In the United States, gun ownership is common
There is a large proportion of the population with licensed and unlicensed weapons which makes US one of the nations with highest gun ownership in the world. The high number of weapon ownership in the country is linked to the increased rates of gun violence. Over the years, the country has experienced a high number of deaths caused by guns. More than 30000 people are reportedly killed from gunshots making gun violence one of the leading causes of deaths in the country. One-third of the gun-related deaths are as a result of suicide (Alban et al. 141). This implies that about 10000 people kill themselves using the licensed guns they own or in their families. Incidences of mass shootings are also widely witnessed in the nation. Since the Columbine mass shooting incidence in 1999, thousands of civilians, including school children have been victims of gun violence. In the year 2017, 59 people were killed in Las Vegas. In Sandy Hook Elementary School, another 28 people including school children were shot when shots were fired in the public. The list of such incidences is long which has resulted in the demand for the revision of the gun control laws.
Summary of the Articles
The debate on gun control policies has generated mixed opinions from the people in the country. One of the sources that support gun control is a 2016 research study titled "Epidemiologic evidence to guide the understanding and prevention of gun violence" by Webster et al. This study concluded that gun ownership has a positive correlation with the risk of gun violence and deaths through suicide and homicide. Gun ownership creates an easy access to weapons which are in turn used to commit violence. As the authors indicated, "In 2013, 50% of intimate partner violence homicides in the United States were committed with firearms" (Webster et al. 2). Gun ownership creates an easy access to weapons which are in turn used to commit violence and therefore creating tight gun control policies would help in preventing these deaths.
There are people who do not support gun control laws. According to the article published by Fox News in 2013, gun ownership is important to the citizens and hence should not be controlled by strict regulations. This article was titled "The psychological and public health benefits of gun ownership." It posited that people with a motive to kill would commit murder using different weapons rather than guns. According to the article, an example of person with ill motives was Timothy McVeigh who killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in the year 1995 using explosives. Therefore, suicide and killings would be committed even if the gun ownership was highly controlled. The author concluded that "putting more—not fewer—guns in the hands of law-abiding American men and women and training them to safely store those guns would actually be one immediate way to immunize the population from feeling like potential victims" (Fox News). Therefore, gun control laws are not the solution to firearm violence.
Weighing in the Issue Gun Control Laws
The article by Webster et al. (2016) indicated that gun control regulations would reduce violence and crime. With less strict gun control laws, there is easy access to guns which are used to commit violence. Therefore, people are more likely to use the weapons to kill others or themselves. In this case, I partly agree with this point of view. When there are many guns with the citizens, the number of weapons increase. This implies that a person, even those who are legally authorized to hold guns, can access them. However, I do not view this as the main cause of gun violence. Fox News holds a different opinion on the issue that people would kill themselves or others regardless of the presence of the guns if they have such motives. There are many incidences of mass murder and the weapon utilized are not guns. Therefore, the presence of guns in the community does not cause an increase in violence.
It is true less control enables people to have easy access to guns but that does not imply the reasons to commit suicide or murder. In my point of view, when a person is mentally unstable, he or she can commit violence or suicide with any weapon. Therefore, the increased gun violence is contributed by other factors such as mental disorders and ill-motives (Alban et al. 141). Furthermore, when a person has plans to commit murder, they can choose any weapon such as knives or explosives. In this regard, I share the Fox News opinion that limiting the number of guns in the society will have little effect on the murder and suicide rates. It is important to note that firearms do not kill but it is the people who commit the crime with guns. This implies that even if the number of guns owned is high, responsible use of them would be an appropriate solution to the violence.
According to Fox News, gun ownership is important as it helps the citizens to protect themselves and their property. When people are attacked at home, they are supposed to use the guns for self-defense. This is the primary motive of the gun licensing. However, I have a different point of view on this issue. Most of the guns acquired by people are not used for their primary purpose. Only a small percentage of the gun violence incidences are as a result of self-protection. This is evident in the fact that most of the gun crimes are committed by licensed firearms. This indicates that people use valid reasons to acquire the guns but use them inappropriately. Since many of the guns are not used in self-defense, it would be wise to control their ownership.
Conclusion
With the increased incidences of gun violence, many people hold the opinion that tight gun control policies should be enacted. This has created a heated debate as others feel that gun control laws would not solve crime and murder in the country. Controlling gun ownership would reduce the number of weapons available to people. Also, such laws are needed since many of the licensed guns commit crimes rather than being used in self-defense. However, the availability of guns does not lead to an increase in gun violence since other factors come into play. People with mental disorders or motives to kill would commit the crimes anyway. Therefore, strict gun laws would reduce the number of firearms with the people but responsible gun ownership would deter violence, homicide, and suicide.
Works Cited
Alban, Rodrigo F., et al. "Weaker gun state laws are associated with higher rates of suicide secondary to firearms." Journal of surgical research 221 (2018): 135-142. Print.
Fox News. "The psychological and public health benefits of gun ownership" Fox News Network, https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/the-psychological-and-public-health-benefits-of-gun- ownership. Accessed 1 Dec. 2015.
Webster, Daniel W., et al. "Epidemiologic evidence to guide the understanding and prevention of gun violence." Epidemiologic reviews 38.1 (2016): 1-4. Print.
