The number of cases where the use of guns or rather firearms to engage in criminal activities has grown over the years. Different mechanisms have been set up to decide on the best mechanism to ensure there is the containment of the cases. The paper discusses the problems and consequences of gun violence and whether gun control or gun rights would be the better solution, or if there is a middle ground.
Problems and Consequences of Gun Violence
Homicide also has mental and physical challenges to the bereaved, those who lost their loved ones to homicide cases (Blocher, 2014). The family and close people to the dead often live in fear as they feel that whoever killed their family member or friend might be after them. In other cases, others even go to the extent of illegally acquiring firearms to seek revenge for the loss and pain they were forced to go through. If both the killer and anyone seeking revenge have guns, in the case of exchanging fire, they cause a significant distraction on both property and take away the lives of many people (Perez-Pena, 2015). Amongst the restrictions set on the use of guns, there has to be a section that offers psychological support to the people who lost their very own to cases of gun violence that will enable them to cope up with the situation and heal in a positive way that is healthy and does not cause further damages.
An increase in cases of gun violence also affects the economy. Most government funds are wasted in ensuring that all activities take place from when the shooting takes place to the point where the one found guilty is released from prison. Once the shootings occur, the victims are made to the hospital. In hospitals, the government ought to cater to the hospital bills and ensure that the victim can go back to their healthy lives. As the patient is under medication, we have police officers conducting investigations on who did the shooting. Once the suspect has been found, the government still funds the court proceedings that ensure that the truth is known and the one found guilty is persecuted and taken to jail. Once in jail, the convict will be fed and taken care of until the sentence is over. During this period, the government spends the taxpayers' money that would have slightly been used for development or help in the provision of social amenities (Perez-Pena, 2015). An increase in the number of gun violence cases causes an increase in the number of funds that are used by the government generally (Braga, 2016). To save the billions of dollars used in facilitating the cases, the government should restrict the number of gun users to only state officials in the security and intelligence sector. The amount of money used to increase the number of police officers to enhance security in the place of guns is slightly cheaper than that of facilitating all these court proceedings and cases.
Fewer regulations that have increased the number of citizens possessing guns have to lead to a gradual increase in cases of robbery and other crime levels (Perez-Pena, 2015). People having guns sometimes store guns in less secure places where people with evil intentions access them. People with evil intentions often think of how they can harm others using the weapon. Criminals often use guns to forcefully take the property, money, and other valuables from innocent citizens. The latter often submit without resisting because they understand the consequences of fighting back and the damages caused by the bullets. Guns that are rendered to ordinary citizens should have a sophisticated security system such as the use of fingerprint or voice recognition that allows the use of firearms by only the respective owners and that if at all a stranger uses it, it fails to comply (Braga, 2016).
Positive Effects of Gun Control and Gun Rights
However, gun control measures also reduce the number of illegal guns in the market (Hills-Evans, Mitton & Sacks, 2018). Once someone has been found to possess a firearm, the police go through files to ensure that the gun is registered and is legally supposed to be owned by whoever they found to have the weapon. Failure of the names of the holder and description of the gun to match leads to an arrest, and further interrogation will help know who the supplier. Understanding the supplier will help the police and law enforcers to arrest them and help reduce the number of illegal firearms circulating in the country hence securing the lives of many citizens who would have slightly fallen victim to gun violence (Hills-Evans, Mitton & Sacks, 2018).
On the other hand, registering firearms helps to complicate the acquisition of weapons hence reducing the number of people desiring to possess firearms. People often change their mind once they find a process more demanding and has more commitments. Many times people opt to surrender, which helps reduce the number of prospective cases that would have occurred through firearms. Reduction in the number of potential instances will help create a better environment where people are not afraid of killings such as the poor state of Venezuela in South America (Lanza, 2014), which reported the highest killings. Reduction in criminal activities will help create better relations that will attract investors (Hills-Evans, Mitton & Sacks, 2018)
Conclusion
An increase in gun violence cases can not entirely be attributed to gun control and gun rights; however, implementing better restrictions will help curb more gun-related cases and better the state of national security. Both the government and individuals should join hands to adopt mechanisms that are friendly and cause fewer effects.
