Study over Civilian Firearm Possession

王烁宇

USA

As a country insists upon keeping liberty and democracy， the USA pursues a loose policy of the management of guns among civilians. There are not so many strict obstructions to get a gun for an American. The right to hold a gun is treated to be a subjective cardinal symbol of democracy， like the inherent rights to live， develop and to be educated. The management of private guns is one of the most sensitive topics for Americans. After the United States got its independent， the civilians held the guns universally， for the war to get independence and democracy called on armed battles against the European colonists. To protect the democracy， people affirmed that it should be valid for civilians to hold guns， so that they will be able to overthrow the autocratic government. Hundreds years passed， the American democratic position lasted to today.

Revealed to be one of the American characteristics， the civilians are eager to hold guns. Actually， 300 million Americans are holding 250 to 270 million guns， and according to survey statistics， the number of guns held by per 100 civilians is 70 to 100. Hence the massive private guns and loose restraining， shooting accidents have occurred frequently. The statistics is that the annul number of the people die of shooting is 30，000； more than 200，000 people get hurt by guns a year， and there are four presidents were killed by shooting. Every person with a gun is able to cause such accidents， even teenagers and children. People may be struck by the tough life and easily take their guns to shoot someone they don not like or just express their anger to the society. In 2007， a college student of Virginia Tech made a shooting accident in his university with 32 peoples death. Teenagers do not have such stable emotions； it is general to be ambivalent， passive and extreme. They even are able to get their families gun as get a toy. Tragedies occurred.

Bloody news is always stimulating the Americans， but restraining guns strictly may never become the Americans choice. Varieties of shooting activities develop stably； the trade in firearm market has been being prosperous； organizations and clubs related firearms are getting more substantial in many fields. With merchant of death， this power even may influence the result of president elections.

Where the private guns will lead the States to， we are wondering.

Europe & Australia

Most European countries and Australia permit civilians to hold private guns， but different from the USA， the national governments do not treat this right to be inherent， but a special privilege； the management over private guns is much stricter.

Australia is a country which has established utilitarian framework to restrain private guns. Before 21st century， policies about guns allowed a loose folk transfer； every Australian family may hold a private gun before decades. The change initiated in 1996； on April of the year， a malign shooting accident occurred in state Tasmania and caused 15 civilians death and over 30 wound. The local polices firearms were at a so low level that they were at a disadvantage at a certain time during conflicts. In the same year， national government made the first step of restraining private guns. According to the new-published laws， people were demanded to hand up the private heavy weapons， automatic rifles and certain self-loaders. A series of treaties have been built up since then； the significant points are： limiting the number of the firearm license， confirming that guns are only used for hunting and competing， recycling the folk guns at the initial price， etc. The government made specific treaties of the gun-barrel， clip size and caliber. A national data base of gun holders and firearms has been established thanks to every states effort. Healthy adults that have the desire to get the firearm license have to be trained by a prescribed institution， and it will experience an investigation on past action and criminal record sternly； it will be allowed to get its first gun after 6 months getting its firearm license. All these measures ameliorated the domestic security circumstance. These experiences may provide some viable solutions.

Though the European countries that give recognition to private guns insist rigid management policy on this issue， the severe illegal gun trade verifies the problem they may have. The crime rate relevant to private guns has been increasing since the initiation of 21st. In 2009， a 17-year-old German teenager dropped out of school killed 16 people including students， teachers and passers-by by shooting. Another case is that a murderer shot over 200 bullets and killed 2 people in Copenhagen Denmark in 2015. The integration of Europe facilitates the spread of guns， mainly thanks to the convenient communication. Except shooting accidents， another threaten comes from the terrorist. The guns among civilians provide possible chance to the terrorists to develop. Holding the private guns， citizens may easily become terrorists， as the economic and society situation getting gloomy and the terroristic propaganda permeating on the internet.

Africa & Middle East

As was mentioned， the governments in these areas are too weak to control the transfer of the small firearms. However， many countries are playing an active role in the firearm trade like Israel， Iran， Pakistan and so on. Many underdeveloped countries are in warfare， thanks to the complex situation of religions and terrorism. It is easy for civilians to get guns in the conflicting areas. But it is not enough for the armed civilians to protect themselves； on the contrary， make the security situation even worse. The role of the armed civilians may easily change in the warfare. The human rights in these areas are being threatened seriously.