Gun control

About: Gun control is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1211 publications have been published within this topic receiving 16516 citations. The topic is also known as: firearms control & gun law.

The homicidal nation: An investigation into violence in the United States

Abstract: Violent crime occupies a central place in American political culture, both as an element of the national character and as the focus of continuing policy debates on issues as disparate as school integration and gun control. This paper seeks to identify the root of the American penchant for violent crime, and for homicide in particular, and sketches its political implications. An “opportunity” model, stressing reaction to social immobility in a society with pervasive achievement‐oriented symbols, provides an appealing approach. It fails to explain, however, the regional violence characterising the South. Institutional factors, notably the weaknesses in a fragmented, locally‐controlled system of law enforcement within a non‐parliamentary democracy, must also contribute to this American problem.

Gun Control in a Developing Nation: The Gun Court Act of Jamaica

Abstract: Generally, the study of Third World crime can be approached from two acutely different theoretical perspectives. “Modernization” theory attempts to attribute crime in Third World societies to the rapid pace of industrialization and attempts to apply a variety of criminological theories that focus on the individual and the immediate social context of the actor. “Political economy/dependency” theory attempts to address the processes of imperialism and underdevelopment and the whole range of law violations and legal controls present in post-colonial societies. This paper explains the Jamaican firearm crime problem, and the societal response to it, during the 1970's and early 1980's by applying the political economy/dependency theoretical framework. The legislative policy designed to curb increases in firearm crimes in Jamaica during the study period was the Gun Court Act. This mandatory piece of criminal legislation is examined in order to develop the connection between crime in underdeveloped natio...

Citizens in Arms: The Swiss Experience

Abstract: I. INTRODUCTION: THE CULTURAL EXPERIENCE Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, has two unique holidays: Sechselauten (Spring festival) and Knabenschiessm (boys' shooting contest), which takes place on the second weekend of September every year.1 Dating to the year 1657, today both boys and girls shoot in the Knabenschiessen with the Sturmgeweher 90-military assault rifle model 1990-and also play at such activities as bumper cars, albeit not at the same time. At the 2002 Knabenschiessen, 5,372 teenagers-more than a quarter of them girls-participated;' The first place winner was crowned the "Schutzenkonig"-the shooting king.4 (It is said that Switzerland has never had any kings other than shooting and wrestling kings.) The second place winner was the "bestes Ma;dchen," the best girl5 When the winners were announced, the two seventeen year-olds were swarmed by politicians wanting to shake their hands." At all major shooting matches in Switzerland, bicycles aplenty are parked outside. Inside the firing shelter, the competitors pay tips to twelve year-olds who keep score. The sixteen year-olds shoot rifles along with men and women of all ages. This author once attended a shooting match near Lucerne where the prizes-from rifles and silver cups to computers and bicycleswere on display at the local elementary school. You could see the children's art show while you were there. For quality of life, Zurich rates as the best city in the world, followed by Vancouver and Vienna.7 The best cities for personal safety are ranked as Luxembourg, Berne, Geneva, Helsinki, Singapore, and Zurich.8 The least safe cities in Western Europe are Milan, Athens, and Rome, while Washington, B.C., gets the worst safety rating in the United States.9 The worst cities worldwide, not surprisingly, are violence-prone areas in the underdeveloped world.10 Professor Marshall Clinard writes in Cities With Little Crime, "[e]ven in the largest Swiss cities crime is not a major problem. The incidence of criminal homicide and robbery is low, despite the fact that firearms are readily available in most households."11 The low crime rate is even more remarkable in that the criminal justice system is relatively lenient. As Clinard says, "The Swiss experience indicates the importance of factors other than gun control in violent crimes."12 Among its population of 7.3 million (which includes 1.4 million foreigners, about twenty percent of the total population), Switzerland experiences an extremely low crime rate. Regarding willful homicide offenses, in 2001 there were 86 actual homicides and 89 attempted homicides, for a total of I75.u The methods used for the homicides carried out or attempted were: firearms 47; cutting and stabbing weapons 51; and strangling 11. Unfortunately, the data regarding weapon types do not distinguish between actual and attempted homicides; nor is it indicated whether the firearms were legal or illegal.15 However, the data does indicate that foreigners committed a total of 96 of the 175 actual or attempted homicides.16 There were 5,768 simple and aggravated assaults, 2,615 of which were committed by foreigners." Some 43 were committed with firearms and 388 with edged weapons. Data concerning rapes do not specify weapon use.'"There were 2,256 robberies, 790 of them committed by foreigners.19 Weapons used included 321 firearms, 394 edged weapons, and 642 other methods.20 The overall crime rate committed by foreigners stood at 49.7%."' The Swiss call them "criminal tourists." The above rates compare favorably with other European countries with very restrictive firearms laws.22 Estimating the number of firearms in Swiss households would be perilous.23 Any consideration of Swiss firearms law must recognize that the people are free to come and go to shooting competitions throughout the country, and competitors are commonly seen with firearms on trains, buses, bicycles, and on foot. Assault rifles are hung on hat racks in restaurants and are carried on the shoulder on the sidewalk. …

Annie Get Your Gun? An Analysis of Reactionary Gun Control Laws and Their Utter Failure to Protect Americans from Violent Gun Crimes

Abstract: Reactionary gun control legislation fails to halt gun crime because it consistently fails to address the underlying causes of gun crime; which current laws, if enforced, would prevent. Moreover, the guarantees of the Second Amendment to “bear arms” are in constant conflict with reactionary legislative proposals, resulting in the attempt to lessen the protections of the United States Constitution. A retrospective analysis of violent gun crimes in the United States such as the Columbine shootings, the Virginia Tech shootings, the Tucson Arizona shootings and the Aurora Colorado shootings will show that each reactionary law proposed failed strict scrutiny and offered no more protection than the existing laws. Further, a brief analysis of the positions groups or agencies like the National Rifle Association (NRA), the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the Clinton Administration and the Obama Campaign illustrate the controversy surrounding gun control legislation with an emphasis on the enforcement of current law over the institution of reactionary proposals. In the wake of continued gun violence, like the Sandy Hook shootings, it becomes clear that better enforcement of existing gun control laws is the key to providing safety to American citizens; not the continued proposal of reactionary gun control laws.

Gun Control: State Versus Federal Regulation of Firearms

Abstract: This article addresses the complex question of whether gun control should be regulated by the federal or state government , or by some combination of both. In a thorough look at the history of federal and Maine state gun control— and at the various ways the issue of gun violence can be framed—Harwood concludes that neither level of government has a clear mandate to regulate exclusively. Rather, Harwood argues for a more cooperative federal-state approach that allows the federal government to apply uniform regulations when appropriate and the states to experiment with further regulations if so desired. ᳚