Pros And Cons Of Gun Control

In areas where crime is high, guns can keep law-abiding citizens safe. As stated by

The studies and research on gun control has opened up many ideas on how weak the current laws really are. Crime rates consist of high numbers. “Since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii”

FBI statistics accumulated on a countrywide level show that in states that have strict gun control laws, there are higher crime rates. If gun control laws have any effect, it may be to increase crime! For instance, New Jersey adopted what sponsors described as “the most stringent gun law” in the nation in 1966; two years later the murder rate was up 46 percent and the reported robbery rate had nearly doubled. In 1968, Hawaii imposed a series of increasingly harsh measures, and its murder rate, then a low 2.4 per 100,000 per year, tripled to 7.2 by 1977. In opposition, states with liberal gun carry laws have much lower crime rates. In Florida the homicide rate dropped from 37 percent above the national average to 3 percent below the national average after the state changed its concealed carry law in 1987. In 1987, Florida’s murder rate was 11.4 per 100,000 compared with the national rate of 8.2. By 1992, the national rate had risen to 9.3 per 100,000 while Florida’s had dropped to 9, and in 1993, it continued to drop another .3 to 8.7 per 100,000. Between 1987 and 1992, rape increased nationally by 14.4 percent. But in Florida, it increased only 2.9 percent and in 1993 rape in Florida decreased .2 percent. Florida issued 204,108 concealed carry licenses during the first six and half years

Current Gun Control regulations do not deter violence and crime. It has been shown that places that have relaxed their gun control laws have a higher crime and death rate. Data proves that homicide rates “[...] among the metro areas whose principal city is in a state that requires some form of permit to purchase a gun, is 4.32 per 100,000 residents, compared with 5.74 among cities in no-permit states”(Bailey). This is evidence that there is a correlation between gun control and death rates. It is also proven with statistical evidence that places with the least amount of gun control have the most violence. Statistics show that “‘none of the states with the most gun violence require permits to purchase rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Gun owners are also not required to register

In addition, probably less than one percent of all guns will ever be involved in a violent crime. The problem of criminal gun violence is concentrated within a very small subset of gun owners, indicating that increasing gun control aimed at the general population faces a serious "needle-in-the-haystack problem" and will not achieve the intended benefit (Young, 2002).

Gun violence is one of the most serious problems in the United States. Each year in the U.S., more than 35,000 people are killed by guns, a death rate much higher than that in any other industrial nations. In 1997, approximately 70 percent of the murders in the United States were committed with guns. However, ironically, the United States also is the country that has the most gun control laws. Gun control laws generally focus on passing legislation—by local state, or national government—to restrict legal ownership of certain firearms. Seemingly, gun control laws may decrease criminals’ access to guns, but in fact the same laws also have their negative effects. Thus, the controversy over gun control is always heated. But my paper is not

still manage to obtain substantially low murder rates, some even lower than developed nations where guns exist in smaller quantities. An example of this includes Luxembourg, where handguns are banned, yet still murder exists in rates that are around 10 times higher than that of Norway or Germany, where handguns are both legal and easily accessible (Kates, et al., 2006).

As mentioned earlier, a homogenous country will more likely lean towards a side of an issue rather than be divided on it, but there is a critical factor that must be mentioned if someone does compare other countries with the United States. According to the CRPC (Crime Research Prevention Center), there is large amount of discrepancy on the crime and gun statistics of other countries. For example, the CRPC have used the official United Kingdom government website as a source to see their stance on homicide. Shockingly, the report to Parliament states that “England and Wales have been adjusted to exclude any cases which do not result in conviction, or where the person is not prosecuted on grounds of self-defense or otherwise” (Greenwood, 2000). This means that if the person is not convicted or prosecuted due to self-defense reasons, the case is excluded in the statistics. If this rule was applied to the United States in 2012, the murder rate would drop by half since 7,133 people were arrest in 14,827 murders. It is very important to be careful when depending heavily on the homicide rates in other countries as the country can downplay their homicide

According to Dr. John R. Lott Jr, world recognized economist, this is not the case at all. Lott holds a Ph.D in economics from the University of California of Los Angeles has rigorgously decidated to finding the correlation between violence and guns within the United States. According to this findings “Consealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States” several misconceptions where cleared in a scienfic manner. First, the number of consealed handgun permits are increasing each year. Just within the past 2015 year, 1.7 million additional permits were issued. This has resulted in a 15.4% increase in permits within one calendar year. Where John R. Lott Jr. makes a distinction in his research center, that although permits are increasing, this does not neccesarily mean that violence is increasing as well. To the contrary belief violence is decreasing at a significant rate. Just between the years of 2007 and 2014 murder rates have fallen to an dismounting rate of 4.2 per 100,000 people. Looking at both variables closely this has represented a 25% drop in overall murder rate while the percentage of permits have increased at a rate of 175%. This provides a basis that lets concerned families, verterans and students that the possession of Firearms is not a direct correlation to violence within

The United States’ homicide rate (5.9 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2005) is higher when compared to other countries: Sweden with 1.3, Canada with 1.5, and Australia with 1.3. To go along with these rates, America has a higher gun ownership with 39% when compared to Canada with 29.1%, Australia with 19.4% and Sweden with 15.1%. Many argue that these statistics prove the effectiveness of gun control. Fewer amount of guns equals less crime.

The United States is often compared to other countries with stricter gun laws such the UK and Australia. Many argue that Britain and Wales have lower gun homicides than the United States, and that is true. On average 4.8 people for every 100,000 are killed in the United States every year. While in Britain the number is at 1.2. Granted in a country where guns are more readily available, their may be more gun related homicide rates, particularly those inflicted by guns. However, one must also take into consideration violent crime. In Britain and Wales their are 898 violent crimes for every 100,000 people while in the United States there are only 387. In Britain and Wales only 19% even involve a weapon. Because most of the country’s population

Since the turn of the 21st century the United States, a nation that prides itself on gun ownership, has seen a steady rise of prolific instances of gun related violence, far higher than any first world nation. From the year Whether it be a homicide or suicide, if one turned on the local news station or CNN, it is now but assured that at least one story would pertain to gun violence. To better put in context, from 2003 to 2012, there have been 313,045 deaths directly related to guns (Firearm violence). In contrast Switzerland, another first world nation, has seen very little gun related violence despite boasting some of the highest rates of gun ownership. This begs the question, “Why has the United States been plagued by gun violence but not

The United States has been a world leader in homicide for centuries. Indeed, “since the early 19th century ...[America has been] the most homicidal country in the Western world” and holds that title today (Kelley, 2009). In a 2007-2008 list of 31 nations, only two nations, Mexico and Chile, had higher homicide rates (Comparison, 2010). Nations with higher populations, such as India and China have fewer homicides (Comparison, 2010). Further, a nation such as Japan, which has a lower population but a higher population density then the United States, has one of the world’s lowest homicide rates (Comparison, 2010). Population size and density, therefore, cannot be the chief reasons for this nation’s higher homicide rates.

Further, despite the fact that gun ownership in the U.S. increased enormously during the 1990’s, there was a consistent, dramatic reduction of criminal violence. In fact, homicide and violent crime have plunged over the last 15 years. Considering that 18 of 25 countries surveyed had an increase of violent crime, America’s large decline is impressive. Moreover, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, and Denmark also have a high rate of private gun ownership, and the murder rates in these countries are as low as or lower than developed nations with less gun ownership (Kates & Mauser, 2007).

Mark Duggan researched the correlation between gun ownership and committed crimes. He discovered in a ten percent increase of gun ownership associated with a 1.42 percent increase in homicide rates. In his finding he came to support the theory that gun ownership increase other crime rates as well as an increase in homicide rate.