Gun Violence
What is violent crime?:
Violent crime has been defined by the FBI Uniform Crime Reports as murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2012, America experienced a reported total of 1,214,462 violent crimes, a figure slightly bigger than that in 2011 by 0.7 percent. Out of all four categories, aggravated assault accounted for the highest number of cases in 2012 at 62.6% for the nation. Robbery was the second at 29.2% of violent crimes, while forcible rape and murder percentages were at 6.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
Presence of guns in cases of violent crime:
The data that the FBI collected from the reported violent crimes in 2012 revealed a presence of firearms in a number of cases. A 69.3 percent of the nation’s murders involved firearms. In addition, firearms were seen in 41.0 percent of robberies and 21.8 percent of aggravated assaults. While firearms are not used in the majority of robberies and aggravated assaults, there are still a number of cases that involve their use so that the crime is committed.
What is the cause of such a high number?:
Many would argue that the cause is guns and that solution to the problem is to remove guns from the situation. However, there is another side to the argument which believes the exact opposite. The left wing and right wing politicians have different beliefs of what policies would be appropriate in reducing the violent crime rate and, more specifically, the gun crime rate.
Violent crime has been defined by the FBI Uniform Crime Reports as murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2012, America experienced a reported total of 1,214,462 violent crimes, a figure slightly bigger than that in 2011 by 0.7 percent. Out of all four categories, aggravated assault accounted for the highest number of cases in 2012 at 62.6% for the nation. Robbery was the second at 29.2% of violent crimes, while forcible rape and murder percentages were at 6.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
Presence of guns in cases of violent crime:
The data that the FBI collected from the reported violent crimes in 2012 revealed a presence of firearms in a number of cases. A 69.3 percent of the nation’s murders involved firearms. In addition, firearms were seen in 41.0 percent of robberies and 21.8 percent of aggravated assaults. While firearms are not used in the majority of robberies and aggravated assaults, there are still a number of cases that involve their use so that the crime is committed.
What is the cause of such a high number?:
Many would argue that the cause is guns and that solution to the problem is to remove guns from the situation. However, there is another side to the argument which believes the exact opposite. The left wing and right wing politicians have different beliefs of what policies would be appropriate in reducing the violent crime rate and, more specifically, the gun crime rate.
Is gun violence a public health issue?
President Barack Obama issued 23 executive orders in January 2013 aimed at directing certain federal agencies to research and report on the causes of gun violence and what can be done to prevent it. Consequently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to address the issue as a public health phenomenon and requested the Institute of Medicine as well as the National Research Council to aid in the creation of a committee that would further the investigation. On June 2013, the committee published a report, titled Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence, as a call to action for the investigation. The report emphasizes the implementation of a research program that would produce results in three to five years while focusing on certain aspects: the characteristics of gun violence, risk and protective factors, interventions and strategies, gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media. The committee believes that a study on all five aspects will allow the growth of sound policies that would support both the rights and responsibilities on gun possession in the United States.
President Barack Obama issued 23 executive orders in January 2013 aimed at directing certain federal agencies to research and report on the causes of gun violence and what can be done to prevent it. Consequently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to address the issue as a public health phenomenon and requested the Institute of Medicine as well as the National Research Council to aid in the creation of a committee that would further the investigation. On June 2013, the committee published a report, titled Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence, as a call to action for the investigation. The report emphasizes the implementation of a research program that would produce results in three to five years while focusing on certain aspects: the characteristics of gun violence, risk and protective factors, interventions and strategies, gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media. The committee believes that a study on all five aspects will allow the growth of sound policies that would support both the rights and responsibilities on gun possession in the United States.
Alan Leshner, chair of the committee and CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, claims on the report, “The complexity and frequency of firearm-related violence combined with its impact on the health and safety of the nation’s residents make it a topic of considerable public health importance.” Leshner and other scientists in the committee act against the recent restrictions that have created a scarcity of research on gun violence. Amendments added to the Gun Control Act of 1968 limited the government from its ability to create an electronic database that would collect and share information about gun sales, ownership and possession. In 1996, Congress prohibited the use of federal funds that promoted gun control, thus ending all gun-related injury research conducted at the CDC. Gun violence research began to reduce even more after Congress enacted the same restrictions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A lack of research on gun violence results in a diminished progress in understanding and highlighting the causes and effects of gun violence.
Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence.pdf | |
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Why has the research on gun violence been limited?
Much of the shutdown on gun violence research is due to the influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA), an interest group that advocates gun rights to every American citizen. A clash between the NRA and scientists from the CDC began in the 90’s when scientists, such as Dr. Mark Rosenberg, emphasized the significance of studying gun violence as a public health phenomenon. Members of the NRA were disturbed with the research conducted at the CDC as their chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, claimed, “Our concern is they were promoting the idea that gun ownership was a disease that needed to be eradicated.” Pro-gun lawmakers eventually pushed for the 1996 change that took $2.6 million that was spent on gun violence research at the CDC.
Much of the shutdown on gun violence research is due to the influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA), an interest group that advocates gun rights to every American citizen. A clash between the NRA and scientists from the CDC began in the 90’s when scientists, such as Dr. Mark Rosenberg, emphasized the significance of studying gun violence as a public health phenomenon. Members of the NRA were disturbed with the research conducted at the CDC as their chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, claimed, “Our concern is they were promoting the idea that gun ownership was a disease that needed to be eradicated.” Pro-gun lawmakers eventually pushed for the 1996 change that took $2.6 million that was spent on gun violence research at the CDC.
Two different hypotheses on gun violence:
Left-Wing Approach: The left wing, or liberal, argument states that restricting legal gun types, legal gun uses, and gun ownership as a whole will reduce gun crime and violent crime by eliminating the presence of the weapon; the fewer firearms available, the less crimes will be committed with them
Arguments: An Economics Professor of the University of Chicago, Mark Duggan, published his scholarly article, titled More Guns, More Crime. Duggan analyzed the effect of concealed carry in the United States, and as result, found no evidence that could support Lott’s views. High gun ownership counties within states that allow concealed carry did not experience a larger decline in violent crime than did low-ownership counties. Consequently, the discoveries suggest that either gun owners did not carry their gun frequently or that it did not stop criminals from committing a crime despite knowing the likeliness that the victim would be armed. During the 90’s, a period in which the Brady Act and the ban in federal weapons was implemented, gun homicide rates declined by 36 percent, while non-gun homicide rates declined by 18 percent.
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Right-Wing Approach: The right wing, or conservative argument states that citizens should not be disarmed and left defesneless against criminals. They argue for maintianing gun ownership, increasing education about guns, and improved security measures agianst actions by criminals and the mentally unstable.
Arguments: John Lott, an economist and current political commentator in Fox News, is the author of
More Guns, Less Crime. He claims to support the nation of concealed carry over open carry guns because criminals are unable to tell whether the victim
is armed, thus increasing the risk to criminals who are about to commit any type of crime.
Citizens with open carry guns have their defensive ability revealed to the public, including the
criminal. Therefore, Lott concludes that shall-issue laws result in a decrease in violent crime. Lott also claims that the Brady Act has proven to not be effective as at all
since its implementation in 1994 during the Clinton administration. Waiting periods and
background checks on gun buyers and sellers don’t produce any “crime-reduction benefits.”
Also, even less benefit is found from age restrictions and training requirements for concealed-
handgun permits.
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