means of ensuring personal responsibility, after acquiring the permit then you are able to join the elite group of gun owners who are among the supporters for national liberty and security.

Physical Discipline

For any individual who is responsible for owning a gun they have to take time to learn physicality of sport (Hemenway, 2017).Incase the legislation is not observed minimum sentence and increased penalties are included in legislation (Langmann, 2012).All the way from fine motor skills up to focusing on the eye hand coordination, physical disciplines by shooting the sport increases the learning capacity of an individual and providing of positive outlets for the activities.

Confidence

Ownership of a gun is not a problem, but the problem comes in when it comes to shooting for an individual that has never shot a gun before. You have to make sure the experience that this person has on the use of gun at their first contact is encouraging to them. When one has spent his time in range they will then find learning to shoot and completing it progressively becoming advanced for the firearms courses which are able to build the confidence of those who are owning guns.

Stress Relief

When you first start off shooting a gun it usually is an exhilarating experience where at times it blends adrenaline booting, having a sense of calm and focusing which has to be understood. On shooting there is no person who can frequent the shooting range in using a firearm which is restricted by not being a member of a shooting club (National Assembly of Quebec,2007). Shooting releases adrenaline in ones system that triggers the liver to break down and utilize the glycogen and fueling of muscles in the body. Physical and mental discipline is vital when it comes to shooting in mindful way creating the sense for calming which could offset even the most stressful days.

Taking Pride in Gun Ownership

The owners of guns take pride in owning the guns and they do not in any way take this responsibility in a light way. In the current world owning a gun is not just for protection but it can be used in sports for shooting during a competition or hunting. When it comes to using the gun for other recreational purposes one should not skip the regulations in place and they have to follow each step accordingly. One has to take courses on the safety use of the guns and prepare towards having better lives. When an individual purchases a firearm it is something that they can take as an investment and able to get huge benefits out of it in future. One has to take pride for this great responsibility.

What do you think are the disadvantages of gun ownership?

Of late we have heard of many cases of domestic violence where guns are used where most of those people are licensed gun holders. Most of the violence has resulted to injuries and we have even had death arising due to this. The right for owning guns is a great challenging in identifying who is a thief and who is not where we have got unintentional cases of shooting being four times more than those who intended to shoot. The probability for becoming a victim for the firearm related homicide or suicide in the homes if an individual has a gun in the house where there are even cases where the children mishandle the guns. According to Kozuskanich (2015) it is a great challenge in US since an individual does not require the permit, safety education and training or license to be able to carry a gun in the US.

Gun- Control: Increasing Safety

For US it has got 120.5 guns per 100 people which can be taken as 393,347,000 guns that is the highest total per capital number in the world. We have got 22 percent of the Americans that own guns where 35 percent are men and 12 percent are women. The pervasive culture for gun is from the colonial history, frontier expansion, and revolutionary and second amendment which states that a well-regulated militia, being necessary to security Free State, right for the people keeping and bearing the arms should not be infringed.

For the proponents of gun control laws states that second amendments was an intention for the militias where violence of guns could be reduced, restrictions for the guns is in place and majority of the Americans including those that own guns support the new restrictions of the guns. For opponents they see second amendment as a protection for individual rights owning guns which are vital for self-defense and it is able to deter the crimes.

Conclusion

In conclusion the article has looked at the advantage and disadvantages of gun ownership in the US. It is vital for the US to take the necessary steps in controlling ownership of guns where they have to issue permits that could assists in avoiding some of the violations which have been observed in the past.

References

Hemenway, D. (2017). Risks and Benefits of Gun Ownership. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 282(2), 135-a-136. Doi: 10.1001/jama.282.2.135-a

Cook, P., Cukier,W., & Krause,K. (2009). The Illicit Firearm Trade in North America. Criminology and Criminal Justice, Vol: 9(3): 265–286.

Langmann,C. (2012). Canadian Firearms Legislation and Effects on Homicide 1974 to 2008. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,27(12) 2303-2321

National Assembly of Quebec.(2007). Bill 9: An Act Respecting the Safety of Persons on Certain Premises and Amending the Act Respecting Safety in Sports.

Kozuskanich, N. (2015).Good Guys and Bad Guys with Guns: Gun Control in Canada and the U.S. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective,Vol 8, Issue 4