Crummett, D., & Swenson, P. (2019). Gun control, the right to self-defense, and reasonable beneficence to all. Ergo, an Open Access Journal of Philosophy, 6, 1035-1056. (Journal Article).
The article assesses the propriety of a gun ban with respect to a constitutional right to self-defense. The conclusion is that gun control policies do not contradict moral principles, on balance increasing the chance of remaining safe in a conflict. The arguments against a gun ban analyzed in this paper will be helpful when describing the view of opponents of stricter gun control in Chapter 5. The main obstacles to banning weapons are the potential harm that gun control can do to law-abiding citizens and the state’s lack of awareness of who actually possesses the gun. These and other concepts examined in the article will be adduced in my research.
Masters, J. (2017). U.S. gun policy: Global comparisons. Council on Foreign Relations. Web.
Masters provides an overview of the U.S. gun policy, comparing it to other developed countries, and global statistics on firearm homicides. The information gained from this paper will be mainly applied when listing the drawbacks of the current controlling procedures. These, among other matters, include the availability of private gun selling to persons without a federal background check. Besides, the represented data will support my statistics overview in Chapter 2.
Miller, G. F., Kegler, S. R., & Stone, D. M. (2020). Traumatic Brain Injury–Related Deaths From Firearm Suicide: United States, 2008–2017. American Journal of Public Health, 110(6), 897-899. (Journal Article).
This journal article reports the increasing correlation between firearm suicides and TBI-related deaths. Authors state that the safe storage of guns for people prone to suicidal attempts should be a part of firearm policy discussion. I will use the evidence provided in the paper to explain the threat of potential guns misuse in Chapter 3. The statistics concerning the number of deaths caused by unlimited access to firearms will also be added. Thus, I will be able to support my argument in favor of ensuring the safe storage of guns as part of guns stricter policies.
Prickett, K. C., Gutierrez, C., & Deb, S. (2019). Family firearm ownership and firearm-related mortality among young children: 1976–2016. Pediatrics, 143(2), 1-11. (Journal Article).
In this work, the reader is led through the research dedicated to family firearm ownership and its risk to intimate partners and children. The data relating to child mortality associated with homicides and trends in handgun ownership will be used to explain the reasons underlining social anxiety caused by gun use. The positive correlation between the probability of homicides and firearm ownership proved in this journal’s analysis supports an argument regarding stricter gun control policies. Also, I will include numbers and figures from this paper to show the dynamics of homicides.
Reeping, P. M., Cerdá, M., Kalesan, B., Wiebe, D. J., Galea, S., & Branas, C. C. (2019). State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: cross sectional time series. BMJ, 364. (Journal Article).
The research assesses the factors influencing increasing mass shootings in the U.S. It also provides relevant statistics regarding the correlation between state gun restriction levels and the probability of mass shootings. This information will be used in Chapter 4 to explain the reasons behind social anxiety due to firearm use. Besides, examples of actual mass shootings described in the paper will be included to support the argument. The concept of distinguishing permissive and restrictive states and the discovered gap between those will be used in arguing in favor of stricter gun control policies.
Resnick, S., Smith, R. N., Beard, J. H., Holena, D., Reilly, P. M., Schwab, C. W., & Seamon, M. J. (2017). Firearm deaths in America: can we learn from 462,000 lives lost?. Annals of Surgery, 266(3), 432. (Journal Article).
The journal article gives a comprehensive overview of mortality rates related to poorly regulated gun use. An empirical analysis attests to the fact that “during 1999 to 2013, 462,043 Americans were killed by firearms,” and firearm-related fatality rates did not change much throughout this period. The statistics provided in the paper will be considered in Chapter 3 to articulate the concern regarding the excessive number of deaths caused by firearms which are supposed to provide security. Also, the difference in protection level across the American population examined in the research will be included to support the claim that firearm legislation should consider various aspects of the issue.
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. (2020). Mental illness and gun violence. Web.
This source is one of the few bringing up the guns use’ effect on people’s mental health. Despite explaining that mental illness does not cause violent behavior, the article provides evidence on mental health effects caused by gun violence. Mainly, the source will find its application in part of Chapter 3 dedicated to the psychological impact of unlimited gun use. I will support my argument relying, in particular, on the following statement from the article, “The trauma of gun violence can ripple out into the community, far beyond those who were shot or injured.” Moreover, the potential mental diseases caused by gun violence listed in the source will be included in my paper.
Reflection
The annotated bibliography meets all the criteria and helps to reveal the topic of gun control in the USA from different angles. All entries are credible academic sources and contain relevant data which supports the arguments presents in the essay. Each each source is formatted according to the APA style. To find appropriate sources, the most fruitful strategy was to use the keyword search in the Google Scholar setting filter to show only the works published after 2016. In some cases, suitable sources were found in the bibliography of other works on a similar topic. Several times I came across a seemingly perfect source, but it turned out the article was outdated. Then I started to set the filter for a year when searching in Google Scholar. Since there is not plenty of new research on the effect of gun violence on mental health, I had to cite a trusted internet source that, among other matters, mentions this issue.
Reference list
Crummett, D., & Swenson, P. (2019). Gun control, the right to self-defense, and reasonable beneficence to all. Ergo, an Open Access Journal of Philosophy, 6, 1035-1056.
Masters, J. (2017). U.S. gun policy: Global comparisons. Council on Foreign Relations. Web.
Miller, G. F., Kegler, S. R., & Stone, D. M. (2020). Traumatic Brain Injury–Related Deaths From Firearm Suicide: United States, 2008–2017. American Journal of Public Health, 110(6), 897-899.
Prickett, K. C., Gutierrez, C., & Deb, S. (2019). Family firearm ownership and firearm-related mortality among young children: 1976–2016. Pediatrics, 143(2), 1-11.
Reeping, P. M., Cerdá, M., Kalesan, B., Wiebe, D. J., Galea, S., & Branas, C. C. (2019). State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: cross sectional time series. BMJ, 364.
Resnick, S., Smith, R. N., Beard, J. H., Holena, D., Reilly, P. M., Schwab, C. W., & Seamon, M. J. (2017). Firearm deaths in America: can we learn from 462,000 lives lost?. Annals of Surgery, 266(3), 432.
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. (2020). Mental illness and gun violence. Web.