Gun control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gun control - Research Paper Example Some people supported the owning of fire arms by Americans while others advocated for new laws that would ban the sale of some semi-automatic firearms. These gun control calls were a measure to reduce the occurrence of a tragedy like the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. After the incident at Sandy Hook, over 100,000 Americans signed a petition supporting renewed debate on gun control in America. Gun violence in the United States is the leading cause of calls to control guns. Gun violence is common in urban areas and more often involve young males (GIIDS, 2011). Such high profile shooting like the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre has heightened debate on gun policies in America. Statistics show that 70 percent of all homicides in the United States get perpetrated using some firearm. This includes suicides and accidental shooting incidences. Different policies at the state, federal and local levels, have made an attempt to address gun violence through a number of methods inc luding restrictions of firearm purchases by at risk population, establishment of gun buyback programs, law enforcement and policy strategies. Other measures to curb the increasing instances of gun violence include setting periods of waiting before purchasing of firearms, enactment of harsh laws of violators of gun laws, community outreach programs, and education programs for children and parents. The federal legislation aims at prohibiting the sale of firearms to criminals and insurgents. Gun policies get determined by the interpretation of the second amendment of the constitution of the United States. These amendments have been subject to several disagreements throughout the years. This second amendment protects a person’s right to own a firearm for the traditional lawful purpose of defense against trespassers in the home and within the federal enclaves. This protection extends to the states as well. There have been numerous endeavors in the United States by authorities to c ontrol the use of guns throughout the states. This has led to numerous recommendations in relation to gun laws and policies. Recommendations on the gun laws are as follows. There should be a ban to the military assault weapons that include high capacity magazines (Carter, 2006). Background checks should be expanded, and gun traffic laws should be toughened. A ban should be imposed on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds. The expanded background checks should include criminal checks to prevent an instance of criminals getting access to guns. The loophole should be closed that exempts gun buyers from any form of screening. Legislations should be passed to ban transfer or possession of armor bullets and cracking down on individuals. These people after passing the screening test hand over the guns to criminals and people forbidden from buying the guns. Top of these recommendations is the background checks issue. It is important for an individual background to be thoroughly scrutinized before getting allowed to own or even purchase a gun. There should be a ban on assault weapons. Another recommendation would be making legislation that defined gun trafficking as a federal crime. This legislation would limit the gun flow in, out and within states. There should be an addition of more legal language in the laws regarding the distribution of guns such that there are less legal hurdles in prosecution. This is because the current legal language as regards to gun laws has proved difficult