Essay on Gun Control in New York

Robinson (2012) gives the background of high profile homicides carried out by illegal gun holders. President Abraham Lincoln was killed using a derringer pistol in 1865. J. F. Kennedy was also shot at long range using a military rifle. Other prominent people killed in the United States by bullets fired from an illegal firearms are Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan. Therefore, gun control is a pertinent issue that the government has been addressing for a long time. Gun control is the process of restricting and regulating the possession and use of firearms by civilians. The issue of gun restriction in the recent times came into the limelight after the mass shooting of pupils in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown among other incidents of irresponsible deployment of firearms by the public in 2012. There is a direct link between mass murder and gun control policies. Mass murder, according to DeLateur and Fox (2013) is the killing of four or more people by one person in a single incident. There are two sharply contrasting criminological perspectives on mass murder. One faction of criminology scholars argue that mass shooting is a merely a special case of homicide, while another group opine that mass murder is a case of psychopathology, and thus should be discussed in mental health context. Regardless of the opinions, mass shooting executed by one person, mentally challenged or otherwise, is the hallmark of irresponsible firearm deployment.

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In the United States, the highest number of mass shooting cases occurred between 2002 and 2004. Consequently, the nation lost most people through gun homicides in the same period. Gun homicides have far-reaching implications to the nation and the society in particular. Gun homicides pose a special challenge to the police. The New York Police Department spends a lot of money on a yearly basis in carrying out covert operations to reduce gun crime in many cities of New York (White, 2014). On a social level, gun homicide leaves many children fatherless as men are killed through gun violence in the streets. Mass shooting in schools and entertainment centers leaves many parents grieving about the loss of their beloved children. Gun control, therefore, will help in the reduction of these awful effects to the nation and the society. In the period between 1990 and 2000, homicide rate in New York City declined by 73%, and by 86% between 1993 and 2001 (Baumer & Wolff, 2014). One of the possible explanations of this drop in homicide in New York City is the elimination of drug markets. The relationship between drug market and illegal firearm use can explain that a crackdown on drug peddlers has a positive effect on gun control.

The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (NYSAFE) is the latest gun control law that has been ratified in the state of New York to reduce and eventually eliminate irresponsible firearm use. According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the law will stop the sale of gun to mentally ill citizens by carrying out background check on every gun buyer. The law also facilitates the capital punishment for gun murderers and advocates for the ban of assault weapons in the country. The law also recognizes the individuals right to own and use a firearm as provided by the Second Amendment, and therefore protects the rights of law abiding citizens, hunters and sportsmen to buy and use firearms.

References

Baumer, E. P., & Wolff, K. T. (2014). Evaluating contemporary crime drop (s) in America, New York City, and many other places. Justice Quarterly, 31(1), 5-38.

Cuomo, A (2017, February). NYSAFe. Retrieved from https://safeact.ny.gov/

Robinson, J. L. (2016). Gunning for Gun Control: A State by State Analysis of the Effects of Gun Control Policies on Firearm Mortality Rates.White, M. D. (2014). The New York City Police Department, its crime control strategies and organizational changes, 1970-2009. Justice Quarterly, 31(1), 74-95.