Mass Shooting Essay

Mass shooting came to the national spotlight after the Columbine incident in 1999 and it has since become a social problem. A social problem is defined not as a troubled condition, but as a condition that people find troubling, because some groups or countries may find a condition harmful but not others. A social problem is different from a condition, because it requires several components for a condition to become a social problem. A condition needs to garner media attention and attract opinion makers and ultimately policy makers in order to become a social problem. Mass shooting therefore is a social problem because it has gone through the social problem stages to become one. For example, in the recent Stoneman Douglas High incident, the

Grounds demonstrate the evidences for the social problem and show the audience that the social problem is real. Grounds usually include typifying example of the social problem, naming the problem, and some statistics to show the widespread of the problem. These components of grounds are shown in different claims making articles. Berkowitz, Lu, and Alcantara (2018) made interactive maps of different statistics regarding mass shooting, such as the number of victims, types of gun used, demographic of the perpetrators, where the incidents occurred, and so on. This allows the audience to learn more information about specific mass shooting incidents the prevalence of mass shooting in different parts of the United States. Moreover, the article outlines stories of the youngest and oldest victims, appealing to the audience’s emotions. The number of victims killed in total is emphasized to show the scope of the problem and how serious it is. With the recent incident, the Stoneman Douglas High mass shooting is used as a typifying example of the social problem. Naming the problem can be seen across different claims making process. Burch, Mazzei, and Healy (2018) had coined the term “mass shooting generation” to refer to the high school students who grow up in an environment shaped by the Columbine shooting and practice drills since elementary school in case a shooter comes to