Introduction
Nowadays, an individual carries many different emotional and physical responses to sociological and economic stresses and this is particularly applicable to individuals with an unstable minds. These stresses can be aggravated by violence and the probable chance of violence. (Cooper, 1) These stresses give rise to fear psychosis. As a result, an individual can become volatile and potentially dangerous. Handing such a person a weapon can result in lethal actions that stronger Gun Control Laws can prevent. Gun Control Laws are instituted to prevent unstable people from possessing arms. It is easy to deem this as a trigger-happy syndrome but the fact remains to be very volatile and fearful.
The statistics that have been formulated about continuations of violence and the sources of the violent behavior are staggering. On April 16, 2007, “Thirty-three people were killed today on the campus of Virginia Tech in what appears to be the deadliest shooting rampage”. (Hauser, 1) This is a prime example of an individual with an unstable mental condition who got access to firearms and the result was deadly. Many such examples express a crying need for gun control policies. At present, any citizen can buy a firearm under Federal law. (Cook, 692)
Main body
Guns play a major role in rapes or sexual crimes. It is also reported that rapes or sexual crimes that occur on the street and in a parking lot or garage involve the use of guns. It has been reported very recently in Massachusetts, “Three Lynn men have been indicted on separate cases involving rape, narcotics and firearm charges by an Essex County grand jury.” (Kapsourakis, 1) It has been reported that about 65% of these crimes are executed at gunpoint. (Moore, 193) Thus, it is most logical to control the use of guns.
Researchers and policymakers should determine the nature and the extent of gun-related violence to formulate the most appropriate policy against guns. It is important to consider the fact that guns worsen the result of the condition of the action taken by people already affected by alcohol and drug addictions or under mental health stress. The research work Gangs, Guns, And Drugs: Recidivism Among Serious, Young Offenders by Beth M. Huebner, Sean P. Varano, Timothy S. Bynum published in Criminology & Public Policy in 2007 conveys this truth. (Huebner, 220)
It should be mentioned that there would always be a segment of the population who would surely argue that the U.S. Government should allow U.S. citizens to own guns and continue with the existing policy about firearms because regulation of firearms would certainly mean an attack on the free will of the population or a direct attack on the U.S. Bill of Right. Furthermore, there would be arguments that ownership of a firearm is a guarantee of self-defense and there should be no policy that would revoke that right. Lastly, there would still be a population that would believe that enquiring into such individual and social context while interviewing would result in a violation of privacy.
However, it can be said that the gun control law is easy to formulate keeping in view the problems and highly workable within a comparatively small frame of time, say a couple of months. As a result, the success of this law against the free use of guns or firearms in the U.S has a high possibility of success. Sure, there are oppositions to the gun control policies but they are easily overridden by logical reasoning already placed forward. As per as Ethical issues are concerned, there should not be any because the law is targeted towards the greater good of the society and so there should not be any significant opposition against this law. (Liptak, 1).
Works Cited
Cook, Philip J & Jens Ludwig; Aiming for evidence-based gun policy; Journal of Policy Analysis and Management; Volume 25, Issue 3, 2006, 691-735
Cooper, Michael; Thompson Brings Gun Control to the Fore; NYTimes. 2007. Web.
Hauser, Christine and Anahad O’Connor; Virginia Tech Shooting Leaves 33 Dead; NYTimes, 2007; Web.
Huebner, Beth M, Sean P. Varano, Timothy S. Bynum; Gangs, Guns, And Drugs: Recidivism Among Serious, Young Offenders; Criminology & Public Policy; Volume 6, Issue 2, 2007, Pages: 187-221.
Kapsourakis, Karen A; Lynn men indicted on gun, rape, drug charges; ItemLive.com; (2008). Web.
Liptak, Adam; Gun Laws and Crime: A Complex Relationship; NYTimes. 2008. Web.
Moore, Mark H; The bird in hand: A feasible strategy for gun control; Journal of Policy Analysis and Management; Volume 2, Issue 2, 2005, 185-195.