As a result of many mass shootings that have occurred over the years at places like schools, movie theaters, and other public attractions, this has led to an enormously heated debate about gun control. In fact, The United States ranks number one as the highest gun ownership in the world. The ownership of guns per one hundred people in the United States is 88.8. The only other country that comes closest to this statistic is Yemen, with 54.8 guns owned per one hundred people. The other alarming statistic is the number of total civilian guns in America, with a total of two hundred seventy million, these are the guns that are in stores, gun shows, or in gun owners house. These staggering statistics, along with countless reports of gun violence …show more content…
For example, Hawaii has the least amount of gun related incidents, this is certainly due to the strict gun laws. Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut are also following suit when it comes to strict gun control. States such as Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, known for their more lenient stance on gun laws, have a much higher gun-related mortality rate. Louisiana for example, leads the nation in gun deaths per year. Nearly forty-six percent of Louisiana households own a gun. As you can see there is a direct correlation between strict gun laws and the number of gun-related …show more content…
As we can see with the states that have strict gun laws, they have lower crime rates than compared to the ones with more lenient gun laws. The fact of the matter is, in most states, it is far too easy to purchase a firearm. The fact that there are two hundred seventy million civilian guns in the United States should be enough to push for improved gun laws. With these many guns that are pouring into the United States it’s no wonder why so many of those guns get into the hands of the mentally unstable. You know there is an issue with the number of readily available guns and the amount of gun-related violence when you have to worry about your child being a victim of a school shooting or you can’t even enjoy going to the movie theaters to watch the latest flick. When do we say enough is enough? When we reach over five hundred mass shootings in a year? It is imperative we take action immediately or gun violence will only continue to
The debate over firearms has been polarized for too long. Gun law is a never-ending issue because there hardly is any true debate. Americans (and even gun owners) do support the governments efforts to make sure guns are less dangerous in violent hands, but that is the main problem-the guns getting in the wrong human hands. Millions of law-abiding Americans do own and do enjoy their guns. But criminals and sometimes-disconcerted kids often use firearms to kill. The use of firearms has increased tremendously. An average day in Los Angeles is four people dying in a gun related crime and the United States faces approximately 87 deaths a day. There are more than 200 million guns in circulation in the United States and if you don’t own a firearm, chances are that your neighbor or friend does (Fineman 27). Sure, the Founding Fathers incorporated the Second Amendment as “the right to keep and bear arms,” but it did not give the distinction of using guns to kill more children and people than anywhere in the world.
Without sufficient gun control laws, the death rate in the United States is incredibly high. Gun violence in the United States results in thousands of deaths and many times more injuries annually. Many countries have death rates of gun violence at or lower than 200. This, as will be shown later, is quite It is reported that out of twenty-seven developed countries, the U.S. has the highest rate of gun deaths and the number is more than forty times larger than the deaths of Great Britain by guns (O’Brien 1). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, firearms were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries and homicide deaths reached 11,208, suicide rates of 21,175, and accidental deaths by guns reaching a death count of 505 (23). From these similar high death counts from several different organizations, it is clear that the U.S must impose stricter gun control laws. If countries as developed as the U.S. are achieving low death rates from gun violence what is stopping the U.S. from making the same changes? Why not the U.S. too? By the same token, in an interview between Tiffany O’Callaghan and Garen Wintemute, Wintemute states that “It (guns) takes upward of
One of the most heavily debated subjects today in the United States is guns. Over the last few years, mass shootings and spree shootings have been covered widely in the media. It leaves many Americans wondering how we can just sit by and let this happen. However, this is no easy task to attempt to solve or something that will just go away overnight. Taking away the guns won 't solve anything or just fix the problem as a whole. The United States constitution not only protects, but guarantees the right to bear arms as an American citizen. Why should we let the acts of a few sick and mentally ill ruin the right for the rest of law abiding citizens. The focus should center more around tougher background checks and mental health. Many Americans,
Gun violence has been and continues to be one of the major problems in American. The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world and consequently the highest rate of gun violence and fatalities compared to other developed countries. In a study by the University of Sydney it is estimated that there are 270,000,000 to 310,000,000 guns in the United States. According to the same study in 2010 there were 31,672 fatalities caused by firearms and on the following year the number went up to 32,163. Homicides resulting from guns are high in the United States and they are claiming more than eleven thousand lives every year (Guns in the United States: Firearms, Armed Violence and Gun Law). According to Vision for Humanity, an initiative for the Economics and Peace, the United States is ranked 99 out of 162 countries in the 2013 global peace index, homicide rates and violent crimes are among the various criteria used to determine the ranking (Vision of Humanity). Mass shootings at work places, schools, shopping malls and places of worship are happening in an a...
Gun control is an extremely hot-button topic right now in all over the world. The issue is not likely to go away any time soon. Many societies are questioning whether guns really are the helpful tool that many of us have been saying they are, or if they are the killing machines they have recently been publicised as. Over the past decade, recent shootings that have occurred across the country along with the push for law banning or regulating certain types of firearms have all caused many to review the gun control pros and cons that are believed to shape future debate. In this modern era, owning a gun among the people can cause many glitches. One of them is homicide which is broadly seen by the public as one of the most vital hiccups facing our society. According to Hoskin (2011), USA is an outlier in both high levels of gun possession and high rates of homicide compared to other industrialised countries. Homicides are much more likely to involve guns in the USA. In 2009, 67% of slaughters were committed with a gun compared to one-third in Canada. Although critics argue owning a gun can help to ensure our own safety, it is still harmful to society because most violent crimes are perpetrated with guns, the risk of death increases and suicides are higher with gun availability.
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...
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...
In the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the increase of killing sprees involving firearms in the U.S. since the Columbine Massacre, the case against guns is emotionally charged and captivating. The use of these examples has been a powerful recruitment tool in the case against private gun ownership and the lobbying for stricter legislation governing the sale, and distribution of firearms within the U.S. and internationally. In addition to this, Pro-Control supporters most often use startling statistics in firearm-related deaths and homicides as contention that these incidents are reflections of an ongoing killing spree in the United States, whom remains among the top countries in the world for firearm related deaths, a...
Gun violence has reached an all-time high. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, widespread concern forced legislators to take a second look at our gun laws. When twenty children and six educators were gunned down, many citizens were outraged and begged authorities to pass more stringent gun laws because with fewer guns, there could possibly be fewer incidents involving gun violence. Many people believe that the widespread availability of guns is making society unsafe. Each year, nearly 100,000 Americans are shot, 32,000 of them die, 47 children are shot every day, and eight of them die, according to the U.S. News Digital Weekly. In order to solve this problem, more stringent background checks should be required by all applicants, restriction and enforcement on the sale of guns at gun shows need to improve, and the availability of automatic weapons should be limited.
Green, Matthew A. "Are States With Tough Gun Laws Actually Safe?" The Lowdown RSS. KQED, 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013
There is an American consensus for some form of gun control. “…[F]irearms were involved in two-thirds of all murders in the United States and [t]he United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths…murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology” (Lepore). There might be some far extreme people who think that all guns should be banned but most sane Americans do not think that gun rights should be abolished. Americans regard self-defense as the most compelling reason to have a gun and twenty-two percent of households have handguns in the United States. However many people do think that gun control laws must be enacted and enforced. Pro-gun extremists and the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) must understand that there is a real for many people at the uncontrolled s...
According to the small arms survey of 2003, Americans own between eighty-three and ninety-six guns per one hundred persons, or nearly one gun per person. (Kopel, “America's Fascination” par. 28) This statistic is even more interesting when compared to Norway, Finland, France, and Germany, the European countries with the most guns, which all range somewhere between thirty and thirty-nine guns per one hundred people. Meanwhile, the same survey shows that the number of guns per capita varies so greatly in each country that places such as the Netherlands, Hungary, and Romania have the least guns per capita with no more than two per one hundred
However, the opponents do agree that a death rate of 30 million a year due to the powerful and deadly weapon is too high; only they have different views on how to lower this rate. These arms, proven by statistics, provide the result of 30 million murders, suicides, and accidental deaths each year (Dolan 1). The number of firearms is estimated to be over 150 million and outnumber all of our cars, trucks, and busses by more than 25 million (Dolan 7). A large percentage of these firearms are held by half of the nation’s families that for the most part use them for the lawful protection of their homes and will most likely never be used (Dolan 7). “And the millions more are kept by responsible sportsmen for hunting, trapshooting, and target shooting,” this was a reply from Dolan to an English visitor to America, who was astonished by the figures of firearms (7). “I’d say that the United States is an armed camp,” said the English visitor (Dolan 7). In despondence to Dolan’s defending the millions of guns owned by citizens for protection or sport, the Englishman said, “One hundred and fifty million guns. It doesn’t matter what they’re used for. If they’re loaded someone’s bound to get hurt.”(Dolan 7-8). America has one of the highest death rates due to guns, however, gun deaths are on the rise in other countries, such as, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Australia (Hawkes 4). In the United States handguns are used in more than 184,000 armed robberies every year and more than 11,000 murders and manslaughter’s (Hawkes 6). Every 20 minutes someone in the United States dies by a gun as a result of murders, accidents, or suicides (Hawkes 5). Although, all guns are deadly, the most dangerous is the handgun (Dolan 9). The handgun is responsible for 50 percent of the United States murders, leading to a figure of 30 murders a day and when you add suicides and fatal accidents the daily death-rate rises to over sixty (Dolan 9). All of this lea...
Will gun control stop harm or protect citizens? Today, the opinions of Americans vary on whether guns harm or protect citizens. However, gun control is not a new controversial issue. In 1924, U.S. Senator, Robert La Follete, said, “Our choice is not merely to support or oppose gun control but to decide who can own which guns under what conditions.” This proves that gun control has been a concern to Americans since the mid- twentieth century, and possibly even earlier than that. Even with the U.S. laws limiting the access of guns, it has not stopped the misuse of guns. Thirteen school shootings have been recorded in the United States within the first six weeks of 2014. Gun control is an effort to stop crimes by limiting who can access guns. Guns are very powerful weapons that have a great impact on society. They can change a family’s life forever. The destruction they cause cannot be reversed or taken back, and one trigger could take a person’s life away. For these reasons, government interference is needed to restrict the harm guns can cause. The U.S. government should place more limitations on guns because of the carelessness and misuse of guns, which has led to an increasing number of crimes and violent actions against the innocent.
A whopping 67.8 percent of the total crimes in the world were gun related. In the United States alone, 60 percent of all reported cases of homicides involved guns. This can be one reason that leads many to believe that guns are responsible for the prevalence of criminality across different countries. After all, the United States is the highest in gun ownership, with 88.8 percent per 100,000 people owning guns. Guns are weapons that encompass a high level of danger in the hands of those who have a criminal mind. Many countries have implemented policies on gun control while at the same time urge others to do the same to fight crimes.