...Michael Stone University of Phoenix Essentials of College Writing COMM/215 Maureen Chisholm September 14, 2014 Is Gun Control a Valid Argument America's founding fathers crafted the 2nd Amendment to protect its citizens from individual and collective threats both foreign and domestic. The individual citizens right to bear arms has been debated from the early 20th century to the present, both for and against. Although, the Supreme Court has provided a decision in 2008 via the District of Columbia vs. Heller protecting an individual's right to bear arms for traditional lawful purposes. Those in favor of gun control have still been promoting the platform that more stringent federal government legislation will deter crime and provide increased safety to citizens. This paper will show that more stringent gun control legislation and that stripping away portions of the 2nd amendment will not lead to less crime or a safer population; in fact, it will and has resulted in the reciprocal effect. Some proponents of stricter gun legislation claim that if guns are removed from public availability that crime will significantly decrease and make neighborhoods safer for the law-abiding citizens. Let's examine the statement " if guns are removed from public availability that crime will significantly decrease." Based on a report from the Congressional Research Service from 1993 through 2011, "firearm-related murder and non-negligent homicide" rate was 6.6 per 100,000 Americans...
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...headlines. With tragic incidents such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that occurred in December of 2012, as well as the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado in July of 2012 occurring less than six months away from each other, prompted debate on a national level regarding the importance of gun control and mental illness. Other highly publicized mass shootings, such as the one that occurred in Tucson, Arizona in January of 2011, involving former US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, along with the two events mentioned above, “all shared two common characteristics: all four shooters were mentally ill, and all four used guns with large capacity magazines, allowing them to fire multiple rounds of ammunition without reloading (Barry, 2013).” As the Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms, the issue at hand is: how can the government prevent guns from landing in the wrong hands, while at the same time, providing better mental health services for those in need. In this paper, I will explore and compare the agenda setting process regarding two landmark gun control legislations that were passed along with the agenda setting process today – proposed by President Obama in the wake of the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook...
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...Gun Control Many Americans argue that the more guns there are, the more crimes there will be. However, this is just a theory not a proven fact. Gun Control laws do not work. If guns were banned all together, it would only create a bigger black market. Also, citizens of the United States have the right to keep and bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. One major debate over gun control is the Second Amendment. It 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.” There are many different arguments over this amendment. One argument is if the second amendment was created to ensure the state militias were a means of defense, or was it created to ensure an individual's right to bear arms? Back then, militia stood for all men who were capable of bearing arms. Today’s militia now refers to the National Guard in every state. The second amendment clearly says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Therefore, the right to bear arms was meant for everyone, not just a militia. Also, many gun owners use their handguns for hunting and target shooting. “Every year millions of handgun owners practice or compete in marksmanship competitions, sight in their guns in advance of hunting season, or perfect personal protection skills. Hundreds of thousands participate in thousands of local, state, regional and national handgun matches annually, using a wide...
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...Fallacies of the Assault Weapons Ban Abstract Violent crime is a growing problem in our country. Politicians are always looking for new laws to impose on their people in order to combat the problem. Unfortunately, some of these laws are written by individuals who do not possess a thorough knowledge of the topic they are attempting to regulate. One example of these laws is the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that was in place from 1994-2004. This law made it illegal to produce or purchase a firearm that had certain cosmetic features which had no effect of the lethality of the firearm when used as a weapon. The politicians had essentially banned firearms that they deemed looked scary. Now there is a push for a renewed Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It is imperative the people know that this infringement on our Second Amendment rights is constructed around banning firearms based on how they look instead of how effective they are as weapons. Fallacies of the Assault Weapons Ban There are many political issues in the world that incite strong emotional reactions from people from all walks of life. These issues can turn the tide of a political campaign because of the emotions involved with them. Quite often, the most emotion inspiring issues are related to individual rights and public safety. A major issue that is constantly debated by opposing interest groups is gun control. This is a topic that creates a firestorm of debate between people all over the country. On one side...
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...the wrong hands. In this essay I will discuss this argument and reveal the reasons that there are legitimate restrictions on gun ownership. I will start with how background checks keep guns out of the hands of people with a felony on their record. The gun control act of 1968 following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Congress passed this law prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms. It also required licenses to trade in guns and created procedures to track serial numbers and control imports (www.keyt.com). Many will say that this helped reduce gun valance in America because after the gun control act of 1968 handgun violence dropped by 37% the next year (http://www.saf.org/LawReviews). The real reason behind the drop was the fact that during that year handgun production dropped, resulting in the drop in violence not the new law. Therefore the fact that valance dropped cannot be totally contributed to the gun control act of 1968. The 2.4 million new handguns entering the market in 1968 were a less than 15 per cent addition to the total domestic supply. Therefore the fact that gun valance dropped cannot totally be contributed to the gun control act of 1986. The next point I want to make on this subject is the Assault weapon ban...
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...Hate Crimes in America May 18, 2014 COM/156 Instructor Kristin Bradley Hate Crimes in America Knowing how the criminal justice system deals with hate crimes can be determine if the history of these crimes is explained and we learn who are now targeted by these crimes. Hate crimes has been a part of the American culture for decades. Hatred and prejudice crimes including lynching, burning crosses, synagogues vandalism, killing, and other crimes committing against a group of people because of their race, religion, handicap, sexual preference, or beliefs are consider hate crimes. This paper will explain to readers the background history of these types of crimes, different types of hate crimes committed in America, targeted victims, and provide hate crime statistics. It will also explain the affects of hate crimes and the laws designed to protect citizens from these harsh crimes. History of Hate Crimes Hate crimes can be defined as any type of wrong doing towards a certain group of people based on ethnics, age, sexual preference, gender, and religious belief (Shively, 2005). Hate crimes are dated back to ancient civilizations when the religious groups Christians were persecuted by the Roman Emperor in 64 AD (The Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.). Other hate crimes in the past that affected the entire world were that of the Nazi persecuting the Jews by the order of Adolf Hilter. There are several cases of hate crimes included in the history of the United States...
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...magazine sizes Limit ammunition magazine sizes Stronger Gun Control Laws in the United States Stronger Gun Control Laws in the United States Understand the psychology of the killer Understand the psychology of the killer Reinstate the Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 Reinstate the Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 1. Narrowed Topic Stricter Gun Control Laws in the United States I chose this topic because it is something that interests me a lot. I believe that it is absolutely absurd how many mass shooting occur in the United States each year. We are supposed to be the best country on Earth, yet so many innocent people are killed each year. When I go out to public places, I am always extra careful of my surroundings and what is going on around me because you never know what can happen at any place and anytime. You cannot trust anyone and you never know who can turn on you in just minutes. My dad and my other my family members work in law enforcement and it sickens me every time I hear about a scary job that they were apart of or even when you hear on the news that another police officer was shot and killed by a criminal. We are the United States, we have a solution to pretty much every problem out there, I strongly believe that something can and must be done to stop all of this unnecessary gun violence in our country. 2. Preliminary Claim: The United States needs to enact stricter Gun Control Laws in our country in order to protect our citizens and they...
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...position in American law enforcement procedures (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999). This process has come to be known as the problem-solving process of policing. These problem-solving strategies focus on crime generators and hot spots that plague law enforcement agencies in the United States (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999). There are many ways to reduce these hot spots with community programs in policing. This could include neighborhood watch groups and local business owners to control the rate of crime in the community. This increases surveillance within the community and cuts down on the number of police in these areas. The citizens in these communities and local business owners can report the findings to the local police for further investigation. Why focus on hot spots? Residential locations can generate as much as 85 percent of the repeat calls for service. Moreover, research indicates that in many communities, more than 50 percent of the calls for service come from only 10 percent of the locations Identifying these hot spots through crime analysis and crime-specific planning can lower the level and the fear of crime (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1999). With these hot spots out of the way, than your local law enforcement officers can focus more on other high crime ridden areas within a town or city. Community policing is, in essence, collaboration between the police...
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...However a lot of this has been because of American’s frustration with a rising crime rate and a demand that our government do something about it. With the increase in prison population, we have seen a corresponding decrease in the crime rates across American, in all categories including violent and non-violent. So in that aspect, the prisons are doing their part in the ongoing war on crime. Yet we are housing these prisoners, not rehabilitating them. More than half of the inmates released from prison will return back to prison within three years of being put back into society. When the inmates are released, they have no support system, and in a majority of cases, their previous prison sentence destabilized whatever family they had, which leads them back to a life of crime. (The PEW Center on the...
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...name GOVT XXX Professor XXX date To Ban or Not to Ban Assault Weapons? That is the Ultimate Question… 1966, twenty-five year old Charles Joseph Whitman climbed to the top of the clock tower in Austin and killed sixteen and injured thirty innocent students at the University of Texas. 1991, George Hennard, thirty-five, drove up to the Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas and opened fire on forty innocent patrons. Twenty-three of Hennard’s shots were fatal. 1999, citizens in the small Colorado County of Douglas were mortified after witnessing the massacre of thirteen students at Columbine High School at the hands of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. 2007, the campus of Virginia Tech was forever changed when twenty-three year old Seung-Hui Cho who opened fire killing thirty-two students and teachers. 2012, Adam Lanza shocked the entire world when he took the lives of twenty students and six teachers at an elementary school in Connecticut (CNN). Horrific, terrifying, and saddening all describe the above-mentioned events. And as would be expected, each one of these events brought forth the question, “Where does the America draw the line between personal freedoms and the safety and well-being of her citizens?” The Second Amendment promises, “[…] the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” But, the recent shooting in Connecticut has caused the extremely emotionally charged arguments both for and against the ban of assault weapons to resurface within the United States...
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...Controlling Organized Crime CJA384 Controlling Organized Crime Since the 1990’s, organized crime has become a problem among U.S. citizens. The Mafia was the earliest group to show its strengths of power and manipulation among citizens and business of New York City. From the time of the Mafia’s rise, other criminal organizations have surfaced using their power to corrupt personal within business for the gain of finance and political strength. In today society, one of the main question when it comes to these groups is how can criminal organizations be controlled? This paper will identify the problems presented and the various relationships established by organized crime. It will describe the legal limitations associated with combating organized crime, including a critique of major federal laws and strategies that support this effort. This paper will end with a suggestion of a realistic solution to control organized crime by discussing and evaluating the effectiveness of organized crime prosecutions. Problems Presented and Relationships Established It needs to be remember that organized crime is defined as any crime that threatens peace and human security, violates human rights and undermines economic, social, cultural, political and civil development of societies around the world (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, n.d.). The above definition was provided by the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime and that is just one of the many law enforcement groups that have...
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...Running head: General Deterrence and Crime Prevention Is General Deterrence Likely to Reduce Crime? Diane Fric Student Number: 996148039 Sociology 211 University of Toronto Mississauga February 2, 2012 The prevention of crime has become a main concern within societies throughout the world today. An understanding of the term “general deterrence” is important in understanding this paper. General deterrence can be defined as “the belief that people, in general, can be prevented from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and make examples of them” (Keel, 2005). General deterrence was first introduced in the 1970’s by a criminologist named Cesare Beccaria (Deuschmann 2007). Beccaria thought that the legal system should focus more on preventing crime from occurring rather than punishment. Many societies continue to use general deterrence when trying to prevent crime. The oldest and most frequently used crime prevention is deterrence through imprisonment. Societies believe that tougher and harsher sentences are the best and only responses to crime. According to criminologists, “people will engage in criminal and deviant activities if they do not fear apprehension and punishment” (Keel, 2005). In order for crime to be deterred, laws and enforcement are used to raise an individual’s awareness stating that criminal behaviour will result in punishment and attention (Keel, 2005). For general deterrence to be successful, factors other than fear of punishment...
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...Criminology and Criminal Justice http://crj.sagepub.com/ Reconstructing the role of the appropriate adult in England and Wales Harriet Pierpoint Criminology and Criminal Justice 2006 6: 219 DOI: 10.1177/1748895806062982 The online version of this article can be found at: http://crj.sagepub.com/content/6/2/219 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: British Society of Criminology Additional services and information for Criminology and Criminal Justice can be found at: Email Alerts: http://crj.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://crj.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://crj.sagepub.com/content/6/2/219.refs.html >> Version of Record - Apr 21, 2006 What is This? Downloaded from crj.sagepub.com at Apollo Group - UOP on July 7, 2014 Criminology & Criminal Justice © 2006 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks & New Delhi) and the British Society of Criminology. www.sagepublications.com ISSN 1748–8958; Vol: 6(2): 219–237 DOI: 10.1177/1748895806062982 Reconstructing the role of the appropriate adult in England and Wales HARRIET PIERPOINT University of Glamorgan, UK Abstract The definition of the role of the ‘appropriate adult’ for young suspects in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code of Practice C is ambiguous and contradictory. This article argues that the role has been socially constructed by...
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...does not incorporate all of the literature available, it does offer a good snap shot of many pertinent studies conducted regarding these topics and the issues pertaining to them. Female Offenders Then and Now Over the years, the empirical evidence supporting the position that women offenders are treated less harshly than their male counterparts has been at best inconsistent. (Burnett, 1994: Coombs, 1995: Denno, 1994: Johnson & Nagel, 1994: Klein & Kress, 2014). The writers of these studies used a variety of theses to explain the leniency. Some suggested women are treated with chivalry and thus given lighter sentences for similar offenses created by men. While others suggested the leniency was due to the majority of females in the court system are first time offenders. In 1994, Kathleen Davy published Gender, Crime and Punishment. In the book she explores whether men and women who are convicted of similar crimes, are punished differently. Davy utilized forty male and female pairings of similar crimes, analyzed the court cases and concluded women participate in less serious crimes and this is the only factor in their lenient sentencing; concluding gender is not a factor. Coombs (1995) conducted...
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...Are more prisons and harsher sentences the best way to control violent criminals? Have Congress passed crime control measures to facilitate public opinions instead of pragmatic solutions? Jean Racine, once stated, “Extreme justice is often injustice” (Quote). Just over twenty years ago, President Clinton signed into law the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Since its inception the law forged legislation that funded extensive crime control, immigration enforcement, and increased police personnel. In doing so, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act became the largest crime control bill in American history ( ). In short, the bill amended various provisions in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets...
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