Gun Control

Gun Control

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Gun Control

Introduction

Firearms regulation or simply known as gun control is considered to be the set of policies or laws that tend to regulate the manufacturing, selling, transferring, possessing, modifying, or using firearms by civilians (Blocher et al., 2016). It has been observed that a large number of countries have restrictive firearm guiding policies. Apart from the United States, there are other countries as well where gun control may be legislated at either local state level or federal level. A rough estimate about the U.S. is that there are about 120.5 guns per hundred people which in other words is the highest total and per capital around the globe. The matter of fact is that each American owns at least one or two guns where in which men hold about 35% and women hold about 12% of that.

Gun Control in the U.S.

In U.S. politics, gun control is considered to be one of the most divisive issues. The ones who are simply the advocates of stricter gun regulations undoubtedly have fear in their mind regarding their safety in the state. Gun control needs to be in the control as there are a lot of incidents happened due to this ever rising problem. A large number of people are shot each year in the United States which is simply an indication that if the issue is not resolved, there will be an increase in that number for sure (McKee, 2017). In most of the cases, a gunshot is involved in murders, accidents, assaults, suicides, suicide attempts, and police intervention.

On the other hand, the opponents of regulatory arguments have the same fear as they believe that they will lose their safety. Most of the arguments given by such people are that the outcomes of restricting the right for bearing arms will result in the citizens to not be able to protect themselves on a routine base. The matter of fact is that the regulations tend to vary from country to country. However, there are certain key conditions that can help a state to obtain guns in the United States.

Age

As there is a legal age for doing anything, there are a certain set of rules that regulate firearms at the federal level. The Gun Control Act or simply known as the GCA of 1968 requires the legal residents and the citizens to must be at the minimum age of 18 in order to purchase ammunition, rifles, or shotguns. On the other hand, any other firearms such as handguns can be sold to only those people who are a minimum of 21 years old. One thing that must be taken into consideration is that the local or state officials can be implementing the higher age restrictions. However, the state or local officials are not allowed for lowering the federal minimum.

Restriction

There are a different set of rules and policies that are created for firearms, and each of them is quite similar in most of the states. Fugitives are considered to be a threat to society, and they can not purchase firearms. Apart from fugitives, the patients that are forcibly admitted into a mental institution can never purchase firearms due to restrictions. Moreover, the former criminals or the people who have a negative past, or had been previously sentenced to jail for more than a year are also prohibited from purchasing firearms (Hsiao et al., 2016). Although marijuana is legalized in the states of the U.S., still the federal law tends to block the sale of guns to the ones who had used marijuana in the past and got caught. The reason for that lies in the fact that marijuana is illegal under federal law.

State or Federal State

One of the most discussed hot topics is whether or not the state of federal government regulates firearms. When it comes to the Second Amendment, it seems to be serving as the legal basis that allows the people to have the right to keep and bear arms (Yuill et al., 2017). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives or simply known as the ATF tends to administer the GCA and is known for regulating the standards to issue licenses to gun vendors. The National Firearms Act that came in the year 1934 regulates silencers, firearm mufflers, machine guns, shotguns, and rifles. In most of the states, the purchase of semi-automatic weapons is legalized.

Sellers

The restrictions for firearms is not just limited to the buyers. There are restrictions on the dealers of firearms as well. The ones who wish to obtain a Federal Firearms License or simply known as FFL are required to be a minimum of 21 years of age. The dealers in order to sale the firearms are required to have a premise to conduct business and must alert a local law enforcement official when they come up with the task to submit the applications to the federal bureau that tends to regulate firearms. One thing that must be taken into consideration is that the dealers also have to fulfill the same criteria regarding their history of prior mental state and convictions (Pederson et al., 2015).

Another important aspect to take into consideration is that the selling of firearms online falls in such regulations as well. There is no doubt that the purchase of a gun may be paid online, but still, the gun must be shipped to a registered FFL holder. The reason for that is quite simple as the FFL holder will be then conducting the required background check before he handles the firearms to the owner. However, the law is not clear on what constitutes the selling guns for profit. A person can be seen selling firearms without a license in case if the motive of him is not in making a profit through repeated and regular sales.

Background Check

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that came in the year 1993 has set some restrictions for the ones who wish to purchase firearms. According to the act, the holder of FFL is required to conduct a background check. The ATF 4473, a federal form must be filled by the potential firearms purchasers. The fact of the matter is that the states can decide whether the background check is carried just by the NICS or not. There is a minimum of 30 states that are relying on the Criminal Background Check System or simply known as NICS.

Conclusion

It is concluded that each American owns at least one or two guns where in which men hold about 35%, and women hold about 12% of that. Gun control needs to be in the control as there are a lot of incidents happened due to this ever rising problem. A large number of people are shot each year in the United States which is simply an indication that if the issue is not resolved, there will be an increase in that number for sure. There are a different set of rules and policies that are created for firearms, and each of them is quite similar in most of the states. The restrictions for firearms is not just limited to the buyers. There are restrictions on the dealers of firearms as well. The ones who wish to obtain a Federal Firearms License or simply known as FFL are required to be a minimum of 21 years of age.

References

Belloni, A., Chernozhukov, V., Hansen, C., & Kozbur, D. (2016). Inference in high-dimensional panel models with an application to gun control. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 34(4), 590-605.

Blocher, J., & Miller, D. A. (2016). What Is Gun Control: Direct Burdens, Incidental Burdens, and the Boundaries of the Second Amendment. U. Chi. L. Rev., 83, 295.

Hsiao, T., & Bernstein, C. Z. (2016). Against moderate gun control. Libertarian Papers, 8, 293.

Matzopoulos, R. (2016). Gun control saves lives. South African Medical Journal, 106(6), 544.

McKee, E. (2017). The Effects of Terrorism on Public Opinion of Gun Control in the United States (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Mississippi).

Pederson, J., Hall, T. L., Foster, B., & Coates, J. E. (2015). Gun ownership and attitudes toward gun control in older adults: Re-examining self interest theory. American Journal of Social Science Research, 1(5), 273-281.

Yuill, K., & Street, J. (Eds.). (2017). The Second Amendment and Gun Control: Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution. Routledge.