Table of Contents
Crime is perceived as one of the most significant challenges facing our contemporary society, especially violent crime, which is often regarded as one of the most dreadful and serious types of crime. Gun control entails all legal measures intended to prevent and restrict possessing or using guns, especially firearms. These legal limits consist of laws and policies regulating the manufacturing, selling, modification, possession, and use of guns. The discussion on the effectiveness of gun control in reducing crime has elicited mixed reactions, where the proponents feel that having laws and regulations governing firearms could significantly reduce crime cases (Lewis, 2018). On the other hand, the opponents feel like those laws are merely an infringement of their rights to protection and that having gun control laws does not prevent crimes. Thus, gun control is an effective way of combating crime since it helps reduce crime rates and promotes a healthy and safer society.
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Reduces crime rates
Cities with effective gun control have reduced crime rates; for this to be achieved, there should be a controlled issuance of a license to new gun holders, and the individuals having guns she is recalled for assessment and checking on how they have used their guns. These will promote the responsible use of guns (Fridel, 2021). The process of licensing gun holders should be thorough and intense. These will help iron out people who might what guns for crime.
Moreover, the police should ensure proper and maximum security in their command area. This will reduce the need for a person to have a gun. There should be strict rules on guns and their use, any person involved in gun violence should be punished and their guns repossessed. There should be a controlled number of guns in the community, as there is an argument that more guns in circulation increase crimes and violence, and also keeping guns out of the hands of criminals reduces crimes (Bittle & Hébert, 2019). The Source of illegal guns and firearms should be traced to reduce gun violence.
Consequently, gun control proponents believe that more laws would significantly reduce gun-related deaths and injuries, for instance, suicides, homicides, and unintentional fatalities. According to various studies, firearms are considered the leading cause of death. This has been associated with the legal purchase of guns, which has often been connected to a long-lasting increase in the risk of violent deaths (Bilgel, 2020). Therefore, implementing gun control rules and universal background checks could significantly reduce crime cases like homicides. Thus, gun control, to some extent, can help reduce crime cases, but unfortunately, it is not the most effective way of dealing with criminal activities.
Promote a safe and healthy society
According to the opponents, gun control will not reduce crimes because these rules would encourage criminals that manage to secure guns and use them to attack individuals they believe to be unarmed. This will significantly help in promoting a safer and healthy society. Therefore, having an armed citizenry would be the best deterrent against various forms of violent crimes influenced by guns (Braga et al., 2018). They believe that gun control cannot be the solution and that it is necessary to enlighten the population on the various risks of possessing guns. In addition, doing a background check and enacting laws that require firearm owners to register them is necessary for reducing crime rates by ensuring that guns do not get into the wrong hands. It is, therefore, evident that gun control is not the most effective way of controlling crimes. Still, there is a need for concerted efforts to find solutions to gun control, a global challenge in the contemporary world where acquiring firearms is not an uphill task.
Countries with high crime rates do not necessarily account for the crime of gun violence or improper use of firearms; individuals who are committing crimes have moved on to modernized techniques of committing crimes; unlike the use of guns, they do not leave behind any evidence of crime done. Controlling guns will not reduce crime, as gun violence contributes to a smaller percentage of crimes committed. Though the use of a gun only increases the fatality of the violence (Burton et al., 2021). Therefore, the avoidance of guns will create a peaceful society.
Additionally, to reduce the high crime rate, all aspects that lead to it should be considered; there should be programs and events that promote an emotionally healthy community that will take the lead in preventing all forms of crime. Young children should undergo training to help raise a crime-free society. There are so many major ways of controlling crime; communities living in areas prone to crime should be well informed on other ways of securing themselves other than guns.
Conclusion
Gun control is an effective way of combating crime since it helps reduce crime rates and promote a healthy and safer society. In a world where access to firearms has been made easier by various factors such as black markets, there is a need for gun control laws and regulations so that crime rates can be managed hence, promote safer societies. Governments must create systems to ensure that gun-related crimes are dealt with decisively. This is because it is evident that gun control laws and regulations are effective ways of dealing with gun violence crimes. Therefore, there should be a controlled number of guns in the community. Supporters have also argued that more guns in circulation correspond to more crime and violence. Keeping guns out of the hands of criminals reduces crime. The Source of illegal guns and firearms should be traced to reduce the supply of illegal guns in the community. All those caught should be apprehended; these will kill the thriving of gun violence in society hence safer societies.
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- Bittle, S., & Hébert, J. (2019). Controlling Corporate Crimes in Times of De‐regulation and Re‐regulation. The Handbook of White‐Collar Crime, 484-501.
- Burton, A. L., Pickett, J. T., Jonson, C. L., Cullen, F. T., & Burton Jr, V. S. (2021). Public support for policies to reduce school shootings: A moral-altruistic model. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 58(3), 269-305.
- Braga, A. A., Weisburd, D., & Turchan, B. (2018). Focused deterrence strategies and crime control: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis of the empirical evidence. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(1), 205-250.
- Fridel, E. E. (2021). Comparing the impact of household gun ownership and concealed carry legislation on the frequency of mass shootings and firearms homicide. Justice quarterly, 38(5), 892-915.
- Lewis, J. S. (2018). The relationship between gun control strictness and mass murder in the united states: A National Study 2009-2015. International Social Science Review, 94(2), 1c-1c.