project research

1

2

Policy Choice (10%):

Policy Choice: Gun Control and Related Laws

The chosen policy issue is gun control and related laws. The recent proliferation of firearms has been a major danger to the society. In the United States, the use of guns has become far much widespread. The grave issue is that guns are at times getting into the hands of minors and people with mental problems. When this happens, such people can proceed to use these weapons for unlawful functions such as mass shooting as witnessed in the United States. It is thus important to come up with a policy that restricts the ownership and use of guns and if possible vet the to-be owners. This assignment will mainly focus on a needs assessment of the proposed legislation and why it is integral in the modern day society. Facts will be drawn from existing and recent research to exemplify or demonstrate how gun use has become a nuisance and a major problem to the society and why it ought to be kept in check.

2. Variables to be Measured (10%):

Variables to be Measured

In the process of researching on this subject of gun control and related laws, various variables will come to the fore. However, the most important aspect will be to focus on the statistics and facts that back up the need for gun control. During this research, the need to know whether or not gun ownership increases the likelihood of homicides and related crimes will be essential. A lot of focus should be towards the growing availability of guns. There is also the argument that people are valorizing violence in various societies (Belloni et al., 2016). The research will also delve into the culture of fear and other factors that increase the need to own guns. Some of the control variables will include sex, age, race, income, education, and family status. Data gathering through the internet and library resources is vital. Authority websites such as government and security sites will be integral. Scholarly journal articles will be necessary for gaining relevant facts and research data. During the Public Policy Analysis phase, the data obtained from academic sources will be used to create hypotheses on why gun control is necessary (Pederson et al., 2015). The hypotheses will base on the number of murders and other fatalities that have since occurred as a result of the proliferation of firearms.

 

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.

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.

Method of Analysis

The best way to proceed will be studying the prevalence of gun violence in the United States since it is based on the number of homicides reported that factor in the rate of gun violence. Moving on from this, it will be more important to conduct a thorough and verified analysis on the number of homicides which involve firearms. This is because most of the victims involved in this are subjected some effects and goes further than them, the relatives, neighbors, and an entire neighborhood. Homicides come from threats and threats lead to individuals fearing for their lives making them poor and as a result there is a lot of harm caused by gun violence (Stray, 2013).

Now factoring what we have described above, it would be important to venture into state-by-state gun control indexes and the prevalence of homicide for each state. The homicide rate will be compared to the national rate and base the gun control index as an independent variable. The basis of this is to obtain a series of events that have been happening over time so that there can be a quantification of each case being studied. The rate of fear and the need to own a gun are major role players in the events that lead to an increase in the rate of gun violence. Furthermore, the variables sex, age, race, income, education, and family status are subsequently supportive of the fear and need to own a gun factors.

The stated factors highly contribute towards the variables that will be analyzed and it is important to note that a cross-tabulation as well as a time series analysis of the homicide cases will reveal the real statistics being sought after. With this in mind, it is important examine if there is a correlation between homicide cases and gun control because the combination of cross-tabulation and time series will analyze all the facts giving a conclusion that is understandable. It is also critical to have a design in place before proceeding with the analysis phase because it will outline the possible outcomes which can be expected. It would be relevant to look into the states which have made amendments to their state laws that extend, reduce, or remove restrictions to guns (Gray, 2014).

4. Oral Presentation of PPA (10%): Students will make a formal presentation of their PPA during the class period they have chosen. Obviously, those who present later in the semester will make a more thorough presentation than the early presenters.

References

Gray, Andrew, J. (014). AN ANALYSIS OF STATE GUN CONTROL LAWS AND THEIR EFFECT ON VIOLENT CRIME.

Stray, J. (2013). Gun Violence in America: The 13 Key Questions (With 13 Concise Answers). Retrieved 26 September 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/gun-violence-in-america-the-13-key-questions-with-13-concise-answers/272727/