Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Trafficking Essay

* The U.S. doesn't even require a background check every time a gun is sold and allows the sale of assault clips holding more than 10 bullets. This makes it easy for dangerous people to get their hands on lethal firepower.

In the legal and illegal use of firearms, some ways of obtaining and the selling of guns are shocking and others are well known. Children, teens, and adults all have ways to obtain a firearm even if they are underage or do not pass a mandatory back-ground check, which causes

Customs and Border Patrol have the authority to carry out searches on any vehicle, beast, person or container for cargo that is subject to U.S. duties, or whose importation is outlawed. Customs and Border Patrol agents are also authorized to search Aliens for contraband and have arresting authority. (Kim 2009, 5)

There are roughly 32,000 gun deaths per year in the United States. Around 60% of these crimes are gang related. In discussion of gun violence, a controversial issue is whether gun related crimes are blamed on the person who owned the gun or by the illegal gun purchase. While some people believe gun violence should be blamed on the people that cause the violence, others contend that gun violence should be blamed on the way people receive their gun. When I was younger and uninformed, I thought gun purchases are effective and legal. I failed to notice that guns the purchase of the gun itself is being conducted informally, which leads to people also trading their guns illegally. Between informal gun purchases and illegal gun trading, this also leads to gang related gun violence.

Do you believe the United States of America is capable of smuggling guns into a foreign country? In the novel “Guns Across the Border: How and Why the U.S. Government Smuggled Guns into Mexico”, written by Mike Detty, will explain the U.S. problems with smuggling guns outside the borders. “Guns Across the Border: How and Why the U.S. Government Smuggled Guns into Mexico” is based off the notes and experiences from Mike Detty, a former confidential informant for “Operation Wide Receiver” and “Operation Fast and Furious”, and other agents who went through issues with the ATF (Detty, pg.3). This book is useful for scholars or students that studies under a governmental agency profession because it gives point of views from people that had experiences with the ATF. Mike Detty expressed his opinions about the ATF significantly well throughout the novel. The storyline is also based off the operations “Too Hot to Handle” and “Castaway.”(Detty, pg.4)

According to a report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, the United States has about 35-50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns and has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. With no restriction and so much freedom, firearms can be distributed throughout the United States illegally and obtained as easy as buying it from a person, disregarding all gun laws. Implementing stricter background checks can help reduce the amount of crime relating to gun violence. It can also keep firearms away from those who shouldn’t have possession of them.

The United States is one of the few countries were the right to bear arms is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent with incidents involving guns this year reaching an estimated 36,212 and an approximate 9,050 deaths (“Gun Violence Archive”). There are an estimated 310 million firearms in households across American, these are only estimates because current gun laws do not require them to be registered or tracked. A more staggering estimate is that most of the guns owned by private citizens are semi-automatic guns, the same type of gun used in almost all mass shootings. While these privately owned guns are legally purchased, many times, they land in the hands of criminals, and owners never report them stolen. Mass shootings and gun crimes are not the only issues with gun violence the one never talked about is suicide, more guns available equals more suicides. The United States is one of the easiest countries to own a gun legally or illegally, stricter gun control laws are necessary.

The first thing is that assault weapons can be bought and sold illegally online and in person, but mainly

The controversy over assault rifles is one of the most problematic issues related to the contributions of gangs, drug traffickers, and most criminal activity. More often than not, criminals have access to the weapons of their choice more easily than it should be. Getting them from licensed dealers, black markets, and family members’ homes, the availability of these militia weapons has become to effortless to obtain. The rise of criminal activity is part of the reason more than one-third of high school students have easy access to a weapon or gun. “Four out of five guns brought to school are actually brought from their own homes” (Page par 2). This is one of the biggest problems when faced with where criminals get their

In “End the Gun Epidemic in America” the Editorial Board of the New York Times argues that politicians are not doing enough to keep American’s from purchasing specifically designed weapons for killing people. Politicians let their political interests interfere with passing basic restrictions on weapons of mass killings. The article was written in response to the December 2, 2015, shooting where 14 people were killed and 22 were seriously injured in a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California.

The Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund researches the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it, in order to communicate it to the people. The article “how dangerous people evade background checks and buy Illegal Guns Online” shows the means of how

When it concerns the economics of gun control, the pro gun control side believe that the loopholes of purchasing a gun illegally are one of the main factors in the crime rates, and that because of this, trace data should be released. One thing both sides may agree on is that there are many flaws in the process of purchasing guns. Around 40 percent of gun owners have not been through a background check. Obtaining guns illegally is not necessarily through a direct purchase of them. Kelly Sampson explained that the two main methods of illegal purchases are the obvious black market, where guns are sold illegally to potential malicious users. However, straw purchasing is another method of obtaining guns illegally, where a person who is allowed to purchase guns, buys a gun with no problem, but later gives that gun to the illegal user. According to ATF director Bradley Buckles, “Virtually every crime gun in the United States starts off as a legal firearm.” However, it is difficult to determine the effect it has on crime due to trace data not being available to the public. This frustration is expressed by Kelly Sampson, who claimed that if the trace

For a nation as advanced as the United States the death of thousands of people each year is an issue affecting and concerning every American. With this problem occurring almost every year, the question of whether or not gun licenses can guarantee the safety of citizens throughout the country has been raised. With the number of deaths created by firearms each year, the need for enforcing stricter gun-control laws has grown increasingly. In addition, with the amount of fear throughout the country, and concern for protection, many people are beginning to buy firearms through simple and easy ways. Throughout America there are numerous ways for citizens to find and purchase weapons, whether it is in a gun store or online, the possibilities are endless.

With Honduras being the most dangerous country in the world,many of the laws on guns and violence in general need to be re-evaluated. Honduras has almost 850,000 weapons in the country but only around 258,000 are registered. The lax gun laws in Central America have caused there to be an epidemic of murders, 82 per 100,000 people, almost 80% of homicides being firearm related. Central America has 5 times more murders than Iraq a year. Being a part of the “Northern Triangle” along with El Salvador and Guatemala, Honduras is responsible for majority of the gun supply in places such as Mexico. According to the United States officials 50% of the arms trafficking is coming from this region.

Every year, all across America, guns cross the hands of various members of our society. Guns are legally put to use for the military, the police force, SWAT teams, or even hunters. When it is the military, police force or SWAT teams using guns, they are well-trained in their proper use and make responsible decisions that save lives. In extreme cases, guns are used illegally by large numbers of gangs, drug dealers, juvenile offenders, or other forms of criminals. These people do not obtain guns with the greater good of others in mind, they do so to benefit themselves. They are not properly trained in how to use guns and often times, make decisions that injure or kill the people around them. For these reasons, there are many mixed