Essay Example on Gun Control: A Test of American Liberalism?

Introduction

In the United States, gun control can be called an actual test of liberalism. If you are a true liberal, you must favor the Act of gun control. Research has shown that the United States population is the most heavily armed in the world, followed by the Middle East. However, a clear presentation of community violence because such factors closely correlate and connect the actual behavior of the people in the United States (Ayres & Vars, 2018). Therefore, there is a desperate need for something to be done about the vast increase in fire ammunitions and firearms abuse.

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The American public is seen to effectively provide support for the background checks activities meant for all dangerous guns, deadly loophole, and also the sales in federal gun laws. These laws are seen to effectively exempt the unlicensed sellers from making performances of the background checks in the Nation by effectively selling the firearms. With this situation, guns are known to have their ways to the hands of gun traffickers and also to illegal buyers who seem to increase the likelihood of gun suicides and homicides dramatically. Domestic abusers and also people prohibited mostly for the reasons that relate to their brains are considered as the largest customers of the unlicensed sellers, which are known to lack background checks in most states. Facts have proven that gun ownership is the leading cause of the increased crime rate, and also it has led to several fatalities that have over the years. The high rate of ammunition and firearms and their dominance of the firearm crime has resulted in people having a clear indulgence of the difference between illegal and legal firearm or rather gun ownership. Moreover, the social damage that has occurred from the frequent use of illegal guns has become a big problem that ought to be addressed sooner before it can get any worse. The policy that is created to tackle any firearms crimes and also to affect legal ownership of firearms negatively ought to meet serious opposition because it's a typical instance to find firearm-related crimes in areas where individuals own guns. Having guns has also proven to harm the household or the inhabitant than protect them. According to research, it was confirmed that most homicides have involves the use of life ammunition appears to be worse and worse or even the site of the actual shooting and more likely to experience suicide more than those homes that lack these firearms. The law enforcement only makes a slight effort to keep these firearms from the reach of children, the mentally ill, and also those individuals who might use the guns to cause harm or they have been involved.The effective control of firearms is quite advantageous to any law-bidding citizen. Moreover, many advocates reason that the widespread use and ownership of weapons is one of the ways of keeping away criminals, but it's essential to understand that it's not about the gun but the question of who pulls the trigger and under what instant is one supposed to use it. The real treat of possessing a fire gun or any fire ammunition by a gang or an individual is being addressed, but dealing with an instance of the weapon being accessed by the mentally ill or the children is not enough solution (Kleck et al., 2016). The main answer to gun control lies with the development and upholding any law that helps in curbing illegal possession of firearms.According to statistics, approximately 40 percent of homes in the United States own guns. There are 120.5 guns per 100 individuals. Thirty-five percent and 12 percent of men and women, respectively, in the United States own more than one weapon (Metzl & MacLeish, 2015). Americans who support gun control are 81 percent of the entire population. They reason that it will have a significant impact when it comes to voting for a specific congressional candidate. Also, a more substantial percentage (91 %) of the population agrees that minors should be restricted to owning guns while 57% of the Americans support a ban of firearms or the government putting in a significant restriction on the same (Fowler, Dahlberg, Haileyesus, Gutierrez, & Bacon, 2017).Discussions about the mass shooting mostly dominated many presidential debates in 2015. It got worse after the Orlando massacre that happened in June 2016, leaving 49 people dead. That occurrence ensured no presidential candidate would ever be carried out without addressing the issue of gun massacres. GunViolenceArchive.org lists the most diver stating mass shootings in 2015 as those that occurred in San Bernardino CA on December 2 and claimed 16 lives leaving 19 people in critical conditions, and we also have Roseburg OR incident which happened on October 1, ten people got killed while nine were injured (Kleck, 2017). August 8 of the same year, eight people were shot dead in Houston, TX. On June 17th and 7th, nine and five people were killed in Lafayette and Lodge, MT, respectively. We also have nine people who were killed in Waco TX on May 17, five-shot dead in Phoenix, AZ on April 16, eight dead and one left injured in Tyrone MO on February 26 and on February 7, we had five killed and two wounded in Douglasville GA (Kleck, 2017). Guns should be controlled to improve children's safety; in 1996, there was an accidental shooting of 140 children who claimed their lives (Fowler et al., 2017). The number of children who were shot rose to 259 in 2012. Advocates of the same addresses that there are more than 8000 homicides that are as a result of the gun shooting, in 1993, the number increased to 14000. Yearly, more than 100000 people in the U.S are shot. According to Statistics, people involved in violent killings in the states have 72 percent of them using firearms as their primary weapon. It is the opposite of what happens in Japan due to their strict rules and regulations on the use of guns and who owns them (Fowler et al., 2017). In 2012 only four individuals in Japan got killed by guns, which is 1000 times less the killings in the U.S. it is mostly affected by the background checks which are not done to firearms that are sold privately.In 1939, there was a case known as "The U.S. versus Miller," which was ruled by the Supreme Court in favor of the ordinary military equipment, that the 2nd Amendment will only protect those and not sawed-off shotguns. Since then, no other cases have been taken to the Supreme Court regarding the 2nd Amendment. In 2008, there was a case title "District of Columbia versus Heller," which was taken to the Supreme Court, and it was ruled that individuals' right to have guns under their names is defined in the 2nd Amendment, which is different from group rights for a state-run (Kleck, 2017).

It is essential to have laws and restrictions on guns in the United States due to the mass shootings that are taking place everywhere, including schools, and this has left a lot of people lifeless. Besides, the government should have internal checkups on people who want to purchase guns to prevent them from losing their lives too soon. Despite having mass shootings of both teachers and students at Sandy Hook elementary school, Wozniak records that few people in America support the ban on semi-atomic weapons and the background check law by the Federal, reasons being their political beliefs and affiliations (Metzl & McLeish, 2015). Moreover, controlling disarmed people is much easier as compared to when they are armed thus; this is another reason why gun control should be implemented in the U.S. For example, it is easier and safer for politicians who have goals that do not have the citizens' best interest to perform their plans on people who are not armed. For the government to be able to manage people, they have to make them dependent on them so that they would accept that the only form of their defense comes from the government. With time, people will normalize that action, and there will be no misuse of guns.The circumstances that lead to debates and decisions about gun control include racism, people who own guns, and gun control opposition such as an individual level of education, gender, income, and age. The American National Election Study has it that after observing the above mentioned, the outcome was people keeping guns in their homes, opposing the ban of handguns and supporting that citizens should be allowed to have firearms which therefore led to gun control in the U.S (Fowler et al., 2017). Gun control started in 1934 as a result of the violence that was caused by Al Capone to encourage the registering of guns whenever they were bought to monitor the owner of firearms in the country (Kleck, 2017). In 1949, there was an awareness of gun violence concerning the 13 people who got killed by Howard Unruh. October 22, 1968, the gun control Act became law following the dismissal of President John F. Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther Jr., who died in 1963 and 1968, respectively (Kleck, 2017). In 1986, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act was formed. It also prohibited the implementation of the national registry of people who own guns. In conclusion, it is essential to have a gun control act to regulate the frequent deaths that occur due to mass shootings, violence, or even children's safety. Most importantly, people who have not gone through the internal checkup to see if they are fit to own guns should not be permitted to have one. By so doing, lives will be saved, and death rates will reduce.

Literature Review

The existence of the current array of policies on gun control were primarily designed through the federal law to insulate the State governments from one another, to help in ensuring the stringent regulations formulated on firearms commerce that are adopted in other States are not underpinned by many guns available in other States (Boylan et al., 2013). There is variation in how citizens of different States receive or favor the laws formulated, like in the rural area of Wyoming, the Citizens there prefer a system that is more permissive compared to citizens in Chicago and if transfers between the two regions are effectively limited then the systems can be accommodated. In 1968, a Gun Control Act was introduced, and the Act established the current framework, which states how gun transfers are controlled (Vizzard, 1999). The dealers of firearms shipments are licensed by the federal, and any dealer not licensed is prohibited from dealing in gun transfers. The licensed dealers are needed to adhere to the applicable State and local ordinances and, at the same time, observe specific restrictions that are attached to gun selling to residents who live outside the State in which the seller resides.

More so, federal law seeks to create minimum restrictions on the possession and acquisition of guns. The Gun Control Act outlines various categories of individuals who are not granted the right to possess or receive a firearm; those individuals are the convicted felons, people under indictment, those convicted of any domestic violence, illicit drugs users, those sometimes taken to mental illness institution, and illegal aliens (Boylan et al., 2013). The licensed dealers are also prohibited from selling handguns to individuals below the age of twenty-one years and even forbidden from selling long guns to anyone below the age of eighteen years. During their business, the licensed dealers are needed to ask identification from their potential customers, and then ensure they keep all records of transactions and have to cooperate fully with the authorities who come and trace the gun ownership sequence that may have been used in crimes.

Also, States have adopted some vital restrictions on possession, commerce, and use of guns; the restrictions add to those formulated by the feder...