Gun control relates to the law and practice that restricts and binds the possession, use, manufacturing, sale or import of firearms by citizens. Usually these firearms include handguns and long guns that are used as personal firearms.
Over the years there has been much debate regarding the gun control policies. Recent rampant use by teenagers and psychopaths for random shooting has caused a stir worldwide, leading to major debates regarding gun control.
The laws for gun control vary according to the region as some have very strict guidelines where as other countries have relaxed rules and policies.
One such incident is the Washington DC sniper attack in 2002; this caused many newspaper articles calling for strict gun control rules (1). But on the contrary, the pro-gun lobby retaliated saying such outcry was in fact responsible for panic and had the rules for gun control been easier and had citizens been armed, such incidents would be easy to fight.
The Debate
The gun control and the gun advocacy groups have debated over the years regarding the use and possession of guns. In landmark rulings in 2008 and then in 2010 (2), the court expanded the right to bear arms in cities and states. Before these rulings, there had been much debate whether federal government should apply stringent rules such as availability of guns, purchasing of guns, improvement in the safety regulations etc. The Second Amendment act allows citizen to carry gun for personal safety, as it is their constitutional right, but gun control group argues that such easy availability will increase chances of injuries and fatalities. Furthermore it will result in increase in black market for guns. Homicides and suicides would also increase. Thus this clearly brings out the fact that easy ownership of guns is a risk to humankind as rather than its proper use, it will result in more misuse of the deadly weapon.
References:
(1) Burch M. K. (2012). The Gun Control Debate and the power of the Georgia general assembly: A historical perspective. 17 June 2012. Retrieved from http://www.johnmarshall.edu/academics/LawJournalPublications/Burch.pdf
(2) Ruhl M. J. , Rizer III, L. Arthur and Wier J. M. (2012). Gun Control: Targetting Rationality in a loaded debate. 17 June 2012. Retrieved from http://www.law.ku.edu/publications/journal/pdf/v13n3/ruhl.pdf
