Gun Laws Essays - Gun Politics In The United States, Self-defense

Gun Laws States from Michigan to Nebraska to California, as well as the federal government, are considering new rules on letting law-abiding citizens carry guns. Does allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns deter violent crimes? Or does this cause otherwise law-abiding citizens to harm each other? Thirty-one states now have guaranteed their citizens the right to carry concealed handguns if applicants do not have a criminal record or a history of significant mental illness. So what have the results been? The numbers tell the story Using the FBI's crime-rate data for all 3,054 U.S. counties by year from 1977 to 1992, I co-authored a study in the January 1997 Journal of Legal Studies. We found that concealed handguns deter violent crimes and produce no significant increase in accidental handgun deaths. The accompanying figures show how dramatic this drop is by illustrating how different violent crime rates change before and after the adoption of these laws. The size and timing of the decline coincide closely with the number of concealed-handgun permits issued. Counties issuing the most new permits had the greatest drops in crimes. The study considered arrest and conviction rates, prison-sentence lengths and changes in many other handgun laws such as waiting periods, as well as income, poverty, unemployment and changing demographics. Thousands of observations made it possible to control for a whole range of other factors never included in any previous crime study. The estimated benefits indicate that if those states without right-to-carry concealed handgun provisions had adopted them in 1992, at least 1,500 murders would have been avoided yearly. Similarly, rapes would have declined by more than 4,000, robbery by more than 11,000 and aggravated assault by more than 60,000. Benefits all around Surprisingly, the largest drops in violent crimes occurred in the most urban counties with the highest crime rates. Further, the benefits of concealed handguns were not limited to those who carry the weapons. By the nature of these guns being concealed, criminals cannot tell whether a potential victim is armed, thus making crime less attractive when it involves direct contact with people. Citizens who have no intention of carrying a concealed handgun benefit from the crime-fighting efforts of their fellow citizens. While allowing either men or women to carry concealed handguns deters murder, the impact is particularly dramatic for women. The findings imply that for each additional woman carrying a concealed handgun the murder rate for women falls by three to four times more having an additional man carrying a concealed handgun lowers the murder rate for men. With women typically being weaker physically, providing a woman with a gun has a much bigger effect on her ability to defend herself. People willing to go through the permitting process also tend to be law abiding. In Florida, almost 444,000 licenses were granted from 1987 to 1997, but only 84 people have lost their licenses for using a firearm in a felony. Most cases appear to have involved accidentally carrying a gun into restricted areas like airports or schools. During Texas' first two years of issuing permits in 1996 and 1997, permit holders were arrested for violent crimes at less than one-sixth the rate of other adult Texans, and these arrests rarely involved guns. Likewise, in Virginia, not a single permit holder has been involved in a violent crime. Similar results have been observed in states such as Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Listen to the men in blue While most police have supported concealed-handgun laws, many opponents have changed their minds after adoption. For example, Glenn White, president of the Dallas Police Association, recently summarized his change of heart: I lobbied against the law in 1993 and 1995 because I thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict. That hasn't happened. All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen. No bogeyman. I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert. Permit holders are unusually law-abiding citizens who fear for their personal safety. The police are simply not able to protect everyone all the time. As a former opponent of concealed handgun laws, Campbell County, Ky. Sheriff John Dunn says:

The Northern Lowlands Region of the Maya Civilization

The Northern Lowlands Region of the Maya Civilization The Maya lowlands are where the Classic Maya civilization arose. An extensive area including almost some 250,000 square kilometers, the Maya lowlands are located in the northern part of Central America, in the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala and Belize below approximately 800 meters above sea level. There is little exposed surface water: what there is can be found in lakes in the Peten, swamps and cenotes, natural sinkholes created by the Chicxulub crater impact. But the area receives tropical rainfall in its rainy season (May- January), from 20 inches a year in the southern part to a whopping 147 inches in the northern Yucatan. The area is characterized by shallow or waterlogged soils, and was once covered in dense tropical forests. The forests harbored a range of animals, including two kinds of deer, peccary, tapir, jaguar, and several species of monkeys. The lowland Maya grew avocado, beans, chili peppers, squash, cacao and maize, and raised turkeys. Sites in the Maya Lowlands Mexico: Dzibilchaltun, Mayapan, Uxmal, Tulum, Ek Balam, Labna, Calakmul, Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampak, Coba Belize: Altun Ha, Pulltrouser Swamp, Xunantunich, Lamanai Guatemala: El Mirador, Piedras Negras, Nakbe, Tikal, Ceibal Sources This glossary entry is part of the Guide to the Maya Civilization and the Dictionary of Archaeology. See the Maya Civilization bibliography Ball, Joseph W. 2001. The Maya Lowlands North. pp. 433-441 in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, edited by Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster. Garland, New York City. Houston, Stephen D. 2001. The Maya Lowlands South. pp. 441-447 in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, edited by Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster. Garland, New York City.

Medtronic Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Medtronic Case Study - Assignment Example All these factors accounted for overall failure of the company and eventually reduced dynamic growth of the company to zero. On the contrary, the newly appointed CEO of the firm, Omar Ishrak witnessed major challenges in terms of retrieving the position of the company in the market place. During the first 18 months, the new CEO was able to plan for company’s future growth prospect through R&D investment in order to develop innovative medical therapies. To facilitate short term prospect of the company, Omar Ishrak had always favored business model innovations and creative product development. However the major focus of the newly appointed CEO was to overcome all possible adoption barriers prevalent in emerging economies. The CEO even restructured his organization so that all the team members are aligned with the innovative goals and objectives of the firm. There was proper restructuring done of the entire executive team as well as their respective responsibilities. The heads of global operating regions of Medtronic now directly reported to the CEO instead of head of International. Many non-Americans were even appointed for executive committee. The company’s one of the biggest achievement was acquisition of a Chinese orthopedic company. However this case study reveals that Omar Ishrak is in a dilemma as to whether the steps taken to transform Medtronic into a global firm is sufficient or it requires more innovative strategies for sustaining growth. The objective of the case study is to put across different dimensions of international business. It has been observed that in international expansion strategy organizations need to adopt innovative business models. In this study strategic dimensions will be aligned with the success or failure of international business. The entire study will be conducted from a consultant’s perspective so as to evaluate the expansion strategies undertaken by the firm. There would be even suggestions