According to the National Rifle Association of America reviewed in the article More Guns Do Not Stop More Crimes, Evidence Shows by Melinda Wenner Moyer 170 million shotguns have been purchased since 1991, although the crime rate has only increased. Americans continue to believe that weapons protect them, although practice shows the opposite (Moyer). The article provides a literature review and primary research in which the majority of participants take one of two opposing points of view.
Many studies provide information only from an angle that interests them. For example, “several dozen” studies suggest that guns can stop violence. Resources such as the CDC have been blocked from covering the topic of the use of weapons for many years, as it were they who conveyed truthful information. On the other hand, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University report on the difference in violence more than sixfold in states where guns are common. Also, the author of the article says that people with firearms are at a higher risk of being killed (Moyer). Therefore, there are a number of studies that clearly show the opposite.
Thus, many sources of information provide information only about the benefits of weapons, while often not touching upon such important topics as safe storage. At the same time, those media resources and individual representatives who show dissent may be susceptible to exclusion from positions or real attacking actions on the part of such bodies as the NRA. Garen Wintemute from the University of California talked about the opportunity for researchers to move from established interests to private sponsorship to be free to express their opinions, as did former CDC director Rosenberg (Moyer).
The sheriffs interviewed in various states including Alabama and the city of Kennesaw could not recall a time when weapons were used by Americans in self defense. Both representatives interviewed were police officers who had worked for over 30 years. Only the sheriff in Scottsboro recalled one case from practice, when the presence of weapons helped to prevent a possible negative development of events (Moyer). Therefore, in practice, weapons are not widely used as a means of self defense.
At the same time, studies published by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz contradict this information from the police. Researchers claim that more than one percent of those surveyed have used weapons in the past year for self defense purposes. However, their results also contradict the official statistics of the National Crime Victimization Survey, according to which weapons are used for self defense several times less (Moyer). There is no general analysis that would be supported by all other studies and surveys.
There are many conflicting studies already published. John R. Lott and David B. Mustard say that the easier it is to buy a gun, the lower the level of violence will be, while researchers such as John Donohue and Yet Cook argue the opposite, that since the states have reduced the requirements for gun procurement permits crime levels are only growing and will only get worse (Moyer). Each of the studies provides its own statistics, which are aimed at the interest of researchers.
In conclusion, some of the research also suggests that weapons are not a base for violence, but a complement. Thus, the free sale of arms matters, but is not the only or main reason for the increase in the level of violence (Moyer). Additionally, guns make the outcome of case attacks and life threats only worse because of their destructive power. The outcome of negative clashes could be different if the aggressor did not have a gun.
Work Cited
Moyer, Melinda Wenner. “More Guns Do Not Stop More Crimes, Evidence Shows.” Scientific American, Web.