Gun violence worldwide statistics shows that the United States ranks first amongst countries with gun violence in the world according to statistics mentioned by different departments. Guns are available in the US markets for civilians to buy, thus, increasing gun violence in the United States. The debate over gun violence law in the United States has been going on for years, caused by a series of mass killings by armed civilians. Particularly, the killing of 20 school children in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 caused by a national deliberation over gun laws and calls by the Obama regime to limit the military-grade weapons made available by the arm companies. Nonetheless, compromise legislation that would have restricted semiautomatic assault arms and broaden background checks was conquered in the Senate in 2013, even with extensive public support.
The gun violence law advocates sought to revive the debate following another series of deadly mass shootings in 2015, including the killing of 14 people at a community center in San Bernardino, California and 9 at a church killing of nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. These advocates often pinpoint lower incidence of gun violence and the stricter gun laws in several other democracies, like Australia, Japan and other countries with gun violence, but many others say this relationship proves little and note that rates of gun crime in the United States have sunk over the last two decades.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “a non-invasion of the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms which is essential for their security.” Supreme Court decrees, citing this amendment, have supported the right of states to regulate firearms. Nevertheless, in a 2008 decision (District of Columbia v. Heller) concurring an individual right to keep and bear arms, the court brought down Washington, D.C., laws that restricted handguns and required those in the home to be disassembled or locked.
A number of gun violence law advocates consider ownership a birthright and an essential component of America’s legacy. The US, with less than 5 percent of the world’s population, has approximately 35 to 50 percent of the worlds civilian owned guns,according to a report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey carried out in 2007.The US stands at number one in firearms per capita. The US also has the highest manslaughter-by-firearm rate among the developed nations of the world according to gun violence worldwide statistics.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 restricted arms trade to several classes of individuals, including persons under the age of 18, the mentally disabled , those with criminal records, unlawful aliens, dishonorably discharged military officers, and others. The arms trade law was amended by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993, which dictated background checks for all unlicensed individuals buying firearms from an arm company or a federal licensed dealer.
As of 2016, there were no federal laws restricting semiautomatic assault weapons, military-grade handguns, 50 caliber rifles, or large-capacity ammunition magazines, which can augment the potential lethality of certain firearms. There was a federal restriction on high-capacity magazines and assault weapons between 1994 and 2004, but Congress let these restrictions to expire.
Many analysts characterize Canada’s gun laws as stringent in comparison to those of the United States, while others say recent occurrences have removed safeguards. Ottawa, like Washington, establishes federal gun restrictions that the territories, provinces, and municipalities can complement. Federal regulations require all individuals possessing guns, who must be at least 18 years of age, to get a license that consists of a public safety course and background check.
Modern Canadian gun laws have been piloted by previous gun violence. In December 1989, an ungratified student entered a Montreal Engineering school and with a semiautomatic rifle, killed 14 students and injured more than 12 others. This event is widely credited with piloting subsequent gun legislation, including the 1995 Firearms Act, which demands owner licensing and the registration of all long guns while prohibiting more than half of all registered guns. Nevertheless, the government, in 2012, abandoned the long-gun registry because of cost concerns.
The turning point for modern gun legislation in Australia was the Port Arthur massacre of April 1996, when an adolescent killed 35 individuals and wounded 23 others. The turmoil, carried out with a semiautomatic rifle, was the worst mass shooting in the country’s history. Less than two weeks later, the conservative-led national government brought in fundamental changes to the country’s gun laws
The National Agreement on Firearms all but restricted automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles petrified licensing and ownership conditions, and established a temporary gun repurchase by the defense industry that took some 650,000 assault weapons out of public circulation. Among other things, the law also demanded licensees to prove a “genuine need” for a particular kind of gun and to go through a firearm safety course issued by the defense industry. After another high-rank shooting in Melbourne in 2002, Australia’s handgun laws were stiffened as well.
Military service is an obligation in Israel, and guns are an integral part of everyday life there. By law, most 18-year-olds are psychologically screened, drafted, and receive at least some arms training after high school. After serving typically two or three years in the armed forces, nonetheless, most Israelis are released and must abide by civilian gun laws.
The country has relatively strict gun regulations, including an assault-weapons prohibition and a demand to register gun ownership with the government. To become licensed, an applicant must a permanent resident or be an Israeli citizen, be at least 21 years old, and be able to at least communicate in Hebrew, among other qualifications. Above all, an individual must also show genuine cause to carry a firearm, such as hunting or self-defense.
Modern gun legislation endeavors in the United Kingdom have been induced by extraordinary acts of violence that ignited public outrage and, eventually, political action. In August 1987, a lone gunman carrying a handgun and two legally owned semiautomatic rifles rampage went on a six-hour shooting spree about70 miles west of London, killing 16 people and then himself. With the birth of the incident, known as the Hungerford massacre, Britain brought in the Firearms (Amendment) Act, which expanded the list of prohibited weapons, including certain semiautomatic rifles, and increased registration demands for other weapons.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of Britain’s gun laws in gun crime reduction over the past 25 years has ignited debate. Analysts note that the number of such crimes increased significantly in the late 1990s and reached its apex in 2004 before dropping with each subsequent year.