Relationship Between Guns And Crime

Relationship between Guns and Crime

Over the past decade or so, crime has been on a constant decrease. Most of which has to do with increased law enforcement and stricter policies on the sales of guns. Many people believe that guns are the sole reason that crimes are committed. Some research proves that belief wrong, yet other statistics can argue the exact opposite. In America, gun ownership is about three out of every ten people. A majority of these people included in the 33% that actually have guns, are said to only use them for hunting, protection, or a feeling of safety. In a scenario in which a gun is used to commit a crime, it hardly resembles the populous of the 33% gun ownership rate that is seen in the poll. This is mostly
due to the fact of the general population which is underage, being able to get a hold of a weapon illegally for homicidal use. One example would be the Columbine shooting. All of the bullets were purchased at a local retail store but the guns could not have been vended out to the underage teenagers. Instead they were purchased by older people with the availability to buy the gun for the minor. Here the illegally possessed guns are not counted in the statistic stated above. It is easy to see how guns and crime can be easily related when people that are not certified or allowed to have a weapon do have use of it, it is extremely dangerous and most usually results in homicide or very serious injury due to the fact of either low to no experience and no official background check has been performed. I personally believe that guns DO increase the rate of crime in a domino effect.
However some polls comparing the homicide rates in other countries can also backup the fact that guns do not necessarily have any relationship with crime. For instance, the United States has the third highest homicide rate in the world, next to China being first, and then India (second). People in America tend to feel a right in owning a gun. The second amendment even states, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Many other countries differ greatly from America, but the gun ownership is still at a mean. Thus making a relative statement between guns and crime, the amount of homicides differ with the same amount of guns possessed by the public. All in all whether there are guns or not, if a violent act of homicide is to be committed, guns are just a needle in a haystack of other ways for crime to be committed. According to statistics from the site usatoday.com, the number of people who were victims of all violent crimes except murder fell by 9% in 2001. This was the crimes rates lowest point since 1973. If noticed, the 9% drop was of all violent crimes except murder. In crime cases where guns are used, murder is almost inevitable, hereby showing that a decreased crime rate overall does not rely completely on guns relating to the crime. Usatoday.com makes an important statement on the rate at which criminals used guns to accomplish their crimes. This statistic has been held steady at about 26%. So if the amount of crimes that are committed by guns has stayed the same, why has crime rate as a whole decreased? There are several explanations that can be said. First of all, even with stricter gun sale policies and the help of the Brady act, established in 1993, teens have still found ways to posses weapons. Secondly an increased awareness of the law enforcement has been said to help stop the illegal possession of guns on the street, even if the weapon is concealed. If more guns have been taken off the street, yet the homicide rate has stayed the same, this explanation becomes a bit hard to believe. The third explanation can say that while holding other things as a constant, adding guns to the hands of law enforcers overall has reduced crime influenced by guns. If dated back in history, guns were first invented in a time of brutal war where more powerful weaponry was needed. Other uses were eventually found for the gun, such as hunting, target practice, or even a green light for races and such. Outside of the British first inventing the gun for war use to rule other countries for over two hundred years, gun use became very popular in hunting compared to the use of the traditional bow and arrow. This new trend had soon taken its place and people all over the world were eventually supplied with guns for easier purpose of getting the animal needed for food. Even in today's world, guns are by far the most popular weaponry used for hunting. At the age of eighteen, a person is allowed to buy a long rifle, used completely for the purpose of hunting. These guns should not be used for a feeling of personal safety and have rarely been used in cases of homicide. Pistols are only to be sold to persons of age twenty one and older. With these stricter gun policies and restrictions, they still can find their way into the wrong hands. A metaphoric conclusion to this happening is just like drugs being smuggled in from other countries. Even with all of the laws forbidding illegal drug possession and use, they can still make it to the streets very easily. The Columbine shooting is a great example to show gun relation to crime. Had these two teenagers not been able to get the guns used in the shooting, (Eric Harris; 12 gauge Savage-Springfield 67H pump-action shotgun and a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9 mm semi-automatic rifle with 10 round magazines) (Dylan Klebold; 9 mm Intratec Tec-9 Semi-automatic handgun manufactured by Navegar, Inc. with 32 round magazines and a 12 gauge Stevens 311D double barreled sawed-off shotgun) the whole massacre would have never happened. Along with them they had both also brought numerous knives with them. Without the guns, Is it possible that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris would have attempted to do the same with only knives and other sharp or heavy objects? This is a mystery unknown, but the fact of what happened shows that guns are related to crime because without them, knives would not have been taken as seriously in trying to commit the crime or massacre. It is a known fact that in America, we have a stereotype for being the murder capitol of the world.
It seems a stereotype to us Americans, because we refuse to believe the facts. But it shown in statistics that America has one of the highest gun related crime statistics.. There is sort of an inverse relationship between what guns are said to be meant for, and what they are used for. The majority of weapon owners hold guns in their house for a feeling of safety. If it is known that a neighbor has a gun, it might influence the other neighbor to also get a gun under a low trust situation. I call this the domino effect. The more people that get guns to feel safe, the more other people desire the need to own a gun just for the sole fact that since everyone else has one, they must stay protected themselves. This is where fear starts to come into play. After the fear sets in, the crime is eventually committed. Now I am not implying that all people who own guns committ crime, its just that most of the time actions speak before thoughts due to the fear implemented into the people. In putting this all together; The Gun is bought for feeling of safety, more guns are now bought because of the previous owners having bought them for a feeling of safety, fear is now implemented because it is unknown who has a gun and who is willing to use it, and now the fear takes over and a crime is committed because of the fear of all of the guns. After thourough research, this seems to only apply in
America. Gun ownership in Canada is roughly the same as in America, at a mere 22%, making that about two out of every ten people. The homicide rate in Canada has been stable or declining since 1991 by 40%, even though Canada did not have any serious gun regulations until the 1970's. So here the stats show that while America's gun ownership is the same as the rest of the populous, the crime rate greatly exceeds the average. One of the worst forms of crimes evidently is murder.
Crimes can also be committed without a homocide ever taken place. For instance, guns can lead to a successful robbery. When a cashier at a gas station suddenly has a one pointed at her, the robber is almost certain to get whatever they desire. If a gun wasn't present and the intruder/robber had a baseball bat, the robbery would be most likely unsuccessful. There are other scenarios that come up also. Just simply holding a gun for no wrong purpose at all, could cause a serious crime to be committed. With the fear that is implemented into the people of America today, one person holding the item for no reason can be shot instantly by another random civilian that might feel threatened. This happens often times, most of which however when police officers see another citizen with the weapon. In conclusion, research further shows how guns are related to crime in more ways than one. They have been a part of the worlds history since the 17th century and have done no good, and will continue to do the same.
http://inventors.about.com/od/militaryhistoryinventions/a/firearms.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre#Firearms http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/homicide/stats-country.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-09-crime_x.htm