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.

Gun Control on College and University Campuses in the Wake of District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago

Abstract: From the Constitution’s ratification in 1791 until its 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision, the Supreme Court had never held that a statute violated the Second Amendment. In invalidating Washington, D.C.’s extensive gun control prohibitions, which extended into the home, the Court declared that the Second Amendment protects citizens’ right to keep and bear arms in the home for the purpose of self-defense, so long as the weapon was of the kind used for such purposes at the founding. Moreover, in contrast to precedents going back to the nineteenth century, the Court stated this right was independent of any militia service by the gun user. In 2010 in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Court declared the Second Amendment was enforceable against the states. In practical terms this meant that as of 2010 a new protection was incorporated into the Bill of Rights. Thus, the Second Amendment joined its constitutional cousins including, for example, the First Amendment Free Speech and Religion Clauses, as rights limiting states’ power.This article examines the capacity of public colleges and universities to enact campus gun control policies affecting students, faculty, staff, and others, in light of the landmark Heller and McDonald decisions and judicial interpretations of those cases, along with state constitutional and statutory constraints on the ability of public college and university officials to act autonomously in fashioning campus gun control policies. Through this examination, this article derives principles to guide campus officials in the quest to fulfill their policy goals, while remaining faithful to citizens’ individual Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms,” and state limitations on campus institutional power. The article makes observations about areas in which campus officials should feel secure in enacting firearm controls, as well as where ambiguities remain, and concludes that the political branches of state government, rather than lofty constitutional principles, may determine who prevails in this contentious policy debate.

Learning to love guns? Gun-based gameplay's links to gun attitudes

Abstract: Although there is a long empirical record exploring links between violent videogame play and aggression, little is known about how these games potentially affect players’ political attitudes. Specifically, with firearms frequently featured in videogames, including games where players are required to use firearms to succeed during gameplay, it is worth examining whether players’ experience with firearms relates to their attitudes toward guns and gun policy. Utilizing the General Learning Model, this survey explores whether public policy outcomes regarding gun control and public safety are related to exposure to violent video games, first-person shooter games, and realistic gun controllers. Results show that increased exposure to first-person shooter games was related to more negative attitudes concerning gun control. In addition, more experience using realistic gun controllers was associated with negative attitudes toward gun control and greater support for the idea that greater gun availability can help guarantee public safety. Thus, video game exposure may shape the gun attitudes of young people in small but important ways.

Guns Ownership and Human Rights

Abstract: Responding to an article in the previous issue, this Article suggests that gun prohibition has often been harmful to human rights. We examine Jamaica, Bougainville, Karamoja (Uganda), and East Timor to detail the futility of attempts to prohibits, and to detail how such attempted prohibitions harm other human rights. The article also notes that, while gun control does not itself cause genocide, almost all genocides have been preceded by sustained efforts to disarm the victim populations.

Targeting Firearms Violence Through Directed Police Patrol

Abstract: This executive briefing presents the results of a study of a directed police patrol initiative that was intended to reduce firearms crime. The report is particularly timely because of several public policy controversies that have emerged in the late 1990s. The first of these is gun control. In the wake of the Columbine High School murders, the nation has been engaged in a debate over the contentious issue of laws governing firearms sales and possession. Although this is not a study of gun control, the findings of the study should be considered in the public policy debate. The second controversial issue relates to the role of traffic enforcement in crime control. In the wake of high-profile cases such as the Louima and Diallo cases in New York City, and questions about racial profiling in traffic enforcement, the police find themselves under intense scrutiny for alleged targeting and harassment of African-American and other minority citizens. Again, although this research was not intended to focus on the issue of policing and race, the very subject of the investigation places the findings in the middle of these issues. Additionally, this study informs a debate that has emerged given the reduction of crime in the United States during the 1990s. Specifically, to what extent do the police influence the level of crime?