Running head: RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Gilbert Lopez Jr.

Research Questions
Professor Kinley
University of Texas at El Paso

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2
Abstract

Gun control has been viewed widely by society throughout the years and has become a
huge social and political issue regarding safety. Guns have been brought up to the attention of the
public in a negative manner due to all the massacres that have occurred throughout history but
has been occurring frequently throughout the century. Gun control has been reviewed more in
detail by the government and action has been taken in a way that society will always have
control of. This social issue has created social tensions due to regulations that have been placed,
which the people think that there are limitations in their individual freedom. There have also
been regulations / policies which have been evaluated in a state and federal level which has taken
into effect to monitor gun control and create a safe environment.

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1. Does gun control limit individual freedoms from society members?

Gun control does not limit individual freedoms from society because as stated in Bill of
Rights in the United States Constitution our second amendment states, the right of the people to
keep and bear arms, the right belongs to citizens of the United States. It also states that the right
to bear arm is not a reward from the Constitution, but it is limited to the federal government and
the Supreme Court that states could limit any type of weapons that do not have reasonable
relationships of preservation or efficiency of well-regulated militia. Throughout the history of the
United States regulations have been placed in result to mass traumatic attacks that have taken
place throughout the country, occurring more often and becoming prevalent as the years pass.
Regulations have been made and passed in response to individuals abusing the second
amendment and those individuals inability to hold true to what that freedom gives society.
Restrictions have created checks and balances to help monitor gun use and limit individuals who
will not properly use a firearm. These regulations and restrictions were made to create a safer
environment for society members.
In the article The Impact of Gun Control and Gun Ownership Levels on Violence Rates, by
Gary Kleck and E. Britt Patterson, Kleck and Patterson discuss the relationship between crime
and gun availability in the United States. One of the common misconceptions the authors state is
that when guns are available to the public they will encourage attacks. Kleck and Patterson
highlight the main issue of gun prevalence in American society by examining how
comprehensive gun restrictions will hinder ones personal ability to acquire a firearm. Kleck and
Paterson conclude in their article, For some gun laws, one presumed reason for any effects on
violence they may have is that they reduce levels of gun prevalence or availability, which in turn

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affects violence rates, (Kleck & Patterson, p. 253) Many citizens think due to the reduction of
the availability of guns and the regulations of those with mental illness, those who are unlicensed
and the certain steps you need to take to conceal a weapon, that the government is limiting their
individual freedom but the government is only placing these regulations to create a safer more
relaxed environment. According to The American Journal of Psychiatry, American media has
portrayed mass shootings to be occurred more by individuals who suffer with diagnosed mental
illnesses. New research has found that there is a correlation between mass shootings and gunmen
with mental illnesses. News media illustrate mass shootings with a negative connotation to gun
control, creating a biased public opinion. The American Journal of Psychiatry article discusses
that the correlation is between individuals suffering with a mental illness who create these mass
shootings and not with a lack of federal laws in place to monitor gun control. The article states,
Existing federal law already prohibited gun possession for persons who have been
involuntary committed to psychiatric care or adjudicated to be mentally incompetent, and
the 2008 law provided funding to states to report such persons to the background check
system used by licensed gun dealers to screen potential gun buyers. Expanding
prohibitions on gun possession by persons with serious mental illness to include persons
required by a court or other legal authority to take medication or receive outpatient care
for a mental disorder has also been proposed at the federal level.
With an increase of gun prevalence in public areas throughout the course of American history,
mentally unstable individuals have statistically been the majority of massacre incidents that have
occurred around the country. Government officials have thus created checks and balances to
ensure public safety but also not limit mentally suffering individuals second amendment
freedom. Mentally unstable individuals are still allowed to have a concealed but must undergo a

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rigorous screening process. For example, unstable individuals must undergo treatment to be
medicated and fully compliable with physical checkups.
2. Does gun control regulation create social tensions or create order in society?
News media creates a perception of how gun control is perceived in American society.
Society members are not always able to see how the media uses selection and or censorship to
portray mass shootings in relation to gun control and current policies that are in place. There is
support for the claim that once an injury is inflicted, it is more likely to result in death if a gun
was used, due to the weapons greater lethality, (Kleck & Patterson, p. 250). A gun has a greater
level of lethality increasing its possible of harm it can cause in the public environment. Kleck
and Patterson are establishing a sense of logos to their audience to state in their article that other
weapons such as a knife is less likely to cause severe injury or even cause fatal death as
compared to a firearm.

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In comparison to Kleck and Patterson, the billboard created to portray Kenneth Coles
statement on gun control is a form of bias and lack of knowledge that is accessible to the public
but the general public are not well versed in current federal and state polices on gun control. The
news media does take its toll onto society portraying conflicting messages to the public. Coles
billboard was placed in the public view for many passing pedestrians and drivers to observe and
begin to create their own assumptions about gun polices in relation to mental illness. It is a lack
of knowledge that creates misunderstandings about current state legislatives and federal bills that
are passed to ensure public safety. Further, if high gun prevalence makes it harder to pass gun
laws, and also contributes to higher violence rates, failing to control for gun prevalence could
result in a spurious negative association between gun laws and violence rates, (Kleck &
Patterson, p. 253). Due to the analyzation of guns being more common throughout society, the
laws would be harder to control which has created a negative relationship between the gun laws
that have been placed and the violence rates that could increase. As Kleck and Patterson mention
that firearms are not always portrayed in a negative aspect even though traumatic events in
history have occurred because of the use of guns. Individuals who abuse guns for mass shootings
have created the social tensions that plagues society. The authors note how American society
members properly use guns as stated in the Bill of Rights, second amendment, which gives
United States citizens the right to bear arms. Kleck and Patterson state, some violence rates
encourage the acquisition of firearms for self-defense, accounting at least partially for bivariate
positive associations observed between gun prevalence levels and violence levels, (Kleck &
Patterson, p. 272). As mentioned, these relationships will increase the action taken by an
individual to keep others around as well as themselves safe and self-defense will be more
common to create this safety for the environment Not only has gun laws created lots of social

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tension but it has also created a higher alert of order in society to protect and keep the
environment safe.
3. How do federal laws compare to state laws?
According to the 84th Regular Legislative Session, House Bill 910, Open Carry policy, Texas
state officials passed a new piece of legislative that was effective as of January 1st, 2016. New
firearm regulations and polices to allow Texas citizens to obtain and properly handle a firearm in
public environments. These new governing state regulations and polices were passed to fulfill the
Bill of Rights second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and made to
also be mindful of public safety. Some of the requirements that citizens must meet to obtain a
gun are age eligible, no history and of a criminal or misdemeanor record, and no psychological
disorders, and no alcohol or drug dependency. If all the requirements are met then citizens are
eligible to submit their applications for Texas License to carry a handgun. In differentiation to the
Open Carry Policy Texas state officials also passed the Campus Carry, Senate Bill 11, and
effective August 1st, 2016. Federal law regulates gun ownership to some degree, including
placing restrictions on the ownership of certain types of firearms. The National Firearms Act
(NFA), for instance, places restrictions on the sale or possession of short-barreled shotguns,
machine guns, and silencers. In order to purchase one of these "NFA firearms or devices,"
owners must go through an extensive background check, purchase a tax stamp for the
manufacture of the firearm or device, and register the weapon with the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' NFA registry (Find Law) The federal laws have a slight
comparison to the state laws but federal laws are very broad and follow the Bill of rights and are
more lenient as for the state laws which are more narrow and focused on certain laws that they
want to achieve. Federal laws compare to state laws in a way that they dont differ because state

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laws are a continuation of policies and regulations from the federal level but they vary from state
to state.
Some states have many more firearms restrictions than others Some gun owners who visit
other states will be granted reciprocity and recognition for any "right to carry" gun laws they had
in their home state. Not all states grant such rights. "Right to carry" laws are federal and state
constitution provisions that recognize a gun owner's right to use her or his gun for defensive
purposes. Some states give gun owners more rights than others do (Find Law) As mentioned
before, the state laws vary from state to state, more strict than others and the rules and laws
change as individuals travel through each state, and the certain policies and regulations one has
to go through. As stated also in the article of FindLaw, not every state grants such rights which
allow or prohibit an individual from openly carrying a gun out in the public which is known as
the open carry laws. The open carry law has four categories that each state can follow one of
these four categories. These four categories consists of Permissive open carry, licensed open
carry, Anomalous open carry, and Non- Permissive Open carry States. The permissive open carry
states allow the individuals to carry a gun without permits or license, while on the other hand,
licensed open carry states allow and individual who owns a gun to carry a firearm openly but
after they have been issued with w permit or license. Anomalous open carry states are when
individuals may carry a gun openly which may generally under state law be lawful but the local
government can pass their own gun laws may be more restrictive that the laws in the state and as
for non-permissive open carry states, these individuals who are carrying gun openly is against
the state law or may be legal in limited circumstances or when it is used legally such as in selfdefense situation. So federal and state laws do have a lot in common just depends on each state
and how lenient or strict their regulations, policies, and laws are placed. There has been many

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added and regulated laws that have changed throughout time for the rights of the citizens and
more so for the safety of the society and environment.
4. What federal regulations/ policies have been in effect to monitor gun control?
According to the Gun Control Act of 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law to
regulate firearms industry and firearm owners which also focuses to regulate interstate
commerce. In 2016, President Barack Obama declared a series of executive actions to expand the
federal background checks to most gun buyers. Federal law sets the minimum standards for
firearm regulation in the United States, but individual states have their own laws, some of which
provide further restrictions, others which are more lenient As of 2016, there were no federal
laws banning semiautomatic assault weapons, military-style .50 caliber rifles, handguns, or largecapacity ammunition magazines, which can increase the potential lethality of a given firearm.
There was a federal prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines between 1994
and 2004, but Congress allowed these restrictions to expire. As the years continue to pass the
laws continue to become analyzed and set in a way that these policies, laws, and regulations are a
neutral action taken to make sure it would not create tension between the citizens and act upon
these decisions violently. The recent regulations and policies that have been taken to effect and or
will take effect have caught societys attention and has created social tension for those for and
against. These policies and regulations are the open carry law, the concealed carry and the on
campus carry. The open carry give individuals authority to contain an openly licensed carried
handgun in the public places that do not prohibit the carry of a concealed handgun with
exceptions but unconcealed handguns, loaded, unloaded must be carried in a belt or shoulder
holster. Campus carry is another policy that will take effect as of August 1, 2016 which gives
authority to a license holder to carry a concealed handgun on and or about the premises of the

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campus of a higher education institution in the state. As it was explained earlier, each state will
hold their own regulations and policies an individual has to follow when it takes into effect.
These Presidents or executive officer from these insitutions may establish reasonable rules,
regulations and provisions which will regard the campus carry law. First, a promising
strategy for reducing gun violence is to make guns legal liability to criminals, a goal that can be
furthered through a variety of both regulatory and law enforcement tactics ( HEINONLINE)
HEINONLINE describes how it may be easy to believe how not just any programs may reduce
gun violence but knowing that there are over 200 million guns that are scattered and surrounding
the environment. It also states that there it is not necessary to get rid of the legitimate private
ownership of guns to reduce the improper use of criminals and youth, but that the moderate
measure may lead to successful results. It also explains how some convenient approaches have
seen success and a great place to start receiving successful effective gun policies is with unbiased
evidence. Regulations of firearms have been taken into effect in an international and regional
level, which focuses on the illegal trade which occurs throughout the borders of our country.
These international trades have become more of an issue than regulations in the responsibility
and handling of the civilians. Evidence has been collected that most of these weapons that have
been used by these individuals who created these massacres have shown that these weapons were
brought into the country illegally and that many are either stolen, or not registered. These
regulations have created a sense of pros and cons towards the environment and as well as the
people which can become a positive but also negative depending if these regulations create
tension.

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11

Reference Page
McGinty, E.,D.,Webster.,C.,Barry.(2013).Effects of News Media Messages About
Mass Shootings On Attitudes Toward Persons With Serious Mental Illness And Public
Suppor for Gun Control Policies.The American Journal Of Psychiatry. Retrieved by
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13010014
Bogus, T. (2008).Gun Control and Americas Cities:Public Policy and
Politics.Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1140442
Kleck, G. Patterson, E.(1993).The impact of gun control and gun ownership levels
on violence rates. Springer. Retrieved from
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01064462#page-1
Utep.edu.Campus Conceal Carry. Home. Retrieved from
http://sa.utep.edu/campuscarry/
Bonanno, C. Levenson, R.(2014).School Shooters Histroy, Current Theoretical
and Empirical Findings, and Strategies for Prevention. Sage journals. Retrieved from
http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/4/1/2158244014525425.full
Cook, P. Ludwig, J.(2004-2005). Public Policy Perspectives Principles For
Effective Gun Policy.HEINONLINE. Retrieved by
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/flr73&div=32&id=&page
Masters, J. (2016). U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons. Council on Foreign
Relations. Retrieved by http://www.cfr.org/society-and-culture/us-gun-policy-globalcomparisons/p29735?cid=ppc-Google_grantgun_policy_backgrounder&gclid=CLzBoPrH38sCFdgBgQod-fsGtw