Gun Policies in USA: Identifying Chances of Firearm Homicide Rates due to Gun Ownership

Running head: GUN POLICIES IN USA 1
Research Proposal on identifying the chances of firearm homicide rates due to Gun
Ownership in USA

GUN POLICIES IN USA 2
Literature Review
Introduction
According to Monuteaux, et. al. (2015), one of the biggest issues in the Unites States
today seems to be gun ownership and its control. The Unites States of America has been
chipping away at the rights of the law-abiding citizens of the country from owning guns. The
motive behind this responsible step of the government is to minimize the chances of firearm
homicides rate in the country. In the past 25 years, there have been some valuable researches
conducted on gun violence and gun policies. However, the ultimate result of gun violence in the
country has been very less significant as there is a need for building robust and transformative
gun policies for people holding gun ownership. As suggested by Dulude (2018), a defenseless
person would be easier to control and therefore, in order to reduce any type of homicide gun
control measures are highly needed. The following research has identified this topic important
and something that will make a unique contribution to the human knowledge. As identified by
Morral (2019), Americans have debated all these years about crafting policies that could
contribute to reducing violence, deaths and other forms of homicides. But as the statistics suggest
that nearly three quarters of gun injuries are caused by assaults, firearms and domestic violence.
First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Shooting, Texas, in 2017
As stated by Carissimo (2017), the Sutherland Springs Texas is one of the most
unfortunate gun violence events in the USA. On November 5th, 2017, a gunman name Devin
Patrick Kelley open fire at the Sutherland Springs Church in rural Texas killing at least 26
people. The shooter was clad in all black clothes with a ballistic vest strapped to his chest opened
fire at a Sunday service on parishioners. Being one of the deadliest mass shooting in Texas, and
5th deadliest shooting in the United States, indicates the gruesome picture of gun ownership
leading to higher chances of firearm homicide rates. This cold-blooded murder killed victims
ranged in age from 5 to 72 which included the pastor's 14-year-old daughter, several other
children, pregnant women and old people (Montgomery, 2017). The motive behind such a
gruesome act did not involve any racism or prejudice against religion but the gunman had
disputes with his mother in law that triggered his anger to take up such action. The criminal was
prohibited by law from possessing any kind of firearms and ammunition as he was convicted for
domestic violence on his wife and child. He also served 12 months confinement with an

GUN POLICIES IN USA 3
unsatisfactory discharge conduct in 2014. The assault rifle used for shooting was a Ruger AR-15
variant which is generally used by American military. However, as opined by Branham, et. al.
(2017), this deadly attack indicates that it is easy to have a gun ownership in the name of
personal safety. After the lift of ban from keeping federal assault weapons in 2004, people
started legally selling or possessing these assault weapons. In the case of Kelley, he purchased
different variants of guns and semi-automatic rifles with prior license to own and buy them. This
gruesome shooting at the place of worship forced the officials to turn their heads and pay
attention to the gaps in reporting to the federal background check system to ban any convicted
person from purchasing guns.
As opined by Zurcher (2019), even when the motive of the shooting was unclear,
President Trump suggested that convicted criminals like these can possibly have mental health
issues. However, according to his understanding the problem lies within non-arrangements of
stricter gun control measures in the country otherwise not have been such incidents. The officer
investigating the crime scene, Stephen Willeford, also possessed a gun but the difference is, he
keeps a gun to tackle such situations and the criminal had completely opposite motives. There
have been several reports of firearm related homicides in the United States and are frequently
associated with cases of domestic violence, gang violence and suicides. From this incident, it can
be understood that gun violence has been claiming thousands of lives each year. The easy access
and unflattering guns laws has made it easier for people to take their own lives and lives of
others. According to Giffords Law Center (2018), in the same year, the gun violence deaths
reached their highest level with more than 39,773 deaths which indicated an increase of 14% in
only 3 years. These deaths have been accounted due to gun homicides, gun suicides and all these
disproportionately impact the communities of color residing in the United States. Massacres like
the Sutherland Springs shooting was a result of hate and bias-driven attack but could have been
prohibited if the laws were much more strengthened after cases like the attacks of 9/11.
Relation between gun ownership and firearm homicides
The prevalence of firearm ownership in United States is still an abstract picture as there
are several unaccounted weapon ownerships. Even though the database of firearm ownership is
not vague, there is still no clear accounting systems available in the country of how many
firearms are available with people. According to Statista (2018), majority of households in the