Introduction
Public policy is a crucial tool to address and solve social problems by providing a structure for lawmakers to make positive changes in the public’s interest. This policy brief attempts to address the timely issue of gun violence in the United States, highlighting the need to go the extra mile by strengthening background checks, which is seen as a significant step towards ensuring public safety (Johnson et al., 2021). Relying on the public policy concepts mentioned in the week’s readings and video, this brief will move through significant structural elements, recommending policymakers negotiate with interest groups, organize the workforce, and generate policy alternatives for stricter background check requirements. The ultimate achievement is to bring the Department of Justice on board to implement new rules, assess their success, and provide necessary remedial measures where appropriate.
Background
Gun violence in the United States has kept on running ahead, with a troublesome development in the recent past that requires fast activity by policymakers. According to the CDC, one of the leading causes of death in the United States is gun-related death, with statistics showing that the year 2019 witnessed 39,707 such deaths composed of homicide, suicide, and unintentional injuries (Sanchez et al., 2020). This worrying level of the crisis in question proves essential to address the issue urgently and in detail. Further efforts must be directed at integrated campaigns that concentrate more on limiting the supply of guns to those who intend harm. Considering the fact that gun-related deaths have different manifestations, this is a composite problem and, therefore, needs an integrated approach to be resolved. At this point, with the nation witnessing the aftermath of gun violence, there is always a need for pragmatic and evidence-based policies to ensure public safety through minimizing state regarding relationships between guns and mortality.
Encouraging Collaboration
The gun violence matter is a relatively complicated issue that requires policymakers to create a strategic alliance with relevant lobby groups. The involvement of agencies like Everytown for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence can inspire information that is significant support. It is an opportunity that policymakers should actively pursue by using such advocacy groups to create talent and resources through the research mobilization of public opinions that provide them with tools for decision-making (Jehan et al., 2018). The organizations responsible for the identification of gun violence are near to this situation and can be very innovative in attempting policy making. With the help of their knowledge and resources, these groups can create evidence-based methodologies and formulate legislation that works appropriately to solve gun violence (Johnson et al., 2021). Collaborative efforts between policymakers and lobbyists should also be emphasized in support of multilayered strategies aimed at addressing gun violence in its native origins. At the same time, various opinions deepening from across society are being linked together. Such collaborative approaches strengthen the holistic approach to this crucial issue and the opportunities for appropriate public safety and welfare strategies.
Mobilizing Support
Policy success universalization is critically dependent on active mobilization of support, which entails that policymakers create partnerships with stakeholders in the community leaders as well as pressure groups to push for more robust background check demands. Such an activity should be built on an integrated approach, including public relations strategies, town hall meetings, and elastic social media campaigns. Informative narratives where the focus epitomizes the importance of better background investigations to ensure high public safety and various alternative approaches that can be used for communication might raise awareness levels and stimulate communal dialogue (Sanchez et al., 2020). Town hall meetings synergize to engage policymakers with public concerns and recommendations directly. In this respect, social media is used to inform the masses, revealing a sense of people’s participation in and support for these changes that are about to take place (Johnson et al., 2021). Policymakers must involve the locals and utilize all channels, thus widening their support while ensuring that policy initiative is forged and linked with community requests to bring about effective results.
Proposing Policy Options
Progressing into the following phase suggests actual program plans to solve this issue, highlighting improving background check regulations for future firearm buyers (Sanchez et al., 2020). These include a range of measures such as long waiting periods, eliminating gaps in the current policy, and notably conducting thorough mental health records reviews, which are one element of background checks. It is essential to consult with legal professionals and ethicists, public safety organizations, and mental health agencies that can formulate sane policy recommendations (Jehan et al., 2018). The policymakers rely on the know-how of such a diverse group of stakeholders to work out comprehensive strategies that resolve various facets of the problem, adhere to statutory perimeters, and ensure public safety. Such initiatives also enable policymakers to bargain for the complicated legal, procedural, and ethical aspects of adopting background check enrichments. When dialoguing with professionals and other stakeholders, public policymakers and legislatures must consider pragmatic policy options that are legitimate under the changing nature of gun bylaws assessment or mental health.
Implementation
Transitioning to the next stage involves proposing appropriate policy alternatives that could be applied in addressing the challenging problem, which significantly enhances background check rules as regulation with respect to potential gun purchasers. These include policy initiatives such as lengthening the waiting periods, closing its current lapses, and introducing stringent checks on mental health records. The objective of these reasonable policy proposals should consist of dialogue with legal professionals, law enforcers, and mental health workers (Sanchez et al., 2020). The identification and mobilization of such a diverse group of stakeholders provide policymakers with the opportunity to create inclusive solutions that address all aspects of the problem while not violating regulations for citizens’ safety. Significantly; these collaborations make it possible for policymakers to navigate through complicated legal, operational and moral issues that attend action in background check improvements (Johnson et al., 2021). In order to consult the various professionals and stakeholders, policymakers can determine that these policy options are feasible and practical and, as an effort, reflect society’s consensus while being sensitive to new developments in regulatory firearms assessments.
Evaluation and Continuous Improvement
With the new requirements regarding background check implementation, a comprehensive evaluation procedure is required to assess their impact (Jehan et al., 2018). Policymakers can evaluate changes in gun violence incidents through qualitative and quantitative methods after making changes to public policies. One can modify it to be more effective, suggesting that the policymaker is driven by policy implementation informed by evidence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the resolution to the problem of gun violence ought to be holistic and tactical. This brief has followed the main structural aspects of public policy writing and outlined a roadmap for policymakers to cooperate with interest groups, mobilize public support, define appropriate policy options, engage the Department of Justice, and assess the impact of the toughened background check requirements. The policymaker, through this process, will create a safe society and a society that is free from calamities, showing us how public policy, if practical, can help solve contemporary issues.
References
Jehan, F., Pandit, V., O’Keeffe, T., Azim, A., Jain, A., Tai, S. A., … & Joseph, B. (2018). The burden of firearm violence in the United States: Stricter laws result in safer states—journal of Injury and Violence Research, 10(1), 11.
Johnson, B. T., Sisti, A., Bernstein, M., Chen, K., Hennessy, E. A., Acabchuk, R. L., & Matos, M. (2021). Community-level factors and incidence of gun violence in the United States, 2014–2017. Social Science & Medicine, 280, 113969.
Sanchez, C., Jaguan, D., Shaikh, S., McKinney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2020). A systematic review of the causes and prevention strategies in reducing gun violence in the United States. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 38(10), 2169–2178.
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