Wepons and selfdefence concerns in the USA and the UK Essay

Wepons and selfdefence concerns in the USA and the UK - Essay Example From a simple theft to a terrorist bombing, firearms play a vital role in committing crime. Do guns really help private citizens prevent crime through active self-defence and deterrence Or are they mostly used by criminals. This paper opens a window on empirical questions that have generated a small mountain of conflicting facts and opinions. There are several different factors behind the dilemma confronted by the new generation, which not only relates to the psychological factors but also emotional factors cannot be ignored in mentioning and analysing the reasons behind holding weapons. Robberies and assaults committed with guns can be a result of mental frustration resulting in the victim's death than are similar violent crimes committed with other weapons. According to case fatality rate for gun robbery, it is found that it is three times as high as for robberies with knives and ten times as high as for robberies with other weapons. "Similarly, in injuries resulting from criminal assault the case-fatality rate is closely linked to the type of weapon, as is also the case for family violence". (Cook, 2000, p. 35) There is another aspect of the same picture which states that there is much more concern of crime with weapons and self defence other than psychological one. Crime, either done with the help of weapons or without weapons, when analysed in the thought of basic assumptions, upholds the following reasons behind it: Crime is caused by the individual exercise of free will. Human beings are fundamentally rational, and most human behaviour is the result of free will coupled with rational choice. Pain and pleasure are the two central determinants of human behaviour. Crime disparages the quality of the bond, which exists between individuals and society and is therefore an immoral form of behaviour. Punishment, a necessary evil, is sometimes required to deter law violators and to serve as an example to others who would also violate the law. Crime prevention is possible through swift and certain punishment, which offsets any gains to be had through criminal behaviour. (Schmalleger, 1999, p. 230) As far as self-defence is concerned, policy interventions intended to separate guns from violence may have the perverse effect of increasing the amount of violence, and in some cases even making it more harmful. "The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), a national survey based in United States for criminology gathers information on assault, burglary, larceny, theft and robbery and is generally considered as the most reliable source of information on predatory crime as it has been in the field continuously since 1973 and incorporates the best thinking of survey methodologists. From this source, it appears that use of guns in self-defence against criminal predation is rather rare, occurring on the order of 100,000 times per year. Of particular interest is the likelihood that a gun will be used in self-defence against a home intruder. One study of data from the NCVS found that only 3% of victims were able to deploy a gun against someone who broke in while they were at home. Reme mbering that 40% of all households have a gun, we conclude that it is quite rare for victims to be able to deploy a gun against intruders even when they have one available". (Cook, 2000, p. 37) Gun Oriented Policies Law enforcement