Gun Control and Mass Shootings in America Gun violence is an unquestionable issue in America, with the United States ranking as one of the worst with both homicides and suicides using guns. That being said, we outnumber Mexico in gun related deaths and among first-world countries we rank far above others in the number of gun deaths, such as England and Australia. Consequently, we live in one of the only first world countries that does not have extensive gun laws and restrictions to gun access. Aside from the countless homicides and suicides by firearm in this country, one particular issue within this predicament is mass shootings, with the most recent mass shooting occurring on February 14th, 2018 at a high school in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed. Although, it may seem like an easy fix to just implement gun control laws into our society to eliminate gun violence, but it is important to note that Americans own nearly half of all firearms globally, which is roughly 325 million guns;
Mass shooting episodes have increased over recent decade and received substantial media coverage during the last year. Multiple schools, clubs, and churches, and public places across the United States have been impacted, resulting in the deaths of innocent people. The United States has more mass shootings than any other country between 1966 and 2012. There has been shootings in public places receiving media coverage and giving the perception that they are becoming the new normal.
a Bloom A prodigious amount of attention has been drawn to gun crime after many mass shootings in 2015. A mass shooting is defined by the FBI as four or more people shot and/or killed in a single event at the same general time and location (Gun Violence Archive). According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, 371 mass shootings took place in 2015 alone-- leaving 1,387 people wounded and 469 dead. Gun control has become an enduring dispute with many proponents for both sides. Congress needs to find a way to assure that the right to bear arms is protected, but also legally keep guns out of the hands of certain people.
Let's say that someone is walking down the hall in the middle of a school, then, all of a sudden a kid runs in and BOOM! Shots ring in their ears and they start to cry, looking around to see if they can find anyone else but all they see are dead bodies on the ground, covered in blood. Then, they look up at the end of the hall and there he is, holding a gun ready to shoot; what will they do? Run for their life? Then, for a moment this person closes their eyes and they wonder, why would someone do this?
The rise of Mass shootings in the U.S. In the last 52 years there has been 150 mass shootings in the U.S. In the 50 years before that, their were just 25. In those 52 years 1,077 people were killed. In the year 2017 alone, 112 people were killed.
Taking away guns would just cause more crimes that police force would not be able to keep up with. People claim rifles cause more harm; However taking away rifles will not prevent someone from harming others. “People are killed in greater numbers by cars, bats, hammers, hands and feet. Examining the tool and attempting to ban the tool will have absolutely no effect.” (why gun groups 5).
There has been a common debate on how we should define mass shootings. From the FBI to CNN, each has their own way of defining this heinous crime. The best definition, however, comes from USA Today’s Behind the Bloodshed, an article with an in-depth analysis of mass shootings throughout America. They define mass shootings as “any incident in which four or more people were killed, including family killings, and with no cooling off period” (Overberg). The first recorded public shooting happened in 1764 in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.
Mass shootings are becoming more common now than in any other period in the history of the United States. Some would say that this is the result of insufficient gun control making guns too readily available and accessible. Others would disagree with this outtake completely. They would argue that not enough people had the ability and know how to be able to fight back. They would argue that not enough people have guns and the ability to correctly handle them.
Mass Shootings have been pretty common in the U.S. In the past 30 years or so. According to the Congressional Research Service, there have been 78 mass shootings in the United States since 1983. The shootings have resulted in 547 deaths and 1,023 casualties. Mass shootings are only responsible for a very small percentage of deaths in the United States, but mass shootings are happening more often than ever, a mass shooting happens on average one time a month.
Mental Health is a bigger issue than guns, and mental health will be regulated and not guns if the authority and the government want killings to stop occurring. Taking away guns will not stop killings with guns. People will find other ways to kill people, because people if they want to kill, will kill. Some argue that the guns need to be taken away because guns take away Innocent people’s lives. However, the real reason people are killed by guns is that of the people using the gun.
Guns are extremely powerful weapons. They can cause destruction, harm or even death. They can be used to defend and protect or to threaten and kill. Any way you look at it, guns are powerful tools, not only physically but socially.
Title: Gun Violence As I write this introduction, I am like millions of others watching the tragedy in Louisiana and Alabama caused by hurricane Katrina. A small but important part of the devastation and the challenge is the existence of individuals and groups of citizens from the area mostly impacted by the storm who used guns against their neighbours and those attempting to assist them. In any other industrialised nation, this will never happen because it will eventually cause the level of socialisation to decline due to the issue pertaining citizens getting the ready access towards guns. Most likely, gun violence is categorised as the most highly anticipated violence around the world because it is growing rapidly and causes
Guns are just a tool, like knives and hammers and it completely depends on the people on how they use it. People who support guns and arms say that the Second Amendment secures individual’s right to carry guns with them and that gun rights is needed for self-protection, and was intended for military to have peace and defend the country if needed (Spitzer, 70). Most of the Americans use guns as a source to protect themselves and they believe that gun ownership prevents crime. A study conducted on November 26, 2013 showed that bans on weapons did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level (Lane, 5). Moreover, even if the rules and regulations are executed on gun control, not all criminals obey the law.
The number of incidents of gun violence last year in the United States was about 60,000. In recent years, the number of mass shooting has risen to about one mass shooting per day in the United States. The country is divided with some wanting to reevaluate our gun control laws and either ban or add additional regulations to the purchase of guns. Others say it is our right for Americans to own guns and something the founding fathers considered important to put in the Bill of Rights. The number of firearm sales has risen with the number of mass shooting many Americans question if banning guns or certain guns could help decrease the number of gun violence deaths.
In the past, the major gun control legislations that have been put into effect have not stopped people from obtaining firearms (Gun Control.) There have also been cases in the past where cities have attempted to ban handguns. After the ban was put into effect, murder rates tended to rise instead of drop, unlike what most people might assume. Crime rates and violence also skyrocketed after the bans were put into effect. Another problem with taking guns away, or banning them, is that the government cannot expect everyone to abide by the laws.