On April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado two teenagers shot and killed 13 people at Columbine High School (thinkprogress.org). On March 25, 2006, in Seattle, Washington Aaron Hill entered a party and proceeded to kill six people with a firearm (thinkprogress.org). On July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colorado twelve people were murdered by a gunman during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises (thinkprogress.org). Over the course of 13 years, from 2000 to 2013, 486 people have been killed in mass shooting across the United States (nytimes.com). When will the US as a nation recognize and fix the epidemic that is the firearm?
In the United States, from 2000 to 2015, 505,005 people have died from firearms; 297,042 of those deaths were suicides with another 193,867 deaths being from homicides (webappa.cdc.gov). More and more thought the US, problems are arising do to firearms. One of the greatest problems is the debate over firearms. Should they be banned? Should there be stricter background checks? What rights are covered by second amendment? Are guns actually the problem? And that’s just the start. To answer these questions, one must know more about guns and gun violence in America.
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Whether it is a mass shooting, gang violence, or a crime of passion, these are the usual scenarios that one thinks of. However, in America homicide is only responsible for 37.2% of firearm related deaths (gun-control.procon.org). The largest percent of deaths occurred from suicide. As of 2015, firearms were the number one method of suicide in America, with 51.9% of suicides being due to firearms, and 58.7% of all firearm deaths being due to suicide (gun-control.procon.org). Because “suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US” this is something that can’t be ignored
Not all murders involve guns. According to data from the United States Department of Justice, in the year 2008, 5,340,000 violent crimes were committed in the United States. However, only eight percent, or 436,000 of these crimes were committed by criminals that were armed with any kind of firearm (Agresti). Even with laws that ban guns from being purchased, a killer could easily obtain a gun by stealing it. In 2010, there were approximately 300 million guns known to be owned by American citizens (Agresti). On the topic of suicide, if somebody has a strong intent on ending their life, and they cannot access a gun, they will find another way to accomplish the task, without using a gun (Lunger, 77). The presence of guns in the hands of the general public is a key element to prevent crime. Steve Agresti has ...
Guns are not the trouble, people are. The United States is #1 in world gun ownership, and yet is only 28th in the world in gun murders per 100,000 people. The number of unintentional fatalities due to firearms declined by 58 percent between 1991 and 2011 Based on these facts, one can see the guns not the causes of gun violence. moreover, civilians who get permits take gun safety courses and have criminal background...
Left, right, Liberal, Conservative, Democratic, Republican. There are a lot of synonyms for the sides of our nation divided. Divided on many things: religion, political views, morals, etc.. For a nation that prides ourselves on extraordinary security and unity, it is quite ironic that so many issues can cause such distress and uproar within communities. One such issue is gun control. As a white male in a middle-lower class family that has never owned a gun, I may be somewhat biased. Objectively as I can, I am going to report the facts and more importantly, try to find the core issues at play.
An estimated 30,000 people are killed each year by guns in the United States alone according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Gun Control, Funk & Wagnall’s). Though there have been some restrictions and laws placed, both the conservative and liberal sides are not pleased with either the lack of action or the fact that there has been too much action that has taken place. “About 38% of U.S. households and 26% of individuals owned at least one gun, with about half of the individuals having 4 or more guns, according to a 2004 survey by the Harvard School of Public Health (Gun Control, Funk & Wagnall’s).” Both sides turn to the one document centered on the argument for evidence to support their side: the Second Amendment.
Today in the United States many people argue over the fact of guns being legal or illegal. There are people using guns for personal safety and there are others who use them for crimes, as well as for other situations. Firearm deaths in the United States have slowly been decreasing from year to year with all these bills getting passed to promote a safer country than ever before. Guns are the main weapon for youth suicide, school shootings, and for committing murder. In 2010 there were 2,711 infants, child, and teenage firearm deaths. As in school shootings and in committing murder, studies show shooters often had multiple, non-automatic guns, shootings were planned, most youth tell before shooting, shooters have a history of being bullied or threatened, shooters have mental issues, and shooters have done suicidal gestures before (Gun Control with School Shootings). Although there are people who use guns for murdering, there are also those who oppose guns being used without the proper requirements. 85% of all respondents to the survey supporting requiring states to report people to national background-checks systems who are prohibited from owning gu...
Through the year’s shootings have increased by a significant amount. Individuals are becoming affected on a regular basis and are concerned about there safety. Parents are worried for there youth getting assaulted, sexually violence, tormented, kidnaped, murdered on the other hand, now there ending up to be more stressed for there child getting shot. Guns have been around for hundredths of years, both world wars were succeeded with guns, hence, guns were served to defend its nation through history. In Western society citizens purchase guns for self preservation. Unfortunately, they are utilized in opposing ways, the majority of crimes are involved in gun shootings; this is an essential issue in America. Most agree that gun violence will have
Violence related to guns is a prominent issue in America. Guns are a means to an end; meaning guns have played a strong role in suicides, murders, and injuries. In the past decade there has been an average of 400-500 thousand incidents of firearms per year (Gun Violence). The number of injured people from firearm incidents in the United States per year for the past decade is 400-600 thousand people (Gun Violence). These statistics are absolutely shocking to anyone. The amount of violence and crime that comes from guns is enormous. It is imperative that proper gun control is put into place by means of background checks and proper training. It can almost be certain that the number of incidents of accidental discharges from children and the number of victims affected by gun crimes in general can be highly reduced.
Since the birth of United States of America, guns have been sewn into the fabric of American culture. Guns were used for many meaningful things in those primitive times. Guns were used to protect one’s property from wild animals such as bears. Guns were used to hunt down protein-rich animals to feed families. Guns were used to defend American’s newly constituted freedoms from savage criminals, Native Americans, and European forces. Guns fit well into the fabric of American culture has stood the test of time. Today, however, the fabric that once brought the United States prosperity is now fraying and flawed due to the excessive use of guns. This addiction has shown to be a problem in several areas of American society, and statistics prove America
Today in the United States there has much debate over the countries current standing on Gun Control. Some Americans lean more towards supporting the bans, simply due to what people have seen with the mentally ill in the media today, these are often the indviduals who support restrictions that have been made on the purchasing of firearms. Others highly oppose gun control, standing firm by the belief that any form of suppression towards firearm ownership, is a clear violation of anyone 's constitutional rights. "In 1990, the Violence Policy Center announced that the debate must be switched from small handguns to large “assault rifles.” This led to states like California starting bans themselves on, "assault weapon magazines holding more than
Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, which needs to be recognized and changed by legislatures, and the voting American. As conscious Americans, we need to vote for changes to gun laws that would improve background checks nation-wide, make firearm registration mandatory, restrict the sale of assault weapons and weapon modifications that give the shooter military-grade fire power, and invest in gun-safe technology and safe firearms storage designs. This type of technology will help prevent criminally oriented people from accessing guns, and will help prevent the accidental deaths of many children by guns. This essay will explain the reforms needed to help ensure Americans can still exercise their 2nd amendment right of owning firearms, and preventing the unnecessary deaths of many Americans at the same time.
The debate over gun control in America has constantly brought up over the years due to gunmen killing large amounts of civilizations in shootings. From Columbine to Sandy Hook or the shootings of the two reporters in West Virginia, these public shootings are occurring everywhere. Lawmakers and civilians alike are pushing for increased gun control in hopes of preventing the same tragedies. Anybody that has been affected by the shootings have been pushing Congress and state governments to force new sanctions on government. With the past three years, Congress has shot down all the laws despite the large amounts of public support. Adding more gun control isn’t going to stop the mass shootings from happening.
Every day some news related to gun violence are being heard all over the world. Shooting in driveway, public places, schools, homicide and suicide are some of different types of gun violence. Shooting on people and killing them is a big issue in the world and different comments are provided about that. One of the most important of them is about gun control laws. Stingl (2013) says “The term gun control as it is used in the United States refers to any action taken by the federal government or by state or local governments to regulate, through legislation, the sale, purchase, safety, and use of handguns and other types of firearms by individual citizens.” According to this idea gun control laws should be stricter and people should not be able to have access to guns easily. However, there are many other people who believe this idea is not a good solution and never help. This essay will demonstrate for and against views about the topic. People who agree with this idea consider: firstly, stricter laws will reduce violence and gun control means crime control. Secondly, some research shows people with gun are more at risks of getting shot. Thirdly, guns can always be misused by their owners and finally, stricter law is the best and the faster way to control crime and make community safe. While opponents say first of all, guns are necessary for people safety and protection. Secondly, guns are not the only tools for killing and violence; there are other weapons too and finally, gun ownership is human rights.
Gun Violence is one of the United States most serious crime problems. The total cost of gun violence in the United States, including medical, criminal justice, and other government and private costs, are at least 6 to 12 billion a year (Cook, P. J. & Ludwig, J., 2000). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) mission is to track firearms. It reported that firearms sells have risen since 2005. According to the A...
Gun control is an awfully big issue in the United States today. Many people in America don’t agree with the gun control laws that they have today. Gun control laws only take guns and freedom away from law-abiding citizens. Many citizens have their own reasons for owning a gun. Why would the government want to make it harder for people to own a gun? People that own guns aren’t very likely to be attacked by criminals. Owning a handgun is one of the best ways of protection when used correctly. The second amendment states “the right to bear arms”; does this grant everyone the right to own a gun? Gun control laws have not been proven to do anything for citizens. Gun control laws just make it harder for the good guy average Joe to own a gun. Gun control laws are not a good idea, and are taking part in the loss of our freedom that was given to us.
Listverse,. '10 Arguments For Gun Control - Listverse '. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.