Preview

Gun Control in Us: a Challenge to the American Political Culture in Terms of Law and Religion

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2711 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gun Control in Us: a Challenge to the American Political Culture in Terms of Law and Religion
Introduction The creation of the United States came as a result of the independence war with England in 1776, in which the big involvement of citizens and militaries for the liberation left as a consequence people owning weapons. Contrary to what happened in Europe after each war, the citizens in US were not disarmed after the liberation, but their armament was supported with the second amendment of US constitution, “Bill of rights”, allowing “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (Amendment II, US Constitution). Second amendment still exists today, and despite the incremental legal adjustments, it still is prominent in supporting the rights of individuals to bear guns. Bearing guns in US became very popular (Bellesiles, 2002). Americans are willing to walk freely in the streets without being threatened from someone. Although, some claim that bearing guns for self-protection is their right, some others in contradiction, claim that gun rights are the main cause of social turbulence and violation. Scandalous events happening in the US, such as mass killings of people culminating with the killings of innocent children, raised a serious debate among scholars, lawyers and politicians’, to revise the second amendment. Who is the killer: the gun or people? Easy access of people to the guns may bring down the social stability and result with atrocities like mass killings of children by a well-armed psychopath. Some claim that easy access of people to the guns may threat the public stability, so the bearings of guns have to be controlled by the state. On the other side of the debate, there are scholars who do not relate the gun control with the killings, “the effect of gun ownership on all other crime categories is much less marked” (Douggan, 2001).
This paper aims to assess the debate on guns in two other dimensions: by giving legal and religious aspect on the



References: Braga, A. & Moore, M. (2000, December). Gun Control. John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Faculty Research Working Papers Series. Braga, A. (2001). More Gun Laws or More Gun Law Enforcement?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 20(3), 545-549. Bellesiles, M. (2002). Exploring America 's Gun Culture. the william and mary quarterly, 59(1), 241-268. Cook, P., & Ludwig, J. (2003). Fact-Free Gun Policy?. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 151(4), 1329-1340. Duggan, M. (2001). More Guns, More Crime. Journal of Political Economy,109(5), 1086-1114. Heaton, P. (2006). Does Religion Really Reduce Crime?. Journal of Law and Economics, 49(1), 147-172. Haider-Markel, D. P., & Joslyn, M. R. (2001). Gun Policy, Opinion, Tragedy, and Blame Attribution: The Conditional Influence of Issue Frames. The Journal of Politics, 63(2), 520-543. Kleck, G & Gertz, M (1995). Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevelance and Nature of Self-defense with a Gun. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(1), 150-187. LaFollete, H. (2000). Gun Control. Ethics,110(2), 263-281. Moorhouse, J., & Wanner, B. (2006). Does Gun Control Reduce Crime or Does Crime Increase Gun Control?.Cato Journal, 26(1), 104-124. Mauser, G. (2004). Do Gun Laws Improve Public Safety?. Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies Faculty of Business Administration Simon Fraser University. http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/letters/DrUSoped104.pdf No Author (1970) The Pew Research Center. (2012).More Support for Gun Rights, Gay Marriage than in 2008, 2004. Washington, DC: Author. Carroll Doherty and Michael Dimock Zimring, F

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Beck writes, “After someone is shot, the story starts with details about the kind of gun used, the capacity of its magazine, and a rundown of how it was acquired” (10). Although people are blamed for the crime, Beck realizes that it is not the person that is investigated for media purposes, but the gun used in the crime. This book is primarily revolved around myths such as this one and others that are commonly linked to the discussion of guns gun control, but he also includes different twists and turns as well. While reading this book, the reader is able to learn more about the right to bear arms, given to them by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the on-going issue of homicide, armed violence and overall gun…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Persky, Anna Stolley. “An Unsteady Finger on Gun Control Laws.” ABA Journal 96.12 (2010): 14-6. ProQuest Criminal Justice; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 3 Dec 2012. <http://www.justice.gov/usao/ut/psn/documents/guncard.pdf>.…

    • 2163 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nowadays, people have various views about possessing firearms. It cannot be denied that firearms are often a big danger. One of the numerous examples is the school shooting on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High school that ended in a massacre. In this essay, I will discuss three arguments that indicates why I am against firearms. Firstly, weapon possession creates more crime. Secondly, a firearm could end up by mentally ill people, even when it is bought legally. At last, most of the time, citizens are not able to defend themselves with firearms. Therefore, citizens around the world should not be allowed to own firearms.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2nd Amendment Rights APA

    • 3553 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Nocera, J. (2014, Feb 05). The gun report, one year later. International New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1494070151?accountid=36299…

    • 3553 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    THESIS STATEMENT: This paper elucidates the causes for the gun violence is the presence of guns in our society, rather than the citizens who are using them for their bad intentions.…

    • 89 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gun Control Debacles

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page

    The purpose of this paper will give a historical background of the gun control debacles in the United States, and will focus on gun control and the Second Amendment, the historical context of the Second Amendment and the legitimacy of gun the control legislation, America’s most dominant gun control movements since 1980, as well as presenting the effects they have had on the American public by analyzing different approaches state-by-state across the U.S., to understand if there is a correlation between the number of firearms, and killings committed by guns.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gun Controll

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The article written by Jill Lepore, “Battleground America,” is about the history of guns, how they are used, and how they are viewed throughout the past up to the present. She talks about major gun companies and their effect on the amendment, and how guns themselves do not cause negative harm but the people who own and use firearms for the wrong reasons cause harm. Lepore uses many strong points about gun control throughout her article to present her information for her audience to feel as though guns are put into the hands of the wrong people, and does so by creating enforced credibility in her sources, using negative connotative language, and an informative feeling to her article rather than an arguing stand point.…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gun Control Outline

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thesis Statement – There is no doubt that this world would be a safer place without a license to carry, but we need to consider that guns are needed to hunt.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Second Amendment to the Constitution says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” (Agresti, 2009, para. 2). Based on a simple reading of this, it would seem that people do have the right to own and use firearms. So why are so many people trying to ban guns? Maybe it is because they do not understand what the Second Amendment actually means. Maybe it is because the media only reports the crimes committed with guns and not the lives saved with them. What would happen to the crime rate in the United States if guns were banned altogether as other countries have done? While some people think guns should be banned, it has been proven that criminals will still find ways to obtain them and the crime rate will rise.…

    • 2364 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pro Gun Control

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages

    With the Second Amendment giving American citizens the right to bear arms, and approximately fifty percent of Americans owning some form of a firearm, issues involving the ownership and possession of guns has led to debates in American society. Many feel that the some form of gun regulation is necessary in order to lower the level of gun related violence in the country. On the other hand, the opponents of gun control feel that it would be an infringement on their second amendment rights. The outcome and extent of gun control has strong political implications because it basically determines the present day meaning of the Second Amendment. While each side has strong points. Today, based on the number of crimes and violent acts committed with guns, society needs more gun control.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gun Control Laws Are Bad

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Volsky, Igor, and Mark Glaze. "Firing Back at the Gun Lobby ." U.S News & World Report. N.p., 14 Mar. 2017. Web. 10 May 2017…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Informative Speech

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Attention- getter: What would you do if somebody came into this classroom and pointed a gun at you as if they were going to kill you for no reason? First thing that would come to mind is, “Am I really going to die right now” and “Why is a person on campus with a gun trying to kill people?” Sad part is, an event like this has happened many times in the past. For instance, the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting as well as the Colorado movie theatre shooting that all took place within the past year[example]. These mass shootings have brought up the issue of controlling who is able to purchase guns and if it is safe and necessary to roam around in public armed with a weapon.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thesis for Gun Control

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I belive there is a need to increase gun control in an effort to decrease crimes that are related guns. The control of guns has been a controversdial topic as far back as 1813. In today’s society the issues regarding gun control have been controversial. Many strict laws have been passed by the federal government to regulate ownership of guns. In an attempt to regulate gun control many people believe that past familiar high profile political shootings have been as a result of the impactful gun control restrictions. In 2008 there was a battle taking place in The Supreme Court that voted five to four in favor of the American people’s constitutional right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense. The ruling has made anti- gun supporters disagree and angry.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wilson, James Q. “Gun Control Isn’t the Answer.” LATimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr 2007. Web. 13 July 2014.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Anti Gun Control

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Should the mere fact that criminals committing crimes with the use of guns infringe the national right of the innocent to possess guns. This is a question that arouses everywhere and no matter which way it is viewed the controversy will always go on. "A gun is a mere tool that can be used for good or evil. Our country is based on the belief that man is good until he or she is proven to be otherwise."(Harris p.2) This means that only a few people are committing crimes with uses of guns and why completely remove them from society. Therefore, we should strenuously protect the rights of free men and likewise prosecute and punish the criminals who abuse the rights of others. The problem with gun violence is associated with the child's atmosphere. Moreover, we need to educate young children about responsibly handling guns and educate them to respect life and the life's of others. The movement of gun control exploits every celebrated act violence and offsetting the hundreds of thousands of cases in which guns are used as defensive weapons to save live and property of the innocent. Moreover, guns do more good that bad. This issue completely contradicts the Second Amendment which states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the rights of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays