The Comparison And Contrasts Of The Usage — страница 2

well-educated gentleman that I interviewed was shocked that Americans carry guns and, in his view, accepted the crime consequences that came from gun ownership. He half jokingly suggested that having a gun readily accessible must make a person more able to commit a violent action in the heat of anger. This viewpoint does not reflect any actual theory but only the views a person might have about guns linked to violent crime. Another reflection about guns not being a large part of British society can be seen in a comparison of major newspapers in both countries. Thorough my research I looked at the ?New York Times?, the British ?Guardian? and the British ?Independent?. When using the word gun in search of the past years archives of the New York Times, I received 1423 hits, mostly

related to gun control issues and crime in the United States. The same search of both of the other newspapers gave me 930 hits, with roughly half of the articles relating to gun issues of the United States, coarsely one fourth relating to issues in other countries, and approximately one fourth relating to guns in Great Britain. The United States employs 74,493 officers endowed wit the responsibility to carry arms and make arrests. Each of these must follow rigorous training in firearm skill and appropriate usage. It is uncommon to an officer, even a university police person not carrying a firearm. This is dissimilar to the British system in which only a few officers have the rights to carry arms, and are strictly regulated about when they can use them. It is important to note

that these variations reflect two different countries with contrasted values about gun usage, and does not reflect a moral distinction. Also, the United States has more homocides than does Great Britain. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations crime report, the United States, in 1997, experienced 6.7 homicides per 100,000 people, 4.61/100,000 were firearms related. Conversely, in the same year, Great Britain had 1.41 homicides per 100,000 people, 1.41/100,000 of which were gun related. The United States ranked 10th in a study of 38 industrialized countries while Great Britain ranked 24th. These statistics show a discrepancy in homicides in both countries and reflect a difference in each society as far as homicides and homicides relating to guns are concerned, and

nothing more. It would be foolish to conclude that the one issue of gun usage in each society effects the number of death in each society. Rather, I would prefer to conclude that homicide rates and gun ownership, and police usage in each country reflects different societies and nothing more. Through my research, I have read a bit of material about both the United States and Great Britain in relation to this issue. As it is an issue that people feel quite strongly about, one way or another, it is difficult to find information not tinged by individual opinion. All I have been able to conclude is that each country is different, not that one system is better than the other or is even applicable to one another. While it would be a lie not to state that I am enamored by the British

system. This is a merely a comparison of two different societies, not an attempt to prove one better than the other. After all each were developed in different ways and both societies deal with and view authorities, such as police officers, in its own way. The Britons, with a society that was evolved from feudalism and deference to authority, lends a system in which a ?Bobbie? has the command of his position. Conversely, the United States is a society founded on rebellion and includes in its constitution the right to have and bare arms. Each is different enough to contrast, but too different to draw assumptions about which is better or worse. Gary, Kleck and Marc Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of self-defense with a Gun”, Journal of Criminal Law

and Criminology 1995, Vol. 86 No. 1.) FBI Crime Report 1997 http://www.fbi.gov/ucr.htm South Yorkshire Police department Website http://www.southyorks.police.uk/mainframe.html National Association of Police Organizations, Inc http://www.napo.org/ National Police Association http://www.westol.com/npba/member.htm