How to be American Citizens - Assignment Example

 Gun ownership has been a hot topic for debate in the United States for a long time now. This is mainly due to the fact that there are people who are of the view that this should not be legal for civilians to posses guns while on the other side of the spectrum, there is also an equal or even more number of civilians that proclaim their support for Civilian gun ownership claiming it is a right that is protected by the constitution. With this in mind, the main research question for this paper will be; Should a law abiding citizen acquire a hand gun for the purposes of self protection? The major stakeholder in this debate are; American citizens, The Federal as well as State Governments, The National Rifle Association (N.R.A), and anti-gun associations. The American Citizens can be divided into those who are pro and those who are anti civilian gun ownership. The government has a stake in this since depending on how well the issue and regulatory framework is handled, it may lead to increased or reduced security for its citizens. The N.R.A and pro gun ownership citizens claim to be in it to protect personal liberties and freedoms that are enshrined in the Supreme Law. On the other hand, the anti gun associations as well as citizens blame this on increased gun crimes in neighborhoods. This issue matters to the wider population since over the past few years, there has been a sharp increase in school, shopping malls, and even cinema shootings by terrorists or mentally unstable institutions. Hence this controversial issue has to be addressed sooner rather than later. Annotated Bibliography Carter, Gregg L. Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Internet resource. Gregg L. makes a good argument on the issue of gun control in this book. He outlines the various best methods that can be employed in the regulation of gun ownership that will not infringe aggressively on the civil rights of the citizens Browder, Laura. Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Internet resource. Laura Browder, in this book illustrates how women, who are viewed by criminals as the most vulnerable of the two genders can be adequately trained on gun handling to give them more power in dealing with felons and petty criminals. McDowell, Earl E. America's Great Gun Game: Gun Ownership Vs. Americans' Safety : an Outline of the Need for Increased Federal Gun Legislation. New York: iUniverse, Inc, 2007. Print. I had to read this book in order to get the perspective of citizens who advocate for greater restriction on gun ownership. This enabled me to see any advantages of this line of thought or the shortsightedness of the same. Carter, Gregg L. Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print. This was important as it enabled me to better understand the previous debates on gun ownership and what events have shaped the current position taken by the various citizens both proponents and opponents of the second amendment. Cook, Philip J, and Jens Ludwig. Guns in America: Results of a Comprehensive National Survey on Firearms Ownership and Use. Washington, DC: Police Foundation, 1996. Print. Cook, Philip and Ludwig in their book, wrote about the various surveys conducted on fire arm ownership with several recommendations on how to better enforce proper use of legal guns in America. Dizard, Jan E. Guns in America: A Reader. New York, NY [u.a.: New York Univ. Press, 1999. Print. This is a general read out on the Guns and their effects both positive and negative on the American society. Lott, John R. More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print. The book looks at the correlation between increased gun ownership and the corresponding effect on crime levels on the given society Whitney, Craig R. Living with Guns: A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment. New York: Public Affairs, 2012. Print. It is very rare to find a liberal leaning in support of the second amendment so this was a unique source of information regarding gun ownership in America. Controversy analysis A handgun is a very important tool that comes in handy in personal protection for a long time now. This kind of gun is very common in towns and cities as well as in jungle areas as an effective way employed to protect humans from gangs. It can also be used in protecting one from wild creatures and animals like wolfs and bears. Despite all these proven uses of the hand gun, the issue of whether or not to have a hand gun in the house is still a matter of intense debates among the different facets of society. This however is not a new issue at all. It has been with us for as long as one can remember. To have or not to have a hand gun in the house is a debate that touches on the moral and even legal frameworks of the modern American Society. There are very many viewpoints that can be seen in the no-print as well as print media. Even with all these points of view, the most important is how the second amendment defines gun control. An excerpt states, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the people’s right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed and the definition of gun control is; government regulation of possession and use of firearms by private citizens” (Levinson) & (Sifry & Watzman)   However, it is surprising that gun control means to take away the legal and licensed guns from the law-abiding citizens that will further provoke the criminals to do their activities without any fear of any possible weaponized barrier from the victims. (NRA 238). Discussion The issue of having hand guns at home needs to be handled delicately and properly. There are certain people who reside in areas that are quite detached from the general population and city suburbs but much closer to mountain and forested areas. Such people also have the right to security and self-defense in case they are confronted by life threatening situations while in these far off locations away from government agencies and law enforcement. If this is not factored in, it will be unfair to such sections of the population as it can amount to denial of the right to life. They too, need to feel safe from both human and non-human threats as well. (Buchalter) According to research done, the concept of self-defense among a group of five people was the main reason why they purchased and put the guns in their houses. This is also supported by the Constitution of the United States by enshrining the right to self-defense by use of legalized fire arms. The government is caught in a catch twenty two situation as to whether to break the constitution and deny the citizens this right or allow legalized guns with the risk of some citizens misusing the same guns to increase insecurity in their neighborhoods and societies. There is also the issue of there not being enough law enforcement to be able to protect each and every citizen in the nation (Lee). There is also a school of thought claims that guns can also act as a crime deterrent. This is because the criminal or gang member may have to think twice about whether it is a good idea to confront a victim who is potentially armed with deadly fire. This deterrent goes a long way in reducing the prevalence of petty crime while at the same time the short gun will increase the probability of survival of the victim in case the victim opts or decided to resist the attack by the would be burglar. A certain experiment was conducted in Orland, Florida. A course was developed and offered to women about the usage of hand guns as self-defense tools. A total of about six thousand women signed up for this course. Afterwards, it was noted that over the course of the next one year, the rape rate in the city had significantly decreased by up to 60% as compared to the previous year. This argument about the weapons acting as deterrents was reinforced some time later in the city of Albuquerque. There was a strike in the police force over a certain period of time. Due to this, many city residents stocked up on guns and personal defense weapons since they anticipated a surge in crime rates in the City. On the contrary, the crime rates actually went down since it was a known fact in the criminal underworld that residents were arming themselves. There were also deadly confrontations between home owners and would be invaders that only reinforced this fact among the criminal underworld. This supported the theory that possession of personal handguns prevents instances of victim injuries that normally occur due to the advantages enjoyed by armed criminals over unarmed and defenseless victims (Lee) In the 1980s, about 3,000 would be offenders were lawfully shot dead by armed law abiding citizens in incidences of self-defense. A further more than 10,000 felons were wounded under these self-defense confrontations. Looking at these statistics, they show that armed civilians tend to neutralize more felons than the law enforcement agencies. This will make them ne fearful when thinking of confronting law abiding citizens with the intention of robbing or maiming them since the tables could very easily be turned on them. Besides, armed law abiding citizens are not bound by protocol on how to act in the presence of a threat. They simply act out of survival instinct to eliminate a threat or get eliminated yourself.   The second amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (Levinson). The use of the word ‘infringe’, means to violate or even trespass. This part of the second amendment is quite ambiguous to state the least as it is not very clearly stated. It is also difficult to understand why this amendment should be interpreted to mean the right to have a deadly weapon that can contribute directly to indiscriminate killings in the same society that it want to ensure is free. (Levinson). With all this in mind, it can be said therefore that possessing a hand gun is a basic civil right of any American citizen that is enshrined in the constitution. The key drawback is that the weapons black market is booming .This is the port of call for any criminal who wants a gun or anyone who does not qualify to legally own guns like the mentally challenged or unstable etc. For this second amendment to be successfully implemented, this loophole has to be sealed to prevent illegal gun ownership. This is because this underground market lacks effective regulation and documentation of the kind of guns or its owners. Most of the weapons available here are also devoid of serial numbers as well making tracking in the event of a crime extremely difficult. With this in mind, gun control laws will have the undesirable results of snatching guns from aw-biding citizens and leaving them defenseless in the company of criminals in possession of illegal guns. (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,) It should also be noted that legal gun ownership requires a person to undergo a course on proper gun handling and usage. The licensing process only begins after completion of the said course. An extensive background check is conducted on the prospective gun owner in order to unearth any history of criminal activity as well as mental instability that would render him incapable of owning a gun. This extensive procedure in handgun ownership is designed to ensure that the legal guns end up in the hands of stable and law abiding citizens that will use the hand gun for its rightly intended purpose of self-defense and not criminal activity in the society. (LaPierre). Conclusion The above discussion shows that the government should encourage hand gun ownership among law abiding citizens as the statistics prove that this can help in reducing the crime levels in the society if handled properly. To achieve this, they have to come up with foolproof means of vetting prospective owners and weeding out unstable criminal elements from the group of legal law abiding gun owners. Appropriate training is one of the most critical means of ensuring responsible gun ownership as this was proved in Orlando Florida. However even with these procedures being followed, we must know that human beings tend to embrace different values that are influenced by personal experiences as they grow older. A critical question is that, will the legal gun owner always remain on the right side of the law or not? Read More