Gun control
The debate on outlawing handgun possession by non-law enforcement professionals in the United States of America does not seem to end soon. This has been mainly attributed to the common slogan widely used by Americans that “Guns don’t kill people–criminals do.” (Desuka). By analysis from the murder rates statistics involving handguns, this slogan, though much powerful does not seem to reflect the real truth. This is because most victims of gun killings are executed using handguns. In addition, of these death cases, only a small percentage involves criminals. Based on this, therefore, and by employing the principles of logical conclusion by sufficient reasoning, this gun control policy should claim, “Guns don’t kill people–people kill people” (Desuka).
Handguns are the most common type of gun among American civilians. According to recent research on handgun sales and licensing, it has been established that the practice is increasingly becoming like any other goods and service provider business in our nation (Desuka). It is nowadays much easier to access a gun for personal use than at any other time in our American history. True to the claim of many, possessing a handgun is usually for self-protection and in some cases for hunting purposes especially in rural areas (Alonso 13). However, the concept or definition of self-defense against criminal attacks is either ineffective or just a misconception of the underlying reality.
According to available statistics an estimated half of Americans over the age of 18 years are living in homesteads with handguns (Adams). Still, clear from these statistics is the fact that this population of handgun holders is more pronounced in rural areas. The question of insecurity in society should be solely blamed on the government. It could never be true for a government like ours to delegate security enforcement to individual citizens (Adams). Indeed, this is the number one reason why America is shamefully rating among the most insecure civilized nations across the globe. It is becoming a common thing to hear of gunshots in our neighborhoods, in our schools, making many wonders whether it is a culture or just a failure on our law enforcement (Desuka).
From available statistics, only an estimated thirty percent of these murder cases involve criminals. Therefore, the bigger portion of the killings is no family violent based reasons, accidental shooting by children while playing with their parents’ handguns, school shooting, and even accidental shootings of bystanders in a robbery (Desuka). This means that the question of possessing handguns for self-defense must be questioned. Innocent children unknowingly access their parents killing themselves or their playmates. This clearly indicates that gun control measures are so ineffective that they cannot protect the lives of young kids. What does a handgun do with the self-defense of innocent children?
However, Desuka’s article “WHY HANDGUN MUST BE OUTLAWED” negates the concept of gun control policies in the American nation. Guns possession by civilians is not only allowed in America, other nations do too. Therefore, the question should be on the policy laws that govern gun use by civilians. According to Barry Goldwater’s quip, “We have a crime problem in this country, not a gun problem” (Desuka). Guns do not trigger themselves. This means that people do kill and thus the concerned should be held responsible for their deeds. Misuse of a handgun must here be regarded as a crime. It is no less a crime to allow kids to play with guns. This is a failure to keep handguns safely and legal action should be taken against such offenders.
Law enforcement agencies and the national rifles association have a duty to ensure that handguns are in the right hands. This is indeed the reason why we have requirements, terms and conditions that a handgun possessor must certify (Adams). A handgun is not a toy and thus the question of use by children is a concern of failure parents and should thus be subject to the law. Just to be noted is that it is the right of every citizen to be guaranteed their security. Wealth and fame are common sense sources of security threats among our citizens and thus licensing of guns should be authorized for some members of the society. Due to this reason, outlawing handguns might not be something realizable in the near soon given the long-lived gun culture in our nation.
Keeping in mind the imminent harm that handguns have in society, implementing a comprehensive gun control policy can greatly reduce gun-related deaths. It has been claimed that by outlawing handguns, homicide rates could decrease remarkably (Desuka). This claim is however not reflective of the insecurity impact such a decision can have on society. Whatever causes homicide cannot be sufficiently summed up to handgun possession though most of the cases involve guns (Alonso 17). Homicide is caused by a combination of many reasons which might include but are not limited to depression, anxiety, conflicts in society, and mental impairment disorder (Adams). The problem here is the people in the society and how they relate with one another. Handgun outlawing might create a security vacuum, giving criminals dominance in gun possession thus greatly risking the security of our citizens.
All in all, the argument by Nan Desuka is quite reflective of the reality in America. People are killing each other daily. Sad still is the fact that most of these murder cases do not involve criminals (Alonso 14). Many claim accidental handgun killings of innocent citizens among them kids. Killing is killing as once dead, life cannot be reinstated. Therefore, if the American nation is contented with these so claimed to be accidental deaths, then it is failing in it the sole purpose of existence, protecting its citizen from insecurity both from internal or external sources.
However, the dictate to outlaw handguns will create another security risk since only criminals will be able to illegally acquire them for their criminal activities, a major security threat to American citizens. We should thus be more concerned about enhancing the security of the citizens against those possessing guns (Adams). This calls for the enactment of more effective gun control rules and regulations as well as improving the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies in dealing with gun killings.
Works cited
Adams, Jerry. “Handgun Control Debate”. Handgun Control debate. 2010. Web.
Alonso, Joseph. “International Law and The United States constitution in Conflict: A Case study on the Second Amendment.” Houston Journal of International Law, 26 (2003): 13-19.
Desuka, Nan. “Why Handguns Must is Outlawed” Why Handguns Must be Outlawed. 2010. Web.