The Second Amendment or gun control has been one of the biggest social problems that people constantly keep on tabs to prevent society from unwanted violence and crimes that might be taking place at the moment or later in the future. There are currently multiple numbers of cases that have been talked upon regarding the negativity of today’s society. These gun issues have turned out to be a social concern and most talked about problem. Society will never come to peace knowing that guns are still allowed because who will be responsible for the lives lost through the trigger? Some people are conflicted between rather to blame the government for allowing people to own guns in their own homes or to blame how these people decide to use their guns. Most people fight to ban guns because they feel like these situations can be prevented and chances of these shootings will lower if guns were not allowed in the first place. The availability of guns and the right to keep them has resulted in a serious rise in criminal incidents all over the world. The usage of guns has gained a massive leap in the present times. The increased depiction of guns in movies and even in video games have brought this current generation to develop a fascination towards this object. I don’t know why the Second Amendment still exists, because, in order to minimize the violence and control the incidents that are taking place today, it is necessary to implement the gun law or to ensure gun control.
Miller believes we should, “First: Identify the dead idea that matters”(Miller 10). That idea is, The Second Amendment or the right to bear arms. The United States has taken up the issue of guns quite seriously due to the excessive rise of mass killings. The main purpose of this law is to regulate the process in which guns are manufactured, possessed, traded and even transferred. The right to enforce this law lies in the hands of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The gun laws have more or less been enforced in all the American states but they keep on varying from one state to another (Spitzer, 2015). The custom of checking universally has been maintained by the government of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. These two states have ensured that the checking is being done in an overall manner. On the other hand states like Virginia are more concerned about maintaining a record of the guns that are being used or sold. Then again there are states like that of Colorado which allowed the faculty members and students to carry guns in a concealed manner inside the campus. Other than this there are plenty of other loopholes that make accession of guns easier. It is quite necessary to conduct a thorough background check before issuing a permit or license to possess a gun (Cage, 2013). The duration between the issuing of the permit and the possession of the gun is quite important as a person might become ineligible by that time. Moreover, the laws are quite lenient as they do not have the right to take back a license or permit once the person had lost his eligibility.
Gun laws should make certain things mandatory like reporting regarding the missing of a gun. Though there is no such law and hence even if a firearm gets stolen or is lost somehow, nobody reports it to the higher authorities. The Nebraska authorities had passed a law in the year 2010 which suggested that those who held a permit might inform the higher authorities in case their firearms gets lost or is stolen. Though this law is not mandatory (Cage, 2013). Then again states like Alaska and Idaho are completely in favor of prohibiting the registration of firearms.
The gun measures vary from country to country. The one that is maintained in Japan has been assessed to be the strictest and hence the rate of gun-homicide too is lesser (Masters, 2016). There are several other countries who are next on the list like Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and so on. Still, there are certain issues that do surface with the application of gun control. There are times when possessing a gun is necessary for the purpose of self-defense but if the procedure of possession becomes narrow then people would stop applying for it. Gun is one such object that ensures both safety as well as danger both at the same time. Thus making the decision making process much difficult for those in authority.
One issue regarding gun laws is Social Class. We can’t move past a Dead Idea without first understanding the source of its power (Miller 12). In every field of controlling laws, there
are always some issues people will face. The social issue is one of the most important issues because these issues related to social issues will be put in the political context. The political context related to gun law is ironic. Gun control law is an important social issue for a few reasons. This has been an exceptionally current debated issue in the media in the most recent time as in the light of the assaults and mass shootings that have happened at a higher rate than normal. One motivation behind why the gun control law is a social issue is on account of shootings impact something beyond the casualties, yet the families, community, and friends. This is the reason gun control and gun violence are viewed as social issues as the fact has the impact comparing to a single individual (Bane, 2016). Another way the law of gun control can be recorded as a social issue is a direct result of the way that the Americans are given the privilege to carry own weapons and bear arms by the second change however the present government is doing everything possible to take away this right. This issue is exceedingly squeezing in light of the fact that the legislature is endeavoring to take away an opportunity which is obviously secured by the Second Amendment. This is an immediate assault on what the Forefathers accepted and set up for the United States and also an assault on the privileges of the current day of Americans. Regardless of whether individuals think weapon possession is an imperative ideal to have or not. As subjects of United States, everybody is given the privilege to remain battle ready and the legislature ought not to endeavor to delay on this right. This raises the greater issue of why is the administration ready to circumvent what is established on and take away privileges of the general population (Bane, 2016). Numerous urban areas and also states have greatly prohibitive gun control laws and don’t allow covered convey.
A large amount of debate goes on the subjects of control over guns and rights for guns among a big part of the society. There are two segments, one comprises of those who have their concern over self-defense, who have an attraction towards collecting guns, take part in various games and the activity of hunting, and these people support gun rights to carry arms (Utter, 2015). The other segment aims to put boundaries on the acquiring and ownership of firearms, they are mainly concerned about the adverse consequences of the existence of arm among the ordinary citizen such as accidents and deliberated harm and deaths, and also have an animosity towards hazardous apparatus. In recent times growth in the support for gun rights has been seen among the common public.
The increasing amount of gun crimes in the U.S. shows the violence and aggression of a part of gun owners. Gun crimes are almost an inevitable result of the possession of guns. According to some researchers, antagonistic and hostile drives are enticed in owners by guns. It has also been indicated that gun owners are very prone to violence (Kates Jr, n.d.). A study implies that the owners of guns are more likely to have views that are racist. There have been many cases of violence against the females that highlights that it is impossible for police to stop native crimes or to give protection to each victim. In the 1960 America, the sales of gun increased as well as the crime rates. However, later in the 1970s and 1980s ownership of guns still continued to grow but killing rates especially gun kills decreased. Guns are on one hand very deadlier than some of the other ways of death and on the other handguns are exceptionally the most efficient way with the help of which a person can oppose harmful attacks.
Some statistics can help in understanding the impact of increasing gun ownership in society:
- There are almost 90 million owners of firearms in the United States.
- Out of four American owners of gun three have guns of two or more quantity
- In 2009, over 30,000 people died in the USA in incidents that are gun related out of which more than 11,000 deaths were homicidal.
- Recent years’ statistics show that more than one individual is killed in a single day in the mass shootings of America.
- Women have higher chances of getting killed by a partner.
Surveys also show that even though the citizens of the US are willing to protect their gun rights they are also supportive of proposals of gun policy along with some ideas that are much quarrelsome. There is large support by Americans for policies that decrease gun access (Lopez, 2017). But often when the proposal for a policy comes out the politicians and other authoritative people try to represent the whole purpose of such policies in the eyes of the public in a negative way. The Final step, based on a clear-eyed assessment of current trends, is to identify the new ways of thinking that are not only needed to thrive but almost certain to come pass because they better reflect new realities (Miller 12). Thus if gun laws do not change, the darkness that thrives from the Second Amendment will continue to breathe and live eternally and future gun-related deaths that are preventable will most likely continue to repeat itself.
