Gun Control in U.S

Introduction

Gun control, gun violence is one of the most debated issues in America. Bearing weapons is not a new practice in America because the Second Amendment of the American constitution protects it. This paper highlights the contemporary trends in gun control, legal problems pertaining to the issue, and recommendations for solving this problem that has haunted the American public for centuries. The right to own a firearm legally is the constitutional right of every law-abiding citizen. It has been proved repeatedly that ownership of firearms can deter crimes. There have been several campaigns by groups to enforce gun control, which present death statistics in countries, which have enforced these restrictions. By enforcing gun control, the sale and purchase of guns will shift to the black market, where criminals will benefit only and law-abiding citizens will not have any access to them (Clarks, 38-40).

Discussion

The gun control laws can be classified into two categories. In the U.S., many of them are conservative: they allow the legal possession of weapons for the vast majority of people in almost all cases, while moderate impose costs on legitimate gun owners. Examples include criminal background checks, waiting periods to buy a gun, the minimum age to buy, among other regulations. (David, 88-90).

Second Amendment

The second amendment of the constitution provides the individual citizen of the United States, the right to bear arms. This is a controversial amendment and it has met with considerable criticism over the last few years. On one hand, the proponents of the amendment have called for enhanced punishment in cases of gun violence, but they have provided no clue as to who should be penalized on offence of bearing a gun. The fact is that the provisions of the Second Amendment have been violated at will and the same practices continue today. There exists no accountability system, to check, who has possessed a weapon illegally.

Moreover, if an individual uses a gun for killing an innocent human being in United States, where, the ethnic and minority people live in majority, then, who is going to question the legality of the crime. It can be perceived that the murderer had used the gun for his self-defense. This is the perception that has prevailed throughout the nation and it is feared that it will prevail as such, whatever may be the circumstances, owing to the provision of the Second Amendment (Alan, 25-26).

Legislation

There are over 20,000 legislations promulgated in the United States, but to no effect. The government has always come up with a plan to curb the use of illegal arms, but the concerned authorities have met with an utter disappointment. This is because there are many loopholes in these legislations. One loophole is that the laws regarding the gun control vary among different states. The irony is that only six Acts are meant to address gun control. These acts include The National Fire Arms Act of 1934, The Federal Arms Act of 1938, The Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act, and ...