A stronger focus on gun control in the United States involving restriction or even an outright ban of guns could serve to help the problem greatly. In 2015, 13,286 people were killed by firearms in the United States, with 26,819 suffering from non-lethal injuries (qtd. in “Guns in the US”). Taking away guns, the means that many urban criminals have to commit their crimes, would be very beneficial to cities. Recent studies found that the most effective way of reducing gun crime is to lower the amount of guns available in circulation. In the US specifically, studies show that the stricter gun laws are in a state, the lower the amount of deaths related to guns occur (Graham). While many believe that further restrictions on guns would not be feasible, both Australia and the United Kingdom managed to highly restrict or ban guns from their nations in order to reduce gun-related deaths and crime (Graham). Australia was able to rid the country of around 650,000 guns and their rate of robberies per 100,000 people sank from about 100 to 60 (cite later 1). This program of complete gun confiscation costed Australia $230 million. If a program of the same relative scale were to be done in the States, it would cost the government around $4 billion (Rieck). The alternative to a complete gun ban would be simply to restrict gun laws to make it much more difficult for a dangerous individual to purchase a gun. Background checks for all purchases of guns would become a requirement and
Society as a whole has become less and less violent. Since 1991, reported crimes committed has dropped by almost double (Statista.com). Many people blame the AR-15 for most of the mass murders in America, and ask for the “assault” weapon to be banned. However, many details of the gun are skewed. In an article written by Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, she stated that of all the gun deaths in America, 60% were suicides; and even more contrary to belief, nearly double of the mass killings (4 or more deaths) were with handguns instead of rifles (statista.com). Banning the AR-15 will not have an impact on violence whatsoever.
A mysterious man comes into the residence in which you live, and he decides to hold you in your own house against your will, forever. There is a chance to kill him and escape. Would you do it? Sig Anderson, a boy with pieces of clues about his deceased father, is conflicted with this situation in the young adult novel, Revolver, written by Marcus Sedgwick. Revolver takes place in the late 1800s during the Alaska Gold Rush. The gold rush was the migration of thousands of people into the northwestern part of Canada. Einar Anderson, the father of Sig, brings his family of four along with him to the Yukon region, in search of wealth. Maria passes away from an illness, along with Einar who passes mysteriously out in the arctic wilderness. Sig is
In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves had their lives taken away. [1] Could this outcome have changed if the Jews were armed with guns? Could thirteen million innocent lives have been saved? Does taking away firearms help someone in a situation like this? Many pro gun-control citizens believe that banning firearms will make them safer and some even protest. For reasons of self-defense, to assist the police, and because violence will always be present, the United States’ law regarding the legality of firearms should stay in place.
Gun control has been a controversial issue for many years. Many citizens believe that if gun control is strictly enforced it would reduce the threat of crime. People have the right to bear arms for protection, or even just the pleasure of hunting and recreational activity. With the recent events involving firearms and mass shootings, people are skeptical whether to increase or decrease gun laws. Americans have a constitutional right to own handguns and stricter laws and licensing will not effectively save lives.
Gun violence accounts for a significant portion of deaths each year, approximately 30,000 people in the United States (American Public Health Association, 2017). Gun deaths affects everyone; the victims, families, society, as well as healthcare. Within the last decade, roughly 700,000 emergency department visits were related to gunshot wounds, these cost hospitals on average, $25 billion dollars (Johnson, 2017). Health Affairs released a study showing that from 2006 to 2014 cost associated with gunshot wounds totaled $2.9 billion in emergency department charges alone, and $22 billion for inpatient care (Johnson, 2017). Those numbers do not include follow-up and rehabilitative care. The numbers are staggering, and indicate that—besides the emotional,
People say it is not the guns; it is the people-, tremendously true, but guns do actually play a factor, they are the tool people use in the mass shootings, the United States has the highest gun owner rate and the highest mass shooting rate; the article written by Emma Gonzalez, “Famous Speeches: “We Call BS,” Emma Gonzalez Speech To Gun Activists”, and another article written by Bloomberg, “Issue Overload: Guns in America”. These two articles differentiate in multiple contrasting ways but are also similar in many different ways, the way the articles perspectives are written and the goals of the articles. The article by Emma Gonzalez and the passage written by Bloomberg compare to each other in numerous ways.
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; when
The use of and the owning of guns is a very hot and debated topic in society today. For many, this is a life and death debate due to the recent and numerous school shootings. These school shootings have caused an outcry for more gun control, specifically in relation to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Despite these calls, increased gun control is not the answer. Most gun owners’ use their guns responsibly and for good purposes. Gun control also limits our constitutionally derived right to own firearms. If gun control is enforced, law-abiding citizens will be forced to give up their guns and their right to own guns, while many criminals who own guns may illegally keep theirs. As the saying goes “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” Guns are an important aspect of our society in many ways. They allow for protection, recreation, and hunting. They also do not have as many negative effects as some claim. The right to own firearms is a constitutional right that is important and needs to be upheld.
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. Criminals do not care about
In conclusions, the numbers of casualties provided in previous paragraphs do not include the painful physical and emotional burdens gun-related incidents leave on those who are survive, wounded, the family who lose their sons or daughters, the school and Colleges who lose or support injured colleagues. With guns, the result is slow just as same as smoking cigarette, because it does not kill immediately, but it kills. Similarly, human race might not become extinct immediately. but slowly with all the creation of dangerous nuclear bomb, guns, ammunition and firearms; it is slowly killing and causing public health crisis. Based on Annals of Internal Medicine, all things equal, where there are higher levels of gun ownership and weaker gun laws,
Looking at the nightly news, many would believe violent crimes are at an all-time high. There are not just one on one violent crimes or gang violent crimes. There is court shootings, school shootings, church shootings, theater shootings, mall shootings, workplace shootings, and others. Where most one on one crime is committed with illegal guns, mass shootings are done with handguns purchased legally. Violent crimes reported on the news while still surprising to hear and see has become very common. While the numbers seem to be overwhelming, statistics share violent crimes are at an all-time low. While the numbers of crimes are decreasing, gun ownership is increasing. Begging one to ask if the right to conceal to carry reduce
Everyday in the United States, ninety families are changed forever; guns claim an average of ninety lives every day in the United States, 33,000 lives in a single year. Gun control has been a debate in the United States for many years and is constantly thrusted back into the public’s attention by horrific shootings. These shootings constantly cause individuals to petition the government to place stricter and stricter regulations of guns. However, these policies cannot be the solution to this problem. To determine a solution that will be both effective and constitutional, we must look at statistics and research that has been conducted to determine the best course of action. Instead of banning or limiting guns, the evidence will show that removing the current restrictions and targeting individuals instead of guns will be a more effective process.
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
J., Newman, K., Calvert, S. L., Downey, G., Dredze, M., Gottfredson, M., ... & Romer, D. (2016). Youth violence: What we know and what we need to know. American Psychologist, 71(1), 17.