The Gun Control Movement: Evaluating Social Impact and Key Tenets

This essay provides an analysis of the gun control movement in the U.S., examining its origins, key tenets, positive and negative impacts, and influence on social structure. Originating from incidents like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School shooting, the movement seeks legislative changes to prevent mass shootings, advocating for bans on semi-automatic weapons, comprehensive background checks, and improved data collection. While proponents argue gun control reduces violence, critics suggest it infringes on self-defense rights and doesn't address the root causes of violence. The essay concludes that the movement sparks essential debates on fundamental rights and the relationship between laws and behavior, contributing to participatory democracy. Desklib offers this essay and many other resources for students.

Running head: GUN CONTROL MOVEMENT
GUN CONTROL MOVEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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The aim of the essay to evaluate and analyze the movement of gun control and ownership
within the context of U.S. This essay is designed to look into the following parameters. The first
part of the essay will be dealing with the basic tenets of the movement while the next art of the
essay will be highlighting the issue of the positive and negative impacts of the movement. The
last part of the essay will be dealing with the movement’s impact in the change in the social
structure. This paper is designed to analyze the different nuances of the gun control movement in
U.S.
The gun control movement
 The gun control movement of U.S is a youth led movement was initiated at the back drop
of incident of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School, Florida and raged a national
conversation over the issues of gun control for the civilian. This movement is one of the
most prominent movements since it designed to raise conversations and raise several
debates regarding the gun rights of the people of America (Ohchr.org).
 These movements have started several legislative debates: however the main issues lie in
the ownership of guns and the issuance of multiple unlicensed guns. It has been argued
by the critics that numbers of unlicensed guns are increasing the number of violence and
there is a need to control guns control for the people. This movement was result of the
violent incident that took place and the movement became a mass movement by March
14 which soon came to be known as the “march for our lives” (Elliott, Vegas and Vegas).
 Hence it is to be argued that one of the basic tenets of the movement was the bringing
changes through the legislative means to halt any further mass shootings. It is believed to
be the impact of the incident that encouraged the student to speak against the issue.

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 One of the primary tents of the movement is to voce the opinion in favor of banning the
procurement of semi-automatic weapons that are mostly used by the soldiers (Goodman
et al.). It is argued that civilians should not be having access to guns which can pose a
serious threat to the live of the civilian.
 Another important tenet of the movement was to establish a database that will contain the
records of all gun sales and it would be done by doing through background checks.
 The movement also voiced their opinion in favor of changing the privacy laws to deal
with patients with higher tendencies of murder.
Positive and negative impact of the movement
Positive:
 The theory that guns are one of the causes of violence against humanity and it is
argued that the procurement of gun will rise up the number of violence for a country
which already a higher average of violence related to gun usage. One of the positive
impacts if gun control I America is that it will drastically reduce the number of
violence in America.
 Since there are strict evidence of gun control laws paying dividend in the context of
Australia, this movement is tend to make positive impact by bringing legislative
means of controlling means.
 Another important positive contributor of the movement is that is raise the awareness
of people toward the sensitive issue of gun control and raise several legislative
debates around the issues. This is also part of the youth activism which is an
important indicator of participatory democracy. Since this is what has led to the

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Congress pass modified bill with certain improvements. This helps the congress and
the legislators to rethink the issue of gun control and relate with the increasing
number of violence in U. S.
Negative:
 It is argued by the other side of the debaters that such movement for the reform of thee
gun control in America is not an answer to the problem of the mass number of shootings
and killings in America (Jones et al.). However the problem lies somewhere else.
 Movements like this are bound to fail unless there are substantial changes unless there is
an identification of the root cause of the issue. It is to be understood that the movement is
not about banning of guns and it is not just banning of guns that can reduce the number
of violence in America (Kalesan et al.). Hence there is a need to develop broader support
base for te movement to make further changes in gun control and ownership laws.
Impact in the social structure
It is debatable whether control of guns ownership could actually bring down the number
of violence in the society. However it is to be argued that such movements raise the basic
question of fundamental right of the individual to self-defense. Such movements can bring
meaningful changes in the social context due to the existence of the contradictory ideologies
presented.
According to my opinion, the issue of gun control is not a complex issues and it requires
consideration of issues like the relationship of laws and people’s behavior. Hence it is important
to consider both sides of the debate in order to reach to constructive changes in the legislative
decision making. Instead it is important to listen to all range of arguments and avoid specific

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stereotyping. It is also important to evaluate the role of the citizens in the protection of laws.
Movements of this stature within the context of U.S raises the underlying factors fundamental
question, what are the fundamental factors for instigating behaviors like the one that took place
on the schools of Florida. Moreover it is important to consider the alternative means for control
of guns and their ownership instead a complete ban on the same since it will be an infringement
for the fundamental right to bear arms. It is to acknowledge the fact that control of arms requires
consideration of the ideological split of the people (Kleck). Therefore it could be concluded that
debates and issues like this which impact the larger social causes will be raised time-to-time
which constitute one of the key factors of participatory liberal democracy.

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References and bibliography
Ohchr.org. (2019). OHCHR | Gun control in USA. [online] Available at:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/GunControlInUSA.aspx [Accessed 2 Mar. 2019].
Kalesan, Bindu, et al. "Firearm legislation and firearm mortality in the USA: a cross-sectional,
state-level study." The Lancet387.10030 (2016): 1847-1855.
Goodman, Simon, and Bethany Perry. "The American Gun Control Debate: A Discursive
Analysis." Discourse, Peace, and Conflict. Springer, Cham, 2018. 67-82.
Jones, Michael A., and George W. Stone. "The US gun-control paradox: Gun buyer response to
congressional gun-control initiatives." Journal of Business & Economics Research (Online) 13.4
(2015): 167.
Kalesan, Bindu, et al. "Gun ownership and social gun culture." Injury prevention 22.3 (2016):
216-220.
Kleck, Gary, Tomislav Kovandzic, and Jon Bellows. "Does gun control reduce violent
crime?." Criminal justice review 41.4 (2016): 488-513.
Child, The Lancet. "# NeverAgain: gun violence and youth activism in America." (2018).
Elliott, P., Vegas, H. and Vegas, C. (2019). October 16th, 2017 | Vol. 190, No. 15 | U.S.. [online]
TIME.com. Available at: http://time.com/magazine/us/4970260/october-16th-2017-vol-190-no-
15-u-s/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2019].