Correlation of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms with Ensuring the Right to Life and its Protection

Correlación del Derecho a Poseer y Portar Armas con la Garantía del Derecho a la Vida y su Protección

• Nataliia M. Akhtyrska Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3357-7722
• Oleksandr I. Kotiuk Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6464-2315
• Yurii M. Sereda Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5244-3573

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4072.14

Keywords: weapons, homicide, self-defense, violence, right to life

Abstract

The right to keep and bear arms can be considered a means of self-defence and can become a major threat to public safety if the purpose of the use of weapons is not to protect the right to life. The aim of the article is to establish the relationship between the number of weapons in civilian possession and the right to life and protection. The objective involved the following methods: statistical analysis, correlation analysis, generalization and analogy, hypothetical-deductive model. Countries in which the right to keep and bear arms is enshrined at the constitutional level are identified. They also identified the countries with the highest number of weapons stored and born by the population, their indicators were taken as a basis in the study. As a conclusion, it has been found that the correlation between the number of legal and illegal weapons in civilian possession, including per 100,000 inhabitants, the number of weapons kept by law enforcement officers and the number of people killed with weapons has a low level of negative correlation. It was found that the right to keep and bear arms is effective in guaranteeing the right to life and its protection, but not exclusive.

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