Gun control and Crime Control: The same issue?
A crime refers to an act that violates stipulated rules and which warrant community condemnation and punishment. A crime takes place when a person violates rules through open act, neglect or omission. There are two forms of crime, which include violent crimes and property crimes. Property crimes refer to crimes committed through stealing or destruction of property. Violent crimes, on the other hand, refer to crimes that harm, threaten to harm or attempts to harm an individual. Such crimes include robbery, assault, rape or homicide. From this perspective, not all crimes warrant a gun.
With respect to symbolic interactionism, people create meaning to life through social interaction. People act the way they do because of their own definition of situations. Symbolic interactionists understand social life through social interactions. From symbolic interactionists’ point of view, society is a product of social interactions where people utilize symbols to form meaning. Human beings’ image, as opposed to societal image matters most in life. The society encompasses patterned and organized interactions among people. People’s actions depend on social interactions and rules. Negotiations among a given group of people forms socially constructed links. Members of a gang introduce new participants to their norms. The new criminals learn that using gun is an acceptable behavior. From this perspective, crime control and gun control are not compatible. Gun control does not solve the issue of crime in a society. Such acts only expose people to violent acts because people use guns to protect themselves from criminals and wild animals. Gun control reduces policing resources and with reduced policing citizens experience augmented violence. Solution to criminal acts is expensive and complex. Criminal perpetrate crimes because of the way they define crime. They feel safe as a group, and react to objects such as gun based on the significance and the role the gun plays in their life. Notwithstanding strict gun control laws, such criminals do not obey the laws. In fact, strict gun rules affects people who would not commit a crime. As a result, strict gun control measures instigate increased violent acts as people who own a gun for self-defense become defenseless. For instance, the Virginia crime committed by Seung-Hui Cho called for the need of strict gun control measures. Cho was mentally unstable, and his condition triggered his violent acts. If gun control measures were less strict, perhaps the tragedy would have less impact given that people would have used their gun for self-defense.
According to symbolic interactionists, individual motivation instigates deviance. The origin of deviance is the interactions people have with one another. Behaviors of people are upshots of the meaning people attribute to occurrences. Crime takes place within a group or individual context, and it involves the group or an individual’s reaction. Certain forms of social deviance behaviors act as a basis for some criminal groups. These groups uphold their own norms, values and rewards for their criminal acts. Criminals form symbolic systems that support their identity. Legislation of firearms does not reduce crime and firearms ownership does not link to criminal violence. Belief, involvement, commitment, attachment, and not rules trigger an individual to or not to commit a crime at any time. Gun control and crime control are not similar in temperament.
