Criminal Law
Abstract
Key words: gun policies, campus shooting, laws, violence and gun owners.
There number campus shootings that took place for the past years have significantly increased such as in the case of the 2012 shooting incident that happened at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut that resulted to the death of twenty (20) students. Another worst campus shooting incident in the history of the U.S. is the Virginia Tech massacre that happened in 2007 in the school campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Virginia, which caused the death of 32 people and left 17 others badly injured. In 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed that new laws and stricter gun control policies should be enacted for the prevention of violent killings, particularly campus shooting incidents. The recent reports of violence revealed that many innocent lives had been wasted and what is even worse is that the killings occurred inside the school premises (Spitzer, 2009). The campus premises are expected to be fully secured in order to promote the safety of the students. However, the recent shooting incidents only show that school authorities have been remiss of their duties in keeping their students safe.
U.S. President Obama proposed that gun control policies must also cover the ban or prohibition of assault weapons and to mandate for a universal background investigation on every gun purchase made in the country. Obama’s action earned political support to promote the safety of students and to that stricter gun control campaign must be observed (Mason & Rampton, 2013). Obama wants to put an end to the senseless killings and remained firm in his objective to make gun control as one of his top priorities last year. For the past two years, similar incidents have taken place such as the shooting in Colorado were at least 12 people were killed and 59 others were injured (Webster & Vernick, 2013). These violent killing sprees all have a common denominator since the crimes were accomplished with the use of guns (Mason & Rampton, 2013).
It is important that the state restricts the power given to gun owners by implementing stricter gun control policies to protect the students against violence and lawless elements. The pain of losing innocent lives in the hands of hardened criminal is insurmountable. It is the duty of the government to restrict and impose stricter gun policies to control gun misuse. Although the right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution, the Second Amendment provides for exceptions to control the gun ownership and gun use (Fuller, 2014).
References:
Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E. & DeJong, C. (2012). The American System of Criminal Justice.
California: Cengage Learning.
Fuller, J. (2014). Shooting in the Dark. American Prospect.
Mason, J. & Rampton, R. (2013). Obama turns to police officers in gun control fight.
Reuters.com. Web. Retrieved on October 28, 2014, from
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-obama-guns-idUSBRE90Q0BA20130128.
Spitzer, R.J. (2009). Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Westport CT:
Greenwood Press.
Webster, D. and Vernick, J.S. (2013). Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy
with Evidence and Analysis. Maryland: John Hopkins University.
