Research Questions
When did gun control legislation first become law?
What are past gun control efforts?
What have been the results on crime from past gun control legislation?
What are current gun control laws?
What are proposed gun control laws?
What is the controversy surrounding gun control?
In order to have a discussion concerning the criminal use of firearms, a definition of the terms used in gun restrictions is needed. The interpretation used in a report submitted by legislative attorney Vivian Chu to Congress addressed the prohibition of the possession, transfer, or manufacture of firearms (Chu, 2013); this is the definition that will be used for this paper. There has been a solitary gun control law passed in the United States: The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (FAWB) of 1994 (Congress.gov, 2016). The law, which was in effect for a limited span of 10 years, was aimed only at regulation of semi-automatic weapons (assault firearms) and large capacity ammunition magazines. Mass shootings are the most dramatic instances of gun violence, but studies have addressed other crimes involving firearms including assault, rape, murder, and suicide (Chapman, 2013; Gerney, Parsons & Posner, 2013; Ayres & Donohue, 2002). The arguments involved in firearms regulations include opponents of gun control citing the Constitutional right to bear arms and quoting statistics showing restrictions of firearms do not affect criminal violence to proponents claiming statistics support gun control. This paper will study the history of gun control in the United States and the impact on crime, and address related proposed gun control legislation and the controversy surrounding it.
There are two components to creating an informational paper on the topic of gun control. First, compilation of statistics and articles written on the effectiveness of the FAWB should be reviewed to attempt to gather research data from credible sources. Second, the arguments from opponents and proponents need to be considered in relation to the research data collected.
The debate between supporters of increased gun control and people who believe gun control is effective as it currently stands offer a number of arguments for their positions. Opponents to additional firearm legislation refer to the research gathered in Australia following the National Firearms Agreement put into place there in 1996. At that time, certain styles of guns were prohibited and more restrictions were enacted in 2002. The statistics on gun violence in that country showed “significant decreases in armed robbery and attempted murder” (Taylor & Li, 2015, pg. 72). A report from the Australian Institute of Criminology states that “the number of homicides in Australia did increase slightly in 1997 and peaked in 1999, but has since declined to the lowest number on record in 2007, the most recent year for which official figures are available” (Henig, 2009; Aic.gov.au, 2009). However, the University of Melbourne conducted a study that concluded that "There is little evidence to suggest that it had any significant effects on firearm homicides or suicides” (Chapman, 2013, n.p.). Another report by Leigh and Neill (2010) proposed that although statistics in Australia showed fewer incidences of violence involving firearms, trends indicated that the decrease in numbers actually began before the 1996 law was passed and “need to be interpreted as reflecting a combination of both the removal of firearms and the relative strengthening of legislation and enforcement” (Leigh and Neill, 2010, p. 36). A study by Gerney, Parsons and Posner (2013) analyzed 50 state in the country and found the states with the highest numbers of gun violence were also in the top 25 states of softest gun restrictions. The same study found that 68 percent of all murders in America are committed with some sort of gun. Opponents to increased firearm restrictions cite examples when mass killings were averted by individuals with sidearms (Alpers, 2015; Bennett, 2012; Bird, 2008; Lott, 1998; Lott, Jr. & Mustard, 1997) and that mass killings used assault rifles and not handguns (Halstead, 2015; Lott, Jr. & Mustard, 1997). Other similar examples will be included in the finished paper.
United States President Barack Obama announced his revised plan concerning violence with firearms on January 5, 2016 (Ncsl.org, 2016). In order to increase the performance of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), he proposed new background check requirements. Improved education and better efforts by law enforcement officers at administering compliance of existing laws at the level of state jurisdictions. Obama’s plan for 2015 included mandatory federal licensing and customer background checks for businesses that sell guns, tightening restrictions concerning firearm purchases through other channels, promoting better communication between state and federal authorities regarding the history of convicted criminals, instructing the Federal Bureau of Investigations to revamp the current system for background checks, asking for additional funding for agencies dealing with gun control, encouraging attorneys working for the federal government to cooperate with law enforcement officials to decrease and prevent domestic violence, creating a $500 million fund for improved mental health care, and removing barriers the NICS currently faces in retrieving information from other agencies.
The first part of this paper will discuss the history of gun control in America including the incidences of violence that promoted the legislation of the FAWB. Section 2 will present the information gathered from research based on the effectiveness of gun control in the United States and other countries such as Australia and France, which have instituted extremely strict gun control. Section 3 will present the arguments of the opponents and proponents of gun control, particularly in the context of the rights of citizens, perception of the effectiveness of firearm restriction legislation, and demonstrate through documented events what occurs when people who are not in law enforcement carry weapons in public. The final portion of the paper will weigh the information presented to attempt to draw conclusions as to the efficacy of previous gun control efforts and make recommendations for future actions.
References
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