Public Policy: Case History of Gun Control

“Public policy” case history
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Case history of gun control
Introduction
Violence has become the lead story of evening news in the United States. Acts of violence where individuals lose their lives and the rest of the population are left rearing and haunted by the event have become many in the country. Gun violence in the U.S. results in the numerous deaths and injuries of the population. A survey by the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention established that in every one hundred thousand people, 23.2 persons suffered injuries caused by firearms, while 10.6 people in every one hundred thousand died (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018, Jan 8). The effects of gun violence go beyond the casualties by shaping the lives of people who witness such cases, leading them to live in fear. Laws and policies to regulate the making, sale, transfer and use of firearms by citizens have been in existence since 1934. Nevertheless, the issue has been the most conflict-ridden issue in American. However, with the occurrence of more mass shootings such as the Florida school shooting, the need for implementation of stricter gun regulations becomes louder for the safety of all citizens.
Background of the case
Legislation of gun control continues to be a thorny issue in the United States. Since the ratification of the U.S Constitution in 1791, which gave citizens the right to keep and bear arms. In 1934, the then President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the first countrywide gun control laws, the National Firearm Act, to deal with criminal activities by compelling manufacturers, sellers and transporters of firearms approved by the law to pay a 200 dollar tax (Cooper, 2018. Pp.1). In 1938, the government introduced the Federal Firearms Act that necessitated all gun makers, importers and dealers to obtain a firearm license, banned criminal felons from purchasing and owning guns and required gun sellers to keep records of their customers. Following the killing of President John Kennedy in 1963, and Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968, President Johnson introduced the Gun Control Act. It outlawed the importation of guns with no sporting value, introduced an age limit for gun ownership to twenty-one years, banned felons and mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, imposed stricter regulations on licensing and required the serialization of all guns. In 1993, the Brandy Handgun Violence Prevention Act became law after a failed assassination attempted of President Ronald Regan. It necessitated every individual to complete a background check before purchasing a gun from a dealer, manufacturer or importer. In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement legislation criminalized the production, transfer, and ownership of semiautomatic weapon unless acquired through federal law (Cooper, 2018, pp.1).
Cause of introduction of gun control
The introduction of gun control legislation came in the backdrop of violent occurrences. The Gun Control Act, which is the most prominent law reform on guns, came into existence after the shooting of President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy was shot in his motorcade at Dealey Plaza by Lee Osward. Osward used a rifle purchased from...