Assignment 4: Joining a Conversation You’ve Researched (5–7 pages)

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Gun Violence in the Community

I live in a community where gun-related violence is very common. Gun violence incidents often manifest through nationwide mass shootings, suicide, or homicide. Like in the case of my community, gun violence is a contemporary global human rights problem as it threatens the right to life. Globally, over 500 people go to rest with their maker daily due to firearms-related violence (Amnesty International, p. np). Thus, people lead their daily lives with great fear and threat for their lives. In my community, many people who have been affected by the phenomenon have developed severe and long-term mental health conditions. Consequently, this calls for the enactment and enforcement of drastic legal and policy measures to curb the issue, especially through gun control legislation and tightening of the measures' enforcement.

The basis of any gun-related violence rests on the uncontrolled and unregulated ownership of firearms and ammunition. Given the ease of accessing guns in the United States of America (USA), the country has the highest levels of gun ownership by civilians across the developed world (Segal, p. np). Contemporaneously, about 40% of American households own at least a firearm, and firearm sales particularly boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were over 393 million firearms owned by Americans either legally or illegally in 2018, translating to about 12.5 guns for every ten residents in the country. The number could be more because the available data is based on statistical projections produced by different polls instead of official statistics from a country-wide database where people register their gun ownership status. Increased ownership of guns has since led to increased criminal activities and gun violence-related injuries and deaths. For instance, about 20,000 were killed by firearm violence in 2020, while over 44% of all homicides in our communities involve firearm-related violence (Segal, p. np). Gun-related violence can also be life-changing. Amnesty International reports that in 2017, about 134,000 people sustained gunshots and related injuries in the USA. About 2,000 people get injured through gunshots daily, and over 2 million people are living with gun-related injuries globally. Additionally, while women are especially at risk of gun violence perpetrated by their intimate partners, the majority of the perpetrators and victims are usually young men. Again, firearms are mostly used to facilitate sexual violence. The marginalized groups in society, including women and communities of color such as ours, are disproportionately affected by firearm-related violence.

One thing about firearm shot injuries and the overall is experience is that they are often life-changing. According to Amnesty International, such experiences have an indelible and unmatched effect on the shot and long-term physical and mental health of the victim. Most of the victims often lose their work abilities and are often in need of permanent and lifelong care, and job retraining and rehabilitation programs, which are often almost virtually non-existent. Again, the dire consequences of firearm-related violence on the victims, their family members, the overall society, and the medical services are always huge, often leading to chronic public health crises - despite the relatively very minimal government responses. Consequently, Amnesty International suggests that policies on access to affordable and quality care services across the country need to also cover the necessary long-term healthcare interventions, like mental health care, support services such as rehabilitation and job retraining, and long-term pain management. Furthermore, the fear and threats of gun violence-related victimization across communities may also hurt the other social sectors, like education, economics, and even religion (Amnesty International, p. np). People are often afraid to attend schools or go to work or attend their places of worship because they fear that such places might be unsafe due to heightened gun violence cases in the community.

Controlling gun violence in our community is an urgent legal and policy issue. However, it is very hard to predict whether the agreeable policies would work. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the phenomenon “…is an urgent, complex, and multifaceted problem [that] requires evidence-based multifaceted solutions" which must address the various developmental, gender, and cultural causes (p.1). Again, it is critical to note that successful control measures often begin by having a national gun control conversation, especially out of the realization that using firearms greatly enhances the risks of violence that would lead to fatality. However, although stricter gun policies would be the most appropriate counter-measure against gun violence, many Americans are still divided about the contents of such laws policies. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2017, Americans support various specific gun policy proposals, such as expanded background checks and gun sales restrictions to the mentally ill. Summarily, the report indicates that "…52% of Americans say gun laws should be stricter than they are today, while nearly as many say they are about right (30%) or should be less strict than they are today (18%)". The divisions on the Americans' attitudes about guns and gun policies have taken a partisan approach, often pitting gun owners against non-owners, suburb dwellers against rural residents, Republicans against Democrats, and etcetera. Again, gun control laws and policies should also account for the various diverse reasons for gun ownership: positive or negative.

In conclusion, given the various, severe negative impact of gun violence incidences in the community, stricter gun laws would be necessary. Uncontrolled and unregulated gun ownership may make it easier for high-risk groups to access and use guns to commit violence. Consequently, stricter gun control laws and regulations would help reduce gun violence incidences. The primary conclusion in a study by Santaella-Tenorio et al. (2016) on the relationship between stricter gun control laws and gun violence incidences concludes that “[t]he simultaneous implementation of laws targeting multiple firearms restrictions is associated with reductions in firearm deaths" (p.152). This means that countries that have enacted and implemented such laws, including by demanding handgun purchasers’ licensing, background check on purchasers before gun sales, and close retail gun sellers monitoring and oversight - have seen a general decline in gun violence incidences. Again, such legal and policy efforts often demand a multi-disciplinary intervention approach and increased data and funding availability to support policy enforcement and evaluation.

Works Cited American Psychological Association [APA]. Gun violence: Prediction, prevention, and policy. APA Panel of Expert Report. American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2013. Amnesty International. Gun Violence - Key Facts. 2021. 30 October 2021 <https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/arms-control/gun-violence/>. Parker, Kim, et al. "America’s Complex Relationship With Guns." Gun Policy Release. Pew Research Center, 2017. Santaella-Tenorio, Julian, et al. "What Do We Know About the Association Between Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Injuries?" Epidemiologic Reviews 38 (2016): 140–157. Segal, Rachel. Is gun control justified or an infringement of our rights? 2021. 30 October 2021 <https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/perspective-on-gun-control/>.