Annotated Bibliography on Ineffective Gun Violence Prevention Tactics
Working thesis: Gun violence prevention tactics referred to as effective; however, homicide rates continue to rise.
Blumstein, Alfred, and Joel Wallman. The Crime Drop in America. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print. Pages: 45-78.
Summary: Fire arm violence is something that has been going on for many years and something that has been being looked at for many years as well. Many solutions have been thought of but do not seem to take the full effect that they are intended to take. There are many problems that come with gun violence overall; for example, it is expensive to deal with because it comes with medical costs. In 1990 there was an estimate of $2.3 billion invested into medical costs related to gun injuries. With the production of weapons also increasing; things will only get worse and the accessibility to these weapons will only become easier. However, there was a point in time in the United States that the rates began to decrease a bit in the late 90’s, but things changed later in the future.
Analysis: The Crime Drop in America is a book that I was able to collect and use for the purpose of this research paper. When using this source, I was able to acquire some info by only looking at a particular section in the book that mainly focused on gun violence. Based on the type of information that this book provides I feel as if it should be considered a scholarly source. The reason for why it is a scholarly source is because it mentions a lot of studies and stats that have been gathered throught certain time periods according to the topic of gun violence. Some of the dates in the book are quite old, but many things have not changed since the late 1900’s, which is what the book refers back to a lot. The book is a good source to have for my paper because it can help prove that even though a lot of time has passed; there has really been no solution that has put a stop to this epidemic, which is how the book refers to gun violence as.
“Chicago Gun Laws Not as Strict as GOP Candidates Claim.” chicagotribune.com. 08 Oct.2015. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
Summary: Chicago is one of the cities in the United States that claims to have the strictest gun laws, yet they lack the ability to stop the increase in homicides and shootings. Other cities have strict gun laws as well and compared to those Chicago does bad seizing the increase in gun violence. To researchers it seems as if the gun laws are just disappearing little by little. This is said because there was once a point in Chicago where it was prohibited to carry and conceal a weapon. Also, gun stores were prohibited to exist within the city boundaries; however, these laws do not exist anymore. Although gun stores are allowed now; there have not been any stores opened up, which means that the guns being seized come from neighboring states.
Analysis: Chicago Tribune is a popular source throughout the city of Chicago and is one of many newspapers in the city that is reliable. Providing us with current events and with up to date details, the newspaper always updates its customers with information. The source itself is very descriptive and is current. The reason for why I want to use this source for my paper is because it backs up my claim that not enough is being done to stop gun violence. It also provides us with the great example that not even the strictest gun laws can put a stop to this devastating problem.
Madhani, Aamer. “Chicago Records 51 Homicides in January, Highest Toll since 2000.” USA TODAY. 01 Feb.2016. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.
Summary: Chicago, America’s third largest city sees its biggest problem being gun violence. This year Chicago was hit with more serious numbers and some blame the increase in gun violence on the incident of a police officer shooting a teen more than 16 times. This year Chicago officials recorded 241 shooting cases just within the month of January. Also, just within the month of January officials recorded 51 homicides, surpassing the record of the year 2000 which was 45 homicides within the same month. The increase in shootings was 13% compared back to the year of 2014. All this was seen as the result of the release of the teen being shot by a police officer in Chicago; however, gang activity is also a part of the problem.
Analysis: Using this final article for my research paper will be beneficial to me because it provides some really recent data that shows how gun violence is only getting worse. After being collected from USA TODAY I was able to analyze the source and point out that it comes from a reliable source and that it is a popular source. Some of the article can be bias on this newspaper site, but most tend to be on point and reliable. Like mentioned before, this is a really current and recent issue that helps support my claim that not enough is being done to put an end to this problem that not just Chicago faces but other cities as well.
Madhani, Aamer. “Murders, Shootings on the Rise in Chicago.” USA Today. Gannett, 02 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Summary: Chicago, one of America’s well known cities, continues to face a devastating problem with gun violence. Officials have seen progress in declining the crime rate overall, but continue to face problems with guns. In 2015 the Chicago Police department was able to recover many more unregistered guns than in 2014. Arrests for illegal guns increased by 39% in 2015 compared to 2014 as well. According to the article most of these weapons are easily accessible because of gun laws in neighboring states.
Analysis: As a whole, this article is a good source for my paper because it helps support the fact that gun laws are not being enforced hard enough as they should be. The article gives a lot of detailed information and statistics that can be used to support my argument on the lack of enforcement. USA Today is known to be a reliable source and this one in particular is a popular type of article. Although it is popular, it gives off a lot of current news information.
Phillips, Scott W., Dae-Young Kim, and James J. Sobol. “An Evaluation of a Multiyear Gun Buy-Back Programme: Re-Examining the Impact on Violent Crimes.” International Journal of Police Science & Management 15.3 (2013): 246–261. EBSCOhost. Web.
Summary: Having all sorts of solutions, officials continue to seek for an answer on how to stop gun violence . Gun violence is one of the biggest problems that the U.S. is faced with every year. Most of the solutions that are implied are those that can take many years to actually take full effect. For example, we have this imposed solution of a gun buy back incentive; however, it is said that the future is unpredictable. Gun violence as a term in whole applies to different types of crime that can be committed with an illegal weapon. Therefore, there has been improvements in some parts of gun violence, but when it comes to murders it has not.
Analysis: This source is worth using for my paper because it provides a solution that has been attempted but has not shown enough improvement. The source is reliable because it is a scholarly source that has been reviewed and added onto by other individuals. Also, it is an academic journal, which tend to be known for their reliability since they are reviewed as mentioned above to make sure that the information being handed out to the audience is efficient and trustworthy. Being three years old, the journal is very detailed and provides me with useful information towards proving my point that gun laws are not being enforced enough.
Sherman, Lawrence W. “Reducing Gun Violence: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising.” Criminology and Criminal Justice 1.1 (2001): 11–25. crj.sagepub.com. Web.
Summary: When it comes to creating solutions that can help reduce gun violence; it is highly recommended that one understand that not all solutions will make a big impact. Putting special agents out in the street to take the jobs of the uniformed officers makes things more complicated because it costs more to put special agents on the street. Therefore, putting the uniformed out on the streets is in the best interest of cities because then you have a variety of cops that can be present at certain locations when needed for back up while seizing weapons. In 1992 police were able to increase gun seizures by 65% and reduce gun violence by 49%. Enforcing strong background checks also results in lower gun violence. Lastly, there are certain procedures that do not work and one of those is gun buyback programs because it takes way too much time and individuals will not buy into that.
Analysis: It is in my best interest that I use this source for my paper because it gives away a lot of detailed information. The source provides me with a more elaborated description on what kinds of solutions do and do not work in trying to solve the problem of gun violence in America. This is a scholarly source that I was able to find on the google scholars search engine. With that being said, one can tell that it is reliable because it is a source that has been checked upon. The source is a bit outdated, but provides me with research that also helps prove that time does not make a change in what can be done to solve this problem. Also, this source helps support my claim and my counter argument.
Sherman, Shaw, and Rogan, Lawrence W. James W., and Dennis P. “The Kansas City Gun Experiment.” January 1995 (1995): 1–12. Print. Web. 8 March.2016.
Summary: The Kansas City gun experiment was one solution that was attempted and came out to be somewhat successful in the attempt of decreasing gun violence. Although putting special agents out on the street with the task to seize weapons is more efficient; regular uniformed police can do the same at a slower rate and at a more reasonable cost. Special agents are way too expensive and it seems to be safer if regular uniformed cops take the task of seizing weapons. It is safer for uniformed cops because there are more of them and usually when they take on a mission they have back up with them and can call for more at any given time. Lastly, since there are more uniformed cops more of them can be spread out into specific targeted areas that seem to be having the most problems with gun violence. As a matter of fact, there were two officer cars that were able to increase gun seizures by 65% in areas that were far off worse than any others in the city of Kansas.
Analysis: Although this study only relates to one city in the United States; it is one of few solutions that can work in various cities. This source is good for my paper because it provides an example of a solution that can work and has worked; therefore, I am able to use this source as a counterargument, which is one of the requirements for this assignment. Along with being very detailed and useful; this is a scholarly source that was gathered from the search engine of google scholars, which leads to the conclusion that it is reliable. However, the source is outdated because it talk about an experiment that was done back in the late 1900’s.
Swedler, David I. et al. “Firearm Prevalence and Homicides of Law Enforcement Officers in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 105.10 (2015): 2042–2048. EBSCOhost. Web.
Summary: As gun violence becomes more serious, new groups of victims are being brought into the picture. Gun violence is a term that is mostly used to describe the shootings and homicides between rival groups. Today gun violence has been taken to a whole new level to where even those that enforce the law are becoming targets. Law enforcement officers that are targeted are for the most part usually killed by a gun. It was found in a study that more than 90% of those officers that have their life taken was because of being struck by a bullet. The study concluded that those states with high percentages of firearm ownership lead to three times more homicides than those states where gun laws are stricter.
Analysis: Being a reliable source, I feel that using this source in support of my claim will be a good idea. For one, like mentioned this source seems to be very reliable and especially because it is an academic journal from the online database. With that being said, it is a scholarly source and provides me with a lot of information and some statistics. Published in 2015, the source seems to be current and provides information as far as the early 2000’s up to date. Using this source would be reliable for my paper and in my best interest because it helps support my claim that not enough is being done to help the gun violence problem. Also, it provides us with an example that shows how it is only getting worse as time passes by.