The topic of gun violence has dominated many discussions in the United States. Gun violence has imposed huge costs on American society in both children and adults. The incident that happened in 2012 in Newtown, where six adults and 20 school children were murdered, sparked a new discussion from the media, the public, and the elected officials on what needs to be done to curb the challenge of gun violence in the United States. Many states such as Maryland, Colorado, and New York have developed new laws to restrict access to guns (Cook & Ludwig, 2002) . The development of a comprehensive and nationwide gun control law will be very effective in reducing gun violence in the united states.
Various studies have established several approaches that can be deployed in approximating the total costs of gun violence in the united states. The first approach considers the willingness of Americans to pay in order to reduce the risks of gun violence. Cook & Ludwig (2002) used the idea of willingness to pay to approximate the total costs of gun violence. Their study established that gun violence tends to have a disproportionate effect on the poor while imposing costs on social and economic spectrums through an increase in taxes, safety issues, limited choices on where to visit and live, and low property values. Another lesson in their study was that most of the gun violence costs, specifically those against children, emanate from safety issues. During the national survey, people were asked questions regarding their willingness to pay in order to reduce gun violence in the united states. Many answers suggested that the approximate cost of gun violence was estimated at $100 billion every year. Of these costs, $15 billion is directly associated with gun violence among young people (Cook & Ludwig, 2002) .
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
In recent times, the united states has significantly achieved its objective of increasing safety from gun violence. The reported benefits comprised of low medical and criminal justice savings. In many cities, low rates of violence have been effective in stimulating renaissance. Safe cities are becoming attractive and more livable. However, this trend seems to be different in the problem of gun violence in school. Despite the fact that school shootings are currently lower, reported cases of gun violence in Columbine High School indicate more needs to be done in addressing gun violence in schools. These few observations play an essential role in determining th economic burden gun violence places on the American people. The living standards are reduced by the prevalence of injury and death threats. Determining the exact dollar estimate costs of gun control can be challenging since gun violence safety is more subjective and is only reflected partly in the market transactions.
There are various types of costs associated with gun violence. The first category of costs is taxes. An increase in tax to curb gun crimes in the united states is the most obvious approach that gun violence affects households and the general quality of life in the united states. For instance, many cases of criminal homicides are committed with guns. This indicated that the unavailability of these guns would end the injuries and deaths associated with gun violence. However, homicide is perceived as much serious crime compared to other crimes such as assault, and its consequent prosecution and punishment are more severe. Taxpayers incur extra costs in processing increased cases of murder as the number of gun violence fatalities is approximated to be at $2.4 billion every year (Cook & Ludwig, 2002) . However, viewing from another perspective, it is not exactly clear how the money gained would be used and allocated within the united states criminal justice system. Also, taxpayers in the united states have to incur extra costs to pay for increased security to protect their children from gun violence. Since the shooting in Columbine high school, many schools in the united states have increased the protection of children against gun violence by deploying extra security.
Many people in the united states value their safety. Gun violence is associated with low quality of life for many children in the united states, including those who are not victims of victimization. Many families make decisions on where to live based on their safety. Families choose to invest in their security. Vulnerable families with low income cannot afford to move to safer places. They result in offering the best possible protection for their children. Gun violence limits the freedom of movement. In areas with high rates of gun violence, people develop a fear of being shot, which hinder their freedom of movement consequently undermine their quality of life. The cost of illness tends to define gun violence costs (Cook & Ludwig, 2002) . The authors in this study established that the cost of gun violence through interventions and regulations could generate significant benefits to the American society that exceed the associated costs.
According to Helmke, 2013, it is essential to develop a framework for making future deliberations on gun violence. Despite the increased efforts to curb the challenge of gun violence in the united states, more needs to be done to secure the American people. Statistics in 2009 indicate that the number of deaths associated with gun violence was 30,000 (Helmke, 2013). Among the 30000 cases of gun violence, the cases emanating from homicide were 11493, those from suicide were 18735, while those from accidents were 554 (Helmke, 2013). The various scholars who advance the idea that there has been a reduction in the cases of gun violence deaths decline to account for the technological advances in healthcare that have helped to save many lives. According to studies, only one person in six dies from gun violence injuries. Helmke has refuted claims that more guns could make America be safer. It is estimated that there are nearly 300 million guns in the united states indicating that the ratio of people to guns is approximately 1:1 (Helmke, 2013). As the number of guns held by the people in the united states increases, the rate of gun violence is increasing.
There are limited laws at the federal and state levels that guide access to guns, while the existing policies and regulations seem to have many loopholes. Some of the existing regulations are the listing of perpetrators of gun violence as prohibited purchasers. However, there lack effective laws to make it harder for dangerous people who have been previously convicted of gun violence to have access to guns.
The weakness of policies and regulations is not based on their weakness per se, but the prevailing porous borders and loopholes. For instance, different states have different policies and regulations governing access to guns. Nonexistent of similar laws in neighboring states comprise of a major loophole in such strong policies since people will access guns from the neighboring states. For instance, Califonia has developed strong gun control restrictions while such similar laws are inexistent in Arizona and Nevada. Comprehensive gun control laws can make a huge impact on gun violence in the united states. Laws need to be focused on both gun sellers and buyers. For instance, there should be laws that demand gun sellers to do a thorough background check prior to making a gun sale. This would ensure that dangerous people do not have access to guns. The law helps to establish community behavior and expectations. Developing comprehensive gun violence laws need to be accompanied by available data, various study options, and exploring a wide variety of possible changes.
Kwon et al., 2005 have analyzed the effectiveness of legislation on controlling gun usage in the united states by taking a holistic approach to the measure of gun control legislation. According to the united states bureau of the census, approximately 30000 people died from gun violence injuries in 2000 (Kwon & Baacl, 2005) . This number of deaths was high than the reported deaths from drug abuse, HIV, and alcohol abuse. There have been different perceptions of the role of regulations in reducing the number of reported gun violence cases in the united states. Some studies have found laws to be ineffective, while others have found laws to be effective. Researchers and scholars who support laws in curbing gun violence indicate the existence of a close relationship between comprehensive gun control regulations and reduced violence.
To further understand the impact of comprehensive laws on reducing gun violence, there is a need to evaluate each state's cases of gun violence and the existing comprehensive gun laws. In the united states, the statistics on gun ownership are maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Hand control, Ins., the Bureau of justice statistics, and the National Rifle Association. The information collected from the institutions is verified in each state by the local enforcement officials.
States can be categorized into six major categories based on the information provided by the gun control associations; firearms registration, training and safety, firearms sales regulations, accessibility and safe storage of firearms, firearms licensing, and preemption and litigation. The various states can be assigned various scores, negative or positive, depending on the availability or absence of the categories listed above. In this study, the impact of gun control laws is given a different approach from the other gun control laws. The use of a multivariate analysis model outlines that there is no single gun-related law linked to a specific state that can be associated with gun-related injuries and fatalities. Instead, comprehensive gun control laws are supported by other social and economic issues.
According to the study by Kwon, states with the most comprehensive legislation on gun control reported or experienced a lower margin of one to six fatalities and injuries from gun violence lower than the state with many lax laws. The gun control laws tend to be deterrent in the sense that they address a single aspect of individual behavior with regard to the use and abuse of firearms. There are many social-economic variables and enforcement variables that affect the number of reported gun violence deaths and fatalities in a state. The presence of the police and their effect is significantly marginal; when assessed, alongside the measures of violent crimes, high levels of criminal activity resulting in increased gun violence deaths, and fatalities (Kwon & Baacl, 2005) . Social, economic variables are key determiners of levels of gun violence deaths and fatalities in states. For instance, many gun-related fatalities comprise of African Americans living under a high rate of unemployment.
However, some scholars have refuted the role of comprehensive policy and laws on the prevention of gun violence in the United States. According to Clayton Perry, during the assault weapons ban, which happened between 1994 and the year 2204, there were more strict laws to curb gun violence, but they could not prevent the Columbine shootings. In the school setting, for instance, teachers have minimal interaction and skills in using guns. Other scholars who support this ideology believe that strict laws that have existed for a while have not managed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous men. Dangerous people have continued to access and own guns. There is a need to think about how many lives are saved when people have access to guns compared to the number of people who lose their lives in gun violence. According to research findings, guns owned by the public are more often used in self-defense 98% of the time than in crime. Supporters of gun laws in reducing gun violence only have one intention; to get guns out of the hands of criminals and place them into the hands of people who would utilize them effectively.
Reference
Kwon, I. W. G., & Baack, D. W. (2005). The effectiveness of legislation controlling gun usage: a holistic measure of gun control legislation. American Journal of Economics and Sociology , 64 (2), 533-547. (Kwon & Baack, 2005)
Helmke, P. (2013). Targeting gun violence. Public Administration Review , 73 (4), 551-552. (Helmke, 2013)
Cook, P. J., & Ludwig, J. (2002). The costs of gun violence against children. The Future of Children , 87-99. (Cook & Lugwig, 2002)
