A handful of individuals assert that it is the government’s duty to uphold legislation and mitigate crime. Those of opposing views contend that the responsibility of self-defense should fall upon the individual. While the argument for self-defense is appropriate in certain cases, the majority of the responsibility should rest upon the government to effectively allocate tax-payer funding towards measures to reduce offenses.
The majority opinion in the contemporary world exemplifies the view that governments hold power over legislative obligations such as on-going attempts at reducing crime. The citizens of a country procure money collected as tax by the government to invest in a variety of public services and infrastructure, including law enforcement agencies and their officers. For instance, the FBI, CIA, and DEA are heavily funded agencies whose sole purpose is to upkeep peace and security in the United States. This funding allows large sums of money to be garnered together for the betterment of a country and to keep its peace and security.
Opposing this perspective, individuals should have autonomy in their ability to defend against any threats towards themselves, family, friends, or loved ones. Not only does this view go hand-in-hand with the ability to own firearms and weapons, it encompasses situations where the government has proved inadequate and matters have to be taken into one own hands. Namely, unpredictable active threat situations which have been prevalent in modern society. The saying, “when everyone has guns, no one has guns,” entails that when there’s the presence of firearms everywhere, no sane individual would risk randomly brandishing or using it, as well as establishing mutually assured destruction.
In my opinion, I believe a combination of both approaches should be implemented due to the lack of individual and governmental strength when dealing with a threat such as crime.
In conclusion, it is expected for governments to use taxes to fund measures to mitigate crime as well as individuals’ prerogative to maintain their well-being as well as others’ in exceptional circumstances.