Gun Control in USA - Research Paper

Introduction

Guns in the USA are seen as a holy emblem to its independence from Britain. But, due to increased mass shootings, politicians and members of the public have campaigned on gun control measures. Gun violence can be illustrated as the use of a firearm to cause terror leading to massive deaths. This issue has caused the deaths of innocent people. The pertinent problem lies in ownership and issuance of unlicensed firearms. Furthermore, gun-related killings differ between races (black &white). Therefore, most people have suggested on the government to control the issue and distribution of guns directly; to reduce the rate of death from gun violence (Victor, 2016).

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The increase in firearm violence in the USA has raised public concern. Mortality arising from firearms is worrying, the fatality rate since the year 2000 has been ever-rising nationally. It is estimated that more than 90 daily deaths are associated with guns. There is a disparity in gun fatality rate between ethnic races. Statistically, higher mortality rate occurs among blacks in comparison to whites. The firearm mortality rate has been described as high among youths between 17 to 25years. The death toll among teenagers is 45% from suicide and 80% from homicide.

Firearms are everywhere in the USA, and the most significant percentage of firearm owners has been linked to increased risk of firearm-related deaths. Therefore, in an attempt to lower gun-related deaths, most US states have legislated several gun control laws (Kalesan, Mobily, Keiser, Fagan, & Galea, 2016). Without gun control measures in the USA, there would be an increase in mortality rate. For instance during the year 2012, specifically 14th December, 20 children and six teachers were massacred in a primary school in Sandy Hook Connecticut by a lone gunman. The gunman was armed with three semi-automatic firearms. The death tall led to gun law reforms which resulted in a decline in the rate of firearm homicide by an average of 7.5% per year in comparison to 3% per year before law reforms. Moreover, firearm-associated suicides reduce in male population from 3.4 deaths per 100000 individual-years in the year 1997 to 15.0 per 100000 individual-years in 2005 translating to a reduction of 24.5% (Chapman, 2013).

Another research study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Connecticut permit to purchase (PTP) handgun law and homicides. The rate of homicide death was the second largest in the US among individuals aged between 15 to 34 years from 1999 to 2011. Moreover, it mostly contributed to racial disparity in death among the male individuals. Due to this high death rate, most federal policies were redesigned to encounter gun violence. The law hindered people with a history of mental illness, domestic violence, substance abuse, and criminal behaviour from owning guns.

The PTP law increased background check conditions for handguns sold by private dealers and licensed firearm sellers, raised the minimum legal age for handgun purchase from 18 to 21 years, preventing an age group with the highest homicide rate, and needed the completion of a recommended handgun safety laws of at least 8 hours. Therefore, this law led to a reduction of firearm homicide rate by 40% during ten years that the law was implemented in Connecticut ( Rudo inlph, Stuart, Vernick, & Webster, 2015).

Gun Control in Australia

In Australia, there are stringent gun control laws. The laws were implemented following a massacre at Port Arthur in which 35 people were shot dead and 18 others injured by a lone gunman armed with two semi-automatic rifles. The most significant percentage of people killed was a tourist who had visited Tasmania's tourist site. The killings triggered the implementation of the following gun laws by Australian police minister's council (APMC). These laws are a ban on importation of all self-loading rim-fire rifles, pump-action short guns, a compensatory buyback scheme where gun owners would be paid a market price of any prohibited weapon he submit, registration of firearms, individual to prove genuine reason for owning a firearm, firearm sale be conducted by licensed dealers and gun applicants to undergo accredited training. These control measures led to a sharp decline in gun-related deaths. There are no gun deaths since 1996 (Chapman, 2013).

Gun Control in Japan

Japan has the lowest level of firearm homicide rate; this is attributed to Japan's highly restrictive arms regulations. Most guns are illegal in the country. Moreover, the gun ownership rate is meagre. The homicide rate is 1:10000000 in Japan. The only permitted weapons are short guns and air guns under Japan's firearm and sword law. Other conditions to be met to own a gun in Japan are excelling in a battery of written mental, drug test and rigorous background check. Lastly, the owners are required to provide annual firearm inspection and report to the authorities on firearm storage (Masters, 2016).

Gun Control in the United Kingdom

The Hungerford massacre triggered firearm amendment act in the UK. This massacre led to the killing of 60 people and also the gunman executed himself. It was during August 1987 when a lone gunman armed with two legally weapons, a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle. The gunman engaged the members of the public on a six-hour shooting spree approximately 70 miles west of London. Moreover, in March 1996 a gunman having four legally purchased handgun one adult and 16 school going children before killing himself. This necessitated Britain to issue a ban on the use of the specific semi-automatic rifle, raised registration requirements for weapons, and instituted temporary gun buyback ("U. S. Gun policy," n.d.)

References

Chapman, S. (2013). Over our dead bodies: Port Arthur and Australia's fight for gun control. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Kalesan, B., Mobily, M. E., Keiser, O., Fagan, J. A., & Galea, S. (2016c). Firearm legislation and firearm mortality in the USA: a cross-sectional, state-level study.

Masters, J. (2016). US gun policy: global comparisons. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.

Rudolph, K. E., Stuart, E. A., Vernick, J. S., & Webster, D. W. (2015). Association between Connecticut's permit-to-purchase handgun law and homicides. American Journal of Public Health, 105(8), e49-e54.

U. S. Gun policy: global comparisons. (n.d.). U.S. Gun Policy: global comparisons. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons

Victor, H. (2016). Gun Control in the United States. Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs.