Some early warning signs were The firearms that were used in the attacks were two nine millimeter hand guns and two twelve gauge shotguns. They had sawed off the barrels and the butts of the guns to make them easier to carry and conceal while walking into the school. Eric and Dylan used the internet to make ninety nine improvised devices that were all different in size and design. With all of these things that they had done they had already committed many felonies prior to the massacre. Eric and Dylan obtained these firearms from a local gun show. They had gone to the show the day before and were turned away because of their age. Determined to buy the weapons they Eric and Dylan found an older boy to buy the shot guns for them his boy worked at the pizza shop with them. Also they had purchased the hand guns through a person that they had met at work also. Later this person was prosecuted for selling a firearm to an underage person. The semi automatic hand gun was bought for five hundred dollars.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is constantly adding new names to a list of suspected terrorist. According to Newsweek, “In 90 percent of cases, potential terrorists passed a background check and were able to legally purchase guns” (Parsons). This means that people, who the FBI may consider being a terrorist, are still able to purchase a firearm. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, guns have been the most common choice of weapon for terrorists. As reported by Politifact in 2014, 2,233 people tried to buy guns and 2,043 people were able to successfully obtain a gun. There are some cases, however, where people who have the same name as a suspected terrorist show up on the list created by the FBI. This caused a real controversy until the FBI was able to resolve errors in the suspected terrorist list. As the FBI has continued an attempt to make obtaining weapons by suspected terrorist more difficult, law enforcement has been mirroring similar efforts with people with known criminal backgrounds.
Gun violence is the sign of a far greater universal problem in America today. Violence and gun violence specifically, is surrounded within, and spread all through every part of our society. All the reasons remain intimately related to the actual solution, which can only be a general solution one by treating it as one issue. The region that I live in is considered a peaceful part of Harvest, which I am particularly grateful about. I do not have to worry about gunfights in the roads of my community, nor maybe being helpless confronted by students with a gun at school. That, nevertheless, does not mean that my community is impermeable to gun violence. Huntsville has seen its share of gun violence from the incident at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), where three people were murdered and three others injured on February 12, 2010. Throughout the course of a routine gathering of the biology department attended by about 12 people, professor Amy Bishop stood up and began shooting those next to her with a 9-millimeter handgun (Hall 2010)
A comforting fact about guns is that they enable the common citizen to protect themselves. In some parts of the country, it can take 20 minutes or longer for first responders to arrive. Because of this, a large part of our personal safety depends on our ability to defend ourselves (Gun Control Overview 5). This in itself proves the necessity of firearms for the well-being of the common citizen. There are also numerous colleges that implement what students should do in the event of a shooting in their handbook. “West Virginia University advises students that if the situation is dire, they should “act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter.” These items could include ‘student desks, keys, shoes, belts, books, cell phones, iPods, book bags, laptops, pens, pencils, etc.’” (Goldberg 12). The very existence of these policies is evidence that local law enforcement
It has spread to the suburbs and small towns. Gun violence rates have increased in the last decade due to hatred and societal issues, and while shooters and victims both face many difficult obstacles, there are some solutions that the public and schools can enforce through awareness.
Imagine your child was nearing high school graduation with their whole life ahead of them. Next year, they will be going to college and you will see them bloom into the wonderful person you know they are. Now imagine the horror of hearing that your child had been
Academy Sports + Outdoors was the sporting goods store where Kelley purchased the firearms used in the mass shooting in Texas. A spokesperson for the sporting goods store stated that the sales were approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The employee followed the procedures required by federal law, which allowed them to complete the transaction
Therefore, this caused Dylan Roof to buy a gun which he used to kill nine people at a historically black church in South Carolina. In addition, Roof had previously faced drug charges which should refuse his attempt to gun purchase. However, the information was unavailable at the background check system (2015, para. 1). Ressler (2015, para. 4) also states that the current three days’ standard background check time is not enough to process a cross check information between federal databases and states. Furthermore, the author Ferris (2014, para. 3) indicates in his article “Gun Purchase Background Checks: Casting a Wide Net with Many Holes” that NICS has not the complete records, and states have not incentive to report records of people who have prior criminal records and should not own guns. In addition, according to the research in 2012, there is a big part of mental health records from the last two decades can not be found in the NICS. Therefore, the system loophole results in people with criminal records escape the background checks and have access to guns is a significant cause of gun violence (2014, para. 14).
As the United States experiences an increase in mass shootings, we also experience an increase in firearm purchases. According to the LA Times, there were 3 notable mass shootings between January 2015 and November 27, 2015. November 27, 2015 was Black Friday, and on this day in 2015 the FBI, the department responsible for running the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System reported that there were 185,345 NICS checks done that day (Penzenstadler). That number is a 5% increase from Black Friday 2014. The prior record for number of NICS checks run in one day was on December 21, 2012, only 7 days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, on that day there were 177,170 NICS checks received (Penzenstadler). One of the likely reasons
After I watch the video named “Shots Fired on Campus: When Lightning Strikes”. I learned that there are many way to avoid a gun shoot me. The first way is get out, the best way to survive an active shooter situation is NOT to be where he is and NOT
In America today, many citizens of the United States are divided when it comes to their own stances on gun control. Considering American is home to the biggest acts of gun violence around the world, it is only appropriate that a gun control bill is added to assure the safety of our people.
Among their victims was teacher Dave Sanders (age 47), who was holding a door open so that students could flee. If Dave Sanders had been trained and armed with a handgun or given access to a handgun in a rampage shooting situation, could he have prevented the shooter right then and there or even saved his own life? This example shows that waiting for law enforcement training and action taken may not be the most effective and relying on them you could. There is a xx time span of when the shootings took place and the last deaths occurred. Law
One New York Times article called “Why Do We Ignore Initiatives That Reduce Gun Violence?” It says that “Proven strategies to protect people from being murdered by firearms do exist. The bad news: They’re tragically underutilized, for reasons that we suspect have to do with a dismissive national attitude toward the areas where most acts of violence are committed.” This shows how in places all over the US that aren’t as safe as others are more likely to have outbreaks not only because how safe that area is, but also because there is a lack of education on the people in the town saying how gun violence is wrong. This article shows how we need to promote gun safety everywhere in the US especially in the already unsafe
The number of mass shootings in 2012 has led many lawmakers to consider further gun control reform. One option would be to reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which would make it illegal to manufacture assault weapons for civilian use. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is also suggesting required background checks for every gun sold, stronger enforcement of straw sales (discouraging people to buy firearms for somebody who is not allowed to possess one), and a requirement for states to enter criminal and mental health records into the federal background check system.
This just in, the US's gun violence has increased dramatically over the past 10-15 years and has recently gone insanely out of hand from the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to the 2017 Las Vegas Music Festival shooting. Gun violence is multiplying by the minute due to the easy access of purchasing any type of gun, whether it’s on the internet, your neighbor, a family member, Walmart, and, above all, gun shows. Background checks are performed but, only in stores―yes, gun shows do not require background checks. But, before any purchase at stores, the FBI, in only a few minutes, conducts a background check process to authorize any individual before making a purchase. The important information that is acquired from the background check