Gun Control: Hand Guns “Strict gun control” is a set of legal restrictions meant to enforce scarcity of firearms among the citizenry (Stell, 2004). The imposition of gun restrictions are intended to control gun related incidents by making guns harder to possess. Primarily, the main objective of gun laws is to control the kinds of firearms that an individual can purchase. The laws authorizes’ the majority of people to buy and own firearms but at the same time put restrictions on the use and storage of guns. Based on this perspective, only a smaller number of guns will be accessible to the public and this would in turn mean less criminal activities. As a result, Gun control fails to keep handguns out of …show more content…
Poll results depict that about half of American households own firearms. A study undertaken by the National Institute of Justice in 1995 showed that one out of every five juveniles arrested carried a handgun either all the time or most of the time and 50% reported being shot at least once. Legal measures have been implemented to restrict the accessibility of handguns through licensing, restrictions on purchasing, and enhanced sentences. However, the legislation has not been as effective as it was anticipated (Kurtz & Turpin, 1999). According to Gold (2004), handguns are readily available to juveniles and similarly to criminals. If minors can lay their hands-on handguns, then it means that it would not be difficult for criminals to have them too in despite of gun control …show more content…
Gun controls contribute to the scarcity of guns in the society but the ambiguities of the regulations make it possible for criminals to access handguns. In one way or the other, criminals have been able to access handguns because the availability of black market guns, passing-on of private guns among families, friends, acquaintances and strangers, complications of the Second Amendment in the Constitution, and other reasons. Based on this, there is need for the adjustment of gun control laws for instance in relation to domestic violence restraining orders. The legislation should make it easy for interested parties to obtain information on matters such as restraining orders so as to prevent gun related threats and injuries by partners. In addition to stringent gun control laws, political will, availability of resources and public awareness will facilitate for improved and effective gun control