Introduction:
With increased gun violence occurring in the United States, such as the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it is imperative that the Muslim community be aware of gun laws that promote violence and speak out against such laws. The following article argues that laws such as Conceal and Carry and Stand-your-Ground promote violence and lead to higher gun violence rates.

Laws:
Conceal and Carry: Conceal and carry (carrying a concealed weapon), refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, usually on one's person. While there is no federal law specifically addressing the issuance of concealed carry permits, 49 states have passed laws allowing citizens to carry certain concealed firearms in public. Some of these states do not require a permit.

The impetus of allowing concealed firearms is to deter and stop violent crime. However, no study has shown that conceal and carry prevents/stops crime or violence. Rather, using publicly available media reports, the Violence Policy center claims that from May 2007 through the end of 2009, concealed carry permit holders in the U.S. have killed at least 117 individuals, including 9 law enforcement officers.

Stand-your-Ground Laws:
Stand-your-ground law states that a person may justifiably use deadly force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of an unlawful threat, without an obligation to retreat before using such force.

Under this legal concept, a person is justified in using deadly force in certain situations and the "stand your ground" law would be a defense or complete immunity to criminal charges and civil lawsuit.

More than half of the states in the United States have used the "Castle doctrine," holding that a person has no duty to retreat when they are attacked in their home. However, now some states go a step further, removing the duty of retreat from other locations outside of the home. "Stand Your Ground" laws thus state that a person has no duty or other requirement to abandon a place in which he has a right to be, or to give up ground to an assailant. Thus, under such laws, there is no duty to retreat from anywhere the defender may legally be.

Effect on Crime Rates:
A study conducted at Texas A&M University found that the adoption of stand-your-ground laws caused a statistically significant increase in the raw homicide rate, and had only a very small positive effect on deterrence of crime.

Another analysis of stand-your-ground laws analyzed data from the Health Care Utilization Project, which revealed significantly increased rates of emergency room visits and hospital discharges related to gun injuries in states which enacted stand-your-ground laws.

Conclusion:
It is true that the United States does have the most guns in the world. However, other countries such as Yemen and Switzerland actually have more guns per capita. In addition, other large countries have high gun ownership rates. However, U.S. continues to lead the world in gun violence. Why? Are people here more violent or are there multiple factors that cause the violence. I would argue that there are numerous factors and one of those is relaxed gun laws that promote gun ownership and give immunity for those who commit gun violence. It is important for the Muslim community to be informed about such laws and to combat those laws that do not conform to Divine Values.

The author of this article can be reached via email at Justice360@muslimcongress.org. For more information about Justice360, visit http://www.muslimcongress.org/360.

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