The United States has encountered a wave of crime in recent years perpetrated through the use of guns. Statisticians blame this rise in crime on the poor regulation on the arms business which contains numerous loopholes through which criminals can access guns. Recently, they released some very disturbing and worrisome statistics. An estimated 31,000 people in the United States alone die as a result of gunshot wounds. Another worrisome statistic is that the rate of homicide in the United States is up to seven times higher than a combined rate of homicide for 22 other high GDP countries (Webster et al, 2). Perhaps the other significant statistic is that when emotional and psychological trauma, lost quality of life, societal consequences and decline in property values are included, the cost of violence resulting from guns is in excess of 100 billion US dollars.
A subsequent study of crime revealed several shocking facts. States that require careful record keeping and accountability of gun stores and require strict conditions and high requirements to grant a license for the possession of a gun, suffered less gun related crime than those that did not. The study also revealed that common sense policies that are adopted at the local and state level are a successful tool that can be used in reducing the channeling of guns to criminals (Webster et al, 7). Another study showed that illegal straw sales and undocumented firearm sales are six times as common in the States that fail to regulate private sales when compared with those that regulate private sales such as California.
The National Council of Research panel of experts discovered that RTC laws are closely associated with the rapid increase in aggravated assaults. There were over 2,400 people with permits to hold guns that were convicted in Northern Carolina (Webster et al, 9). The panel estimated that a range of 1-9% rises in aggravated assaults were as a result of weak RTC Laws and regulations. In my opinion, all states should take the issue of gun control more seriously by limiting the number of guns issued out. Stringent procedures should be used for one to qualify to carry a licensed gun. With the evidence expressed from the text, it is obvious that enough has not been done to combat crime perpetrated through the use of guns. Severe punishment should also be issued to those with permits to possess guns that are caught in crime with those guns.
Works Cited
Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, Katherine Vittes, Emma E. McGinty, Stephen T. Teret, Shannon Frattaroli (2012) The Case for Gun Policy Reforms in America
