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;
Although many of these shootings occur every year, there many steps that can be placed in order to prevent them from occurring in the future. Creating gun laws that provide better background checks on the buyer and family can help lessen the chances of a mentally ill person from obtaining a gun. Spreading awareness of a person with a mental illness-or generally spreading information of the many different mental illness- can also help prevent mass murders such as Sandy Hook from occurring. Finally, researching ways to prevent mental illnesses from forming can help prevent these violent crimes. If the blame is on the illness, why not find ways to cease them from affecting more people?
This world has been and continues to be scarred with constant, horrific, deadly, and painful events that affect hundreds of families. The unexpected mass shootings, school gun-downs, ramming of crowds, the bombing of a populated area, and dozens more, are now expected to appear in our news feed, but serious changes to prevent these disasters rarely occur. But the question is, how many more children have to die? How many more families need to be destroyed? How many more innocent
So with all these kids dying wouldn't you agree that we need better mental health support, so we can prevent all these shootings? I believe that if we had good and strong mental health support services in the USA then tragic events like Columbine H.S. & Sandy Hook would probably never happen. That is why I am supporting for the USA to talk more about how to create more mental health support programs to help prevent gun violence events. Bibliography Works Cited CNN Library "Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts" CNN.com (Updated April 5, 2017) (Internet) (http://www.CNN.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-shootings-fast-facts) Culp-Ressler, Tara "10,000 Kids Are Injured Or Killed By Guns Each Year In The U.S." Pediatrics Think Progress (2014) (Internet) (https://thinkprogress.org/10-000-kids-are-injured-or-killed-by-guns-each-year-in-the-u-s-bfb1e3bf70dc)
The United States government and its citizens are in a mutual agreement regarding freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; however, in certain areas, this agreement has not been truly upheld. Citizens of the United States have undeniable rights such as equality, the right to life, and freedom; however, these rights are not being preserved when it comes to school shootings. Jefferson’s assertions of safety and happiness are not being fulfilled as school shootings are an obvious violation of these rights, as they endanger the lives and safety of numerous teachers and students like myself. Narration The Declaration of Independence asserts that since the power of the government comes from the consent of the people, the citizens must “alter
The recent media footage of the destruction of innocent, young lives re-ignites the gun reform debate again, and what we as a community can do to prevent another tragedy. The outpourings of grief and horror are becoming all too frequent in our society. What has gone wrong? Why do human beings feel the need to express their anger and disappointment with their lives by resorting to such extreme violence? The ramifications of easily accessible firearms are like opening a Pandora's Box.
Many people say that the real weapon used is rage. Guns are not bad things or good things. They are things, inanimate objects, chunks of metal with no will of their own (Medred 2). Why do we as a society not address mental illness more? The majority of all “school shooters” are misfits.
Many schools in today’s society suffer from shootings at some point while children are attending school. Shootings in schools are not a new occurrence, and America has dealt with multiple shootings in public schools in which the lives of many children and teachers have been undeservingly taken (Elliott 528). Because of school shootings, this leaves our children in danger with no way to protect themselves. Gun violence in schools is an evident problem, and there are several ways to reduce the number of incidents, such as mental health screening for owners of guns, interconnectedness of communities, and more school funding.
Solutions can be made to help the problems with death by guns in the United States, this in term may fix the problems with the second amendment. One solution that may help the situation of the second amendment is the accessibility to certain guns .Many mass shootings include military-style weapons ,such as assault rifles, which are more powerful than normal guns and prove to be highly lethal. In an article by Infobase Learning called "Assault Weapons: Should the government restrict access to assault weapons?" done in 2016 it talks about what happened in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting it states, “...20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children aged 6 and 7, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, before killing himself. Earlier in the day, Lanza had killed his mother, a gun enthusiast, and taken several of her assault weapons, which he used in his rampage.”
It does not take long for a debate to arise after a school shooting to argue which side is to blame. However, the debate has done nothing but made it worse for the trend of school shootings as it typically results in nothing. With two opposing sides, they barely consider any reasonable solutions since they are more focused on worrying if the gun or the shooter is to blame for the death of hundreds of people. In an article written by the Gallups’ Lida Saad concluded, “According to two recent Gallup polls, from 2011 and 2013, more people believe that mass shootings result from a failure of the mental-health system than from easy access to guns.” Gun advocates are in favor of this reasoning because they believe that the system is failing to identify mental health patients in regards to gun violence.
Regulating guns will not stop all of the killings that are occurring in America, and there are better ways to cease the killings than regulating guns. Body Paragraph One: Topic Sentence: Regulating mental health will be more effective in ceasing killings with guns than regulating guns. In an analysis provided, 22 percent of the perpetrators of 235 mass killing, could be considered mentally ill, many of which were carried out with firearms (Qui). Almost 25% of mass shooting killers are being considered mentally ill
The image seared into our minds, children and administrators dead. How have we not done something about this? Well, we can. We will. Now that’s only 2018, I hear you say.
A nonprofit group that attempts to prevent gun violence called “Everytown for Gun Safety,” released a statement about school shootings. The organization claimed that the school shooting at “[Marjory Stoneman Douglas High] is the 18th school shooting in the U.S. in 2018.’” (Cox and Rich). In less than three months, there have been eighteen school shootings. This shows that schools are no longer a safe environment.
Similar to many others in my country, I am proud to be an American. I love my country, and what it provides for it’s citizens. However, I know that I can feel even more honored to be a citizen of the United States of America. I understand that no matter where one goes in the world, he or she will never be able to find a perfect place. A place where everything is great all the time is not realistic at all.
Strict regulations and limitations have been pursued already and clearly do not suffice. Statics brought to attention by gun control opponents, show that gun control laws have done little to reduce crime rates. Several restrictions have been made on certain guns, considered as overly dangerous, though in the hands of an unstable criminal even a legal hunting gun can be deadly. Countless restrictions have been made, however people have still found ways around them. If people are unstable and determined enough, they will find a gun, regardless of the restrictions or regulations.