Gun Control and Gun Sales

For several years, gun safety issues have been hotly discussed. To defend themselves and their loved ones from criminals or some other assault, people buy and possess weapons. The greatest problem about weapons is how to protect them from wrongful acts, including children, since there have been many incidents in which a child takes unto her parents and kills another child. The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States granted the Americans the freedom to hear guns and thus they have the right to purchase handguns and rifles and own them. In the United States, weapons are sold to all, and one thing one has to do is license them (Masters, 2016). Whenever gunfire happens, such Columbine, the Navy Yard shooting, or the Aurora Theater Shooting, the question of gun sales control arises in politics again, and many debates may find ways to regulate these criminals’ affairs. The topic does the last longer since, after a month or two, the topic is dropped. The US should emphasize making certain potential criminals to ensure that guns will not be available in the hands of criminals. Several laws prevent guns sales and control the use of guns by the public. The gun control laws include the Mulford act, firearm act, gun transport law and the stand your ground law. The government set up these laws to reduce gun-related crimes by controlling gun sales in the country.

The government needs to take guns out of the hands of criminals and children and into the hands of people who are responsible for using them. There has been massive loss of lives to gunfire, and the gun laws are aimed at protecting people from these criminal activities (Spitzer, 2015). The most recent tragic open fire that occurred in Las Vegas made me re-think about the regulation and loophole of the gun control law in America. Another memorable tragic incident is the Virginia Tech shooting rampage that occurred in 2007, which an Asian student did a random shooting on campus that really brought fear to the public, basically this occurred right before I came to America from South Korea, so this actually was the first tragic event that made me think about the gun control. For these reasons, I would like to do in-depth research on the regulations and law of gun sales and gun control in America.

Guns are extremely powerful weapons which may cause massive destruction, harm or even death. In most cases, guns are used to defend, protect or to threaten and kill. Youths commit most gun-related crimes in the United States which indicate that they easily access the firearms. Most of these youths and children access guns at homes because their parents do not store them locked and unloaded. Other sources of guns include the black market where people buy them without registration. Gun acts and policies in America aims at regulating possession, sale, and use of guns and ammunitions Florida State has tried to mitigate gun accessibility to the youths by passing laws and policies. The Mulford Act introduced in America by Don Mulford in 1956 to stop the public from carrying loaded firearms. The bill was as a result of members of the Black Panther Party after conducting patrols of Oakland communities. Mulford Act became law in 2015 Florida was among the five states that joined gun control measures when the state Assembly passed it to reduce gun accessibility because it states that it is a crime to carry a gun open regardless of whether the gun is loaded or not (Yuill, 2015).

In 2005, the state passed a law called “stand your ground law” which reduces the use of a gun in self-defense if retreating will prevent death or bodily harm. The law provides illegal arms such as short-gun, short-barreled rifle, and machines guns. The law states that it is a crime for a minor to carry firearms. In this case, a minor is a person under the age of twenty-one. People who have been committed to mental institutions should not own a gun. These laws also prohibit carrying firearms in or near a school (James, 2002).

Lawmakers are proposing to take up more strict laws on in 2017 to reduce gun access to youths. These laws are aimed at restricting gun possession and ownership. For instance “Stand your ground” aims at regulating the use of guns for self-defense. One should not use a gun if it causes death or serious bodily injury and if one does it, he will be taken to a court of law to defend his case. “Open Carrying of Gun” law state that it is a crime to carry a loaded gun openly in public unless one is permitted by the police department. This law aims at reducing youth’s access to guns since they cannot carry guns in elementary schools, public colleges, on the streets. According to this law carrying a gun openly is a first-degree crime while carrying a concealed gun is regarded as the third-degree misdemeanor.

In most instances in guns are transported openly in trucks and gangs would easily stop them making it easy to steal them. They could then give them to teenagers to manipulate the community and carry out illegal activities such as robbery. Most people used to transport guns at the back of their cars wrapped in cartons or glove box. Transporting guns in a concealed minimizes their accessibility and therefore reducing the number of deaths committed by criminals in US.

Gun storage law requires that guns should be stored in a safe place which cannot be accessed by children under the age of 16. The law also states that if guns are around youths and children, they should have a lock trigger to ensure that children or teenagers will not fire and kill another person (Mayer, 2013). The law holds parents or adult responsible if a minor uses their gun and kill or injure another person because it is regarded as negligence. In the State of Florida, someone has to be accountable in a case where a child or a teenage child uses a gun to commit murder unintentionally.

Firearm act requires that guns should be bought from licensed dealers and not across the street. The dealer will provide all criminal history about the buyer to the state department of law enforcement to determine whether the interested party qualifies to own a gun or not (Masters, 2016). This department will also require information on intentions of the buyer and whether he/she will keep it from being accessed by a minor. This law reduces the number of crimes committed by youths because they do not qualify to purchase guns at licensed dealers. If a licensed gun is used to commit the crime, the police can easily trace the owner and carry out investigations on who committed the crime.

In most parts of the United States such as Miami-Dade County the main cause of teenagers joining gangs is poverty, and therefore the state has come up with ways through which these teenagers can complete high school and enroll in colleges. The government spends its money to pay for their tuition and to encourage them to concentrate on their studies. In this county, the supply of gun is very high, and the state has been identifying the main underground markets that sell guns and ammunition to teenagers. According to the police department in Miami-Dade, the police have been concentrating on reducing the number of gangs who sell guns across the streets. When this gang member is not supplied with guns children deaths will reduce. Most members of these guns engage in activities such as stealing guns in cars and therefore public safety officials have been educating residents on proper handling of guns so that they will not land of wrong hands. The black American are most affected by gun-related crimes.

In conclusion, United States has the highest number of deaths due to gunfire where most of these deaths are committed in schools, streets and at homes. The reason behind the massive killing is the act that allows people to purchase and poses suns without carrying a deeper investigation of the criminal background of the buyer. Most of these youths and children access guns at homes because their parents do not store them in a locked place and they leave them loaded or with ammunition nearby. Some citizens are also members of gangs in that provide them with guns. In most towns, guns are easily accessed because they are sold even across the street. Mulford laws prevent people from publically carrying guns to reduce their accessibility. The gun purchase laws and other laws prevent un accessibility to the wrong hands. The government can put it as a law that most makes sure that only those who need guns possess them and before one purchase a un a full investigation is performed on his/her criminal background. If the government fully implement the proposed and existing guns laws gunfire deaths will reduce drastically.

References

Yuill, K. (2015). CONTROLLING GUNS, CONTROLLING BLACKS: Those demanding gun control post-Charleston need a history lesson. Spiked-online.

James B. j.(2002) Can gun control work?. Oxford University Press.

Spitzer, R. J. (2015). Politics of gun control. Routledge.

Masters, J. (2016). US gun policy: global comparisons. New York: Council on Foreign Relations. http://www. cfr. org/society-and-culture/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons/p29735.

Mayer, S. (2013): Children & Guns: Should Parents Be Held Legally Responsible For A Child’s Gunfire?. The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/21/children-guns-parents_n_2516849.html 2013