The Commentary Article

Gun Control

Lisa M. Shaw

ENG1211_ONL10C_ONL10_20, South College

Chelsie Carter

01/12/2021

Gun Control

Gun control has become a very hot topic in our nation in the last several years. So many have different opinions, but I agree there needs to be laws in place for people to be able to carry them openly, but I also know that anyone can get their hands on them as well if the intent is there. In this paper, the topic under research is gun control and gun laws. In the US, gun violence is among the leading causes of death. Research indicates that approximately 109 people die daily because of gun violence. In this section, qualitative research methods will be used to identify the trends in society regarding gun violence, gun control, and gun laws. To conduct qualitative research, an interview will be conducted. That will help collect data that will be used to make inferences about the topic under discussion. One person will be interviewed to collect data for this study.

The research question in this case is “Does gun control impact the level of crime in the US?” The thesis statement of the research is gun laws may save or cost lives as they affect the rates of crime in the US.

To begin with, the participant of the interview has to be chosen correctly to avoid bias in the process. Twenty people were picked randomly in a quest to narrow down to ten participants in the interviews. The twenty people picked were asked for their consent to take part in the study. Out of the twenty people that were identified, only 14 gave consent to take part in the study. The others that were not comfortable to take part in the study cited different reasons. Another method of elimination had to be identified to ensure that only one participant was left in the study. The 14 participants were interviewed on their knowledge about gun violence, gun laws, and gun control in the US. The person who had the most knowledge about the topics was interviewed for the study.

The participant of the study participated in the study out of their own free will. The participant was asked to give consent to take part in the study. That ensured that no participant was coerced to take part in the study. Thus, the study promoted ethical considerations.

The data was collected from an interview that was conducted on the participant that was chosen for the study. That indicates that the data collected was first-hand information. Thus, the data used in the study was valid and reliable. However, one challenge was encountered. There was no way to verify whether the participant answered the interview representing their true views about how he/she felt about the topic under study.

The subject wanted to remain anonymous due to the nature of his profession. He is over security at a national level, and has to keep his identity hidden. The interview comprised of six questions and was conducted via email. That gave room to clarify any information that was not well understood. It also enabled the interviewer to ask any further questions that were necessary for the study.

From the data that was collected in the interview, it was identified that the American public policy opinion has not shifted on gun control. It was also identified that more strict gun laws do not translate to less crime. It was also identified that only a small percentage of gun owners directly prevent crime. The interview also revealed that most gun owners are not killed by their own guns and finally that the Federal ban on assault weapons did not have a significant effect on the crime rates in America.

In this section, the findings from the interview conducted will be written and analyzed. The findings will be explained and analyzed categorized by the six questions that comprised the interview.

Question One

From the interview, it was identified that the American public opinion had not shifted on gun control. The American public did not have any changes in opinion regarding gun control. The argument against a change in public opinion was based on the fact the American mainstream media and the technology companies led people to believe that most Americans supported gun control. However, that is contrary to the number of ammunition and firearms that are sold and bought in the US annually. The number of firearms that are sold in the US has grown steadily over the last few years. That is because most US residents want to own guns so that they may protect themselves against crimes such as gun violence. However, with the increased gun violence in the US, some people supported gun control in a quest to minimize gun violence in the US. That is reflected by Barry (2019) in his research investigating the trends in public opinion on US gun laws.

Question Two

The data collected from the interview reveal that there are two categories of people namely, those that fear guns and those that are comfortable with guns. The people that fear guns believe that they are bad. Thus, they support the gun regulations barring people from carrying or disclosing their guns in public. That follows the various mass killings that have occurred in the past. Through the influence of the media, such people believe that guns are bad and should not be used in public. However, common ground needs to be reached to draw the line between legally exposing a gun in public and illegally exposing a gun in public. Campion (2017) investigated the mass shooting in Las Vegas. According to his report, it supported that only trained people should carry their guns in public. That was supported by the data collected from the interview. Additionally, it was identified that areas that allow a higher concentration of people permitted to carry guns experience low crime rates.

Question Three

The participant interviewed agreed that strict gun laws did not translate to less crime. Most people in the US acquire guns to protect themselves. That indicates the increasing numbers of gun ownership in the US. Thus, when there are strict gun laws, only a few people will have guns; thus, making them unable to protect themselves. That would lead to criminals finding pathways to prey on the unprotected citizens. Thus, when the criminals know that a certain area has fewer people with guns, they are more likely to attack such areas as opposed to the areas with more people holding guns due to less strict laws. That is in tandem with Lott (2013), who indicated that more guns translated to fewer crimes.

Question Four

According to the data collected from the interview, only a small fraction of gun owners have actively prevented the crime from occurring compared to the number of people holding guns in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans used their guns to defend themselves between 500,000 to 3 million times each year. That supports the data that was collected in the interview. Areas that have people with more guns have lower rates of crimes (Lott, 2013). That is because criminals cannot risk robbing in such areas. Thus, they prey on areas that have fewer people with guns. That indicates why only a small fraction of the people holding guns have actively prevented crimes. However, it is difficult to identify or measure the number of crimes that stopped before they even started when criminals realized that the people they were robbing were armed. Such instances have also occurred, but it is difficult to measure them.

Question Five

From the data collected in the interview, it is revealed that only a small percentage of gun owners or their families are killed by their guns. Due to the heightened gun laws and regulations, most gun owners are trained and skilled on how to use guns. Further, most gun owners are not suicidal or homicidal. That indicates that only a small percentage of gun owners commit suicide or homicide using their guns. IN most mass killings that have been witnessed, untrained and unskilled people were using the guns. Additionally, gun laws preventing perpetrators of domestic violence from owning and possessing guns have been put in place. That has reduced the number of people who commit homicide or suicide using their guns. The data from the interviews reveal that a high percentage of the participants support the gun laws and gun control that have ensured that the people who own guns are skilled, trained, and of sound mind to prevent further gun violence.

Question Six

From the data collected from the interview, it is evident that the Federal ban on assault weapons had insignificant effects on gun violence. That is attributed to the increased ownership of firearms and ammunition in the US despite the ban. Thus, the US residents still own guns regardless of whether it is an assault weapon or not. Firearm homicides and lethality of gun crimes have not reduced significantly after the ban. The participants in the interviews recommended that the government should come up with more effective ways that may be used to reduce the lethality of gun crimes and firearm homicides in the US.

The findings from the interview conducted will be used in the study to come up with conclusions and recommendations on policy formulation about the issue of gun control.

Conclusion

The findings that were revealed by the interview are integral to the research. However, since the research was limited to one interview, it may not have enough statistical power and it may be biased. Therefore, other methods may have been used to ensure that the research was conclusion. For instance, multiple interviews or focus groups may have been used to increase the statistical power of the study. In the future, the effects of gun laws on the US residents should be analyzed. That will help to unveil any other effects of gun laws.

References

Barry, S. (2019). Trends In Public Opinion On US Gun Laws: Majorities Of Gun Owners And Non-Gun Owners Support A Range Of Measures. Health Affairs (Project Hope), 38(10), 1727–1734.

Campion, M. (2017). After the Mass Shooting in Las Vegas — Finding Common Ground on Gun Control. The New England Journal of Medicine, 377(17), 1679–1680.

Kamerow, D. (2016). A modest proposal on gun control—and a real one. BMJ, 352, i69–i69. 

Lott, J. R. (2013). More guns, less crime: Understanding crime and gun control laws. University of Chicago Press.

The Heritage Foundation. (n.d.). Defensive gun uses in the U.S. Defensive Gun Uses in the U.S. | The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/data-visualizations/firearms/defensive-gun-uses-in-the-us/

Wolfson, T. (2016). The US Public’s Preference for Safer Guns. American Journal of Public Health (1971), 106(3), 411–413.

Appendix One: Interview Questions

The questions that were asked in the interview were.

Question One: Do you feel that the American public opinion shifted on gun control?

Question Two: Do you think there are more people against being able to carry guns more openly due to events that have happened with the mass shootings?

Question Three: Do you feel that states with more gun laws have fewer crimes?

Question Four: How often do you think gun owners actually prevent crime?

Question Five: How often are gun owners killed by their own guns, or family members because of recklessness?

Question Six: Do you feel that the Federal ban on assault weapons affected crime rates in America?