ways that will help in the control and prevention of gun-related violence in the society

ways that will help in the control and prevention of gun-related violence in the society

Gun violence is the process of committing violence using a gun. The US is one of the nations that impose strict rules and regulation on the ownership and use of guns.  In recent years, gun-related violence cases have been on the rise with the United States getting ranked the 11th highest state with gun violence rate in the world. Several cases ranging from homicides cases of suicides and many others gun related violence have been evident in the US society. Further, in the United State, gun crimes are among the key cause of high death rates in the nation (Malina et al 175). The government is trying to ensure that the transfer or possession of a firearm is done in a way that will control them so that they do not get into the wrong people. It has turned to be a serious issue to regulate ownership of guns considering that many of the US people even the youth possess the weapons.

The rise of other crimes such intimate as well as family and business disagreements have led to increased misuse of guns within the country and hence occurrences of unnecessary injuries and death. The government and other relevant stakeholders are putting in place appropriate policies and laws that are meant to guide the citizens (Mantel, 233). A firearm guiding policy is an essential move by most countries by only permitting a few legislations. Controlling guns is significantly contributing to the reduction of cases that are related to gun violence. This paper will highlight the various ways that will help in the control and prevention of gun-related violence in the society.

Making sure that our citizens are safe as a nation with many guns should be the first priority; hence a gun safety culture should get established. The safety program requires that any individual that is at risk of harming themselves or others should not access a firearm at all. The individuals at risk of injuring others include those that have a previous violent record against other people or their families and partners. Thorough background checks should get conducted before individuals are given guns. Also, oversight should be done on industries making guns and make the relevant individuals in charge accountable for all the weapons and ammunition produced (Webster et al., 15). Since most firearms used in crimes get obtained from gun dealers, they should always have sales records. Also, recurring training on how to use a gun and renewal of permits for licensed gun holders should be conducted to avoid accidental gun violence cases.

After establishing a gun safety culture, the second important point is to ensure that a public health approach gets adopted to bolster resilience in families, communities and individuals mainly to reduce additional risk factors associated that goes beyond gun access. As a leading cause of premature deaths, gun violence should get recognized as a crucial but preventable public health problem (Rivara et al., 764-765).

Gun violence termed as a criminal offence may vary from such dimensions as suicide or attempted cause of action and any form of attack using the weapon. However, gun violence may be perceived as non-criminal in the context of unintentional injuries as well as death. Besides, military as well as paramilitary actions are too regarded as non-criminal gun violent occurrences. Immediate response is necessary in the society concerning the increased level of crimes due to gun possession especially in countries like the US. A political will that is well instituted should get mastered to address the numerous numbers of deaths that are witnessed through gun violence. This approach develops policies and programs based on studying previous data on gun violence. Also supporting the various safety plans implemented by the community will help control gun-related violence. Youth employment, restoration of vacant lands and development of the neighborhood economy are some of the upstream strategies used as some of the safety plans across the country.

Lastly, for the public health approach to work well, an effective and sustainable preventive infrastructure should be put in place. The prevention infrastructures include supporting research related to gun violence. The importance of this research centers is to develop relevant strategies aimed at controlling gun violence through tracking and accessing how the guns are purchased and used. It’s advisable that each state comes up with research centers purposely to find various strategies of reducing gun-related violence. Also, another way of reducing gun violence is through making violence prevention an imperative and responsibility of the health system.

This plan will get achieved by establishing a comprehensive health system.  A health system framework that is broad tries to move away from the current approach whereby the justice system is heavily relied on and brings about a comprehensive plan with various institutions working together (David-Ferdon et al., 39). When all the relevant institutions including law enforcement, behavioral healthcare, and the justice system work together, it will steer the nation to safety. The approach will help keep the society a safe place to be by getting rid of unlawful guns amongst people and regulating the ownership and use of weapon. The law should not be limited to licensing but sober and reasonable use of the gun within the society for attainment of peace to all people regardless of social and wealth class or even race among other factors contributing to misuse of the guns.