Firearm Abuse

The diploma thesis addresses the issue of firearm abuse, which in contemporary society represents one of the key security and public health challenges. A firearm in the hands of an individual can represent a means of protection, but at the same time it brings enormous risk for serious abuse that shakes both local communities and the global public. The work analyses the psychological, social and environmental factors that lead perpetrators (often minors) to such extreme acts of violence.

Problem

The diploma thesis addresses the issue of firearm abuse, which in contemporary society represents one of the key security and public health challenges. A firearm in the hands of an individual can represent a means of protection, but at the same time it brings enormous risk for serious abuse that shakes both local communities and the global public. In the theoretical part, the work focuses on the most radical forms of firearm abuse, among which killings and murders stand out.

Particular attention is devoted to the phenomenon of school shootings, which in recent decades has not only shaken the United States of America, but is becoming an increasing threat in the European area as well.

Solution and Method

The work analyses the psychological, social and environmental factors that lead perpetrators (often minors) to such extreme acts of violence. In addition to these extreme events, the diploma thesis thoroughly addresses everyday forms of violence as well, such as threats with a pistol. These have a strong psychological impact on victims and often serve as a tool of intimidation in the family environment or in street crime.

A key part of the diploma thesis is devoted to the analysis of accessibility to firearms, as the ease of acquisition is often directly connected with the level of criminality. In this part, two different acquisition channels are compared in detail. The research addresses legal and illegal methods of acquiring firearms.

In the legal method, it focuses on legislation, conditions for obtaining a firearms licence and administrative procedures, whilst in the illegal method it focuses on the black market, smuggling routes and the role of the dark web as one of the channels of illegal trade in firearms. The diploma thesis also addresses the security aspect of firearm ownership, with emphasis on injuries and unintentional fatalities that are the consequence of inadequate and irresponsible storage of firearms. The diploma thesis also addresses the issue of inadequate storage of firearms, which increases the risk of accidents, particularly when firearms are accessed by children or minors.

Particular attention is also devoted to suicides with firearms, which are characterised by a high mortality rate, and to the connection between the accessibility of firearms in the household and greater risk for impulsive suicidal decisions. The central emphasis of the diploma thesis is research into accessibility to firearms and its impact on security, whereby connections between firearm accessibility, violent criminality and suicide are addressed.