Introduction
Although many states have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, it is difficult to find a problem in the world that is as fiercely debated as the issue of personal weapon control. In this context, debates principally are founded on whether laws concerning a personal right to arms are an unreasonable restriction on a citizen’s freedom and whether there is an interrelation between crime and guns. Proponents advocating for gun-control legislation claim that the strict government gun regulation deters crime and saves many lives. On the contrary, opponents of gun control argue that individuals who possess guns can adequately defend themselves from offenders and that free access to firearms leads to secure society. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue associated with firearms regulation and examine the situation of gun control in different countries.
Context
Weapon laws and policies regulate and control the production, possession, sale, transfer, modification, and usage of firearms by civilians. Firearms are usually categorized by most of the government regulations into three general types, namely rifles, handguns, and shotguns, which also referred to small arms. Arms-rich countries can provide civilians with the right to keep and carry guns and have more liberal laws concerning firearms than other jurisdictions. For example, Senegal, Pakistan, and most US states do not require any permission to purchase most types of firearms, which means that anyone can buy them from licensed dealers (Alpers and Wilson). Countries that regulate access to firearms, including Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico, usually limit access to specific categories of guns or restrict the groups of persons allowed a license to access such firearms.
General Situation
The overall situation regarding gun usage is still complicated, taking into account the recent data of reliable sources. Concerning gun ownership, the Small Arms Survey that, in 2017, about 857 million firearms are held by civilians in 230 countries, showing a 32%-increase in civilian arm usage compared to the estimate from 2006 (Karp, p. 3). In particular, this figure consists of 85% of total weapon circulation (Karp, p. 3). Besides, the survey determined that the US is a country having the highest number of civilians who hold firearms, which equals to 393 million of the global total of civilians (Karp, p. 4). In other words, the USA possesses nearly 120 weapons per 100 people. These statistics show an unfavorable and even critical situation that is connected with gun use.
On the background of increased use of weapons by citizens, the number of victims who have been injured or killed is also growing. For example, in 2019, the United States has shown the highest number of gun deaths in decades, where over fifteen thousand peoples, willfully, maliciously, or accidentally, died because of weapons and above have been injured (“Charts and Maps”). Children, including teens, consist of almost four thousand. Besides, above twenty-four thousand people commit suicide using firearms, and twenty-eight thousand have been injured by guns. Therefore, this data proves that the United States needs stricter firearm regulations.
Moreover, it seems that the support of gun control becomes less in the last decades. In their study, considering current Gallup’s and Pew’s examination of polling data, Newman and Hartman state that Americans become less loyal to gun control in the past 25 years (Newman and Hartman, p. 1529). In addition to this, New York paper published the article asserting that “many Americans have turned to a national source of comfort in times of crisis – guns” (Stieb). The author adds that, according to the online retailer Ammo, the sales of weapons increased to 68 percent after the unfavorable situation caused by Coronavirus in Italy (Stieb). Hence, this shows a worrying tendency of how some upheavals can affect a citizen’s attitude toward guns.
However, the situation is not as hopeless as it seems at first glance. For instance, Zeoli et al. state that in 2013, 50% of all 1,270 intimate partner homicides in the United States were carried out using firearms, the lowest rate since 1980 (125). In addition, “firearms were used in 3.4% (or 32,900 annually) of nonfatal intimate partner violence (IPV) victimizations from 2003 through 2012” (Zeoli et al, p. 125). Zeoli et al. also indicate that due to stricter state gun laws in the United States, suicide rates have been reduced (p. 125). Furthermore, the most recent statistics show that 60% of Americans prefer stricter gun control (“Most Americans Want More Gun Control”).
Finally, protests in support of gun control continue to be active, especially this can be seen in the mass media and social networks. The particularly famous protest was held in Washington in 2018, called March for Our Lives, which contains 500,000 participants and provoke social media traffic (Zaczkiewicz). Altogether, in that time, protests were registered in approximately 800 cities in reply to the shooting in Parkland in the USA.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper has considered the issue of firearms regulation, its meaning, and the latest statistics that characterize the situation relating to gun control. The recent data indicates a positive tendency that although the number of guns is increasing, the total number of victims, including people killed and injured is decreasing in the last decades. Overall, the condition is still problematic and requires stricter firearms regulation. The worst situation is in the US, where many citizens have almost unrestricted access to the weapon, especially to small arms.
Works Cited
Alpers, Philip and Marcus, Wilson. “Guns in the United Nations: Firearm Regulation – Guiding Policy.” Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, 2018.
Karp, Aaron. Estimating global civilian-held firearms numbers. Ginebra, Suiza: Small Arms Survey, 2018.
“Charts and Maps.” Gun Violence Archive, 2020.
Newman, Benjamin J., and Todd, K. Hartman. “Mass Shootings and Public Support for Gun Control.” British Journal of Political Science, vol. 49, no. 4, 2019, 1527-1553.
“Most Americans Want More Gun Control. Why Doesn’t It Happen?” YouTube, uploaded by The New York Times, 2018.
Stieb, Matt. “The Coronavirus Ushered in Boom Times for Gun Retailers.” New York, 2020.
Zaczkiewicz Arthur. “Celebrities Drive Social Media Mentions Amid Gun Control Protests.” WWD, 2018.
Zeoli, April M., Rebecca Malinski, and Turchan, Brandon. “Risks and targeted interventions: Firearms in intimate partner violence.” Epidemiologic Reviews, vol. 38, no. 1, 2016, 125-139.