Gun Violence Research Paper

Despite the surge in numeral count of children and youth killed from gun related violence, research indicates that most Americans still remain adamant to any further restrictions on guns and firearms ownership and usage. It is even more surprising to learn that a large percentage of people tend to believe that communities are safer where individuals are free to purchase and use weapons to defend themselves from actual or potential threats or threatening situations.

It is a common knowledge within the criminal justice as well as the political realm that gun violence is a very complex and multi-facet issue. As a result, America requires practical and strong laws aimed at protecting innocent lives as well as the lives of the law enforcement

officials from acts of gun violence. At the core of the discussion is to try to highlight the effects of gun violence and on the American youth especially with the knowledge of how contagious the issue of gun ownership is.
According to Blumstein (2002), the youth murder rates rose to tremendously high levels between 1980s and 1990s then fell histrionically by the end of the decade. According to him, there are several factors that added to this increase in youth deaths, namely; increased use of handguns by youth, the rise of illegal drug markets, and increased youth gun carrying. He however states that the decline started in the mid-1990s as drug markets shrank, law enforcement increased efforts to control youth access to guns, youth gun carrying decreased, and the robust economy provided legitimate jobs for young people.
Today, on the news we read, see and hear stories of so many children and youth killed or injured by firearms as a result of the arms usage whether in deterring and defending the communities against acts of violence or just for reactional purposes.

According to Cook and Ludwig (1997), approximately half of American households today own guns as compared to just 35% in 1994. This figure can be said to be equivalent to having a gun for each adult in the US. Despite this fact, only a small portion of the adults own the firearms. A lot of times the firearm owners have multiple guns at a time out of which there are collections of various kinds of guns. As a result of the readily available guns, countless children and youth are exposed to gun violence at home, at school, in their communities, or through the

media.
According to Fingerhut and Kaufer (2002), the effect of gun violence on children and youth is visible both in physical, psychological, financial, emotionally, and legally aspects of their lives. The biggest and most obvious effect however is on the physical safety of the youth and children. As evident from research, hundreds of youth are killed as a result of gun violence, and this eventually leads to further deaths from retaliations in incidents of gang related shooting. Additionally as Miller et al. (2001) indicated in their article, the availability of guns tremendously raises the chances of youth deaths since it is evident that a large number of incidents of gun violence involve unprompted confrontations that result in death or serious injury when a gun is readily available.
We should however not overlook the psychological effects of gun violence on the youth.

Research shows that the psychological effects of exposure to gun violence on children and youth include anger, withdrawal, posttraumatic stress disorder, and desensitization to violence (Garbarino et. al, 2002). For instance, research shows that in neighborhood where gun violence was rampant, even those youth who are not directly victimized when exposed violence, suffer from the fear of being shot that pervades their communities. The effect can be seen also in the medical costs that are incurred in the treatment of gun related wounds and injuries as well as the legal costs and time in cases where court cases and incarceration are

involved.
On the economic level, youth violence also poses a major challenge to the economic vitality especially in the low-income communities. Businesses in these neighborhoods, where gun violence are high tend to close earlier than similar businesses in relatively “safe” areas. This trend prevents business investment, particularly the start, development, or transfer of service-related establishments that would otherwise be a high valuable source of employment to the youth. (Greenbaum and Tita, 2004).
Although gun violence disproportionately affects the poor, it imposes costs on all Americans. Their analysis suggests that the cost of gun violence is approximately $100 billion per year, of which at least $15 billion is directly attributable to costs associated with gun violence against youth. While the most noticeable costs, such as the treatment of gunshot wounds, meet the most consideration, in monetary standings these are a surprisingly small part of the total social costs arising from such violence. Accordingly, for those in authorities to implement reasonable policies, they have to take into consideration the various opinions of the public, the issue as addressed by the constitution and also the vital relationship between guns and youth violence. Bottom line is that a balance between the general cost and benefits of firearms usage and private ownership has to be reached in order to protect the American youth.