Gun Control And Mass Shootings In The United States

An ever increasing emphasis on the prevention of mass shootings has presented the option of gun control and bans. Mass shootings have occurred many times throughout history, but have

The occurence of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting of December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. The gunman, was 20-year-old Adam Lana, who first shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. He then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members. As first responders arrived, Lana committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The shooting began at approximately 9:30 a.m. Sandy Hook was the deadliest mass shooting at a high school or grade school in U.S. history and the second-deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. This shooting yet again assured the nation that gun violence is still as big of a problem as it was back in the late 90’s when 27 teenagers got killed in another mass killing in Columbine, Colorado. We as a nation must stand up and oppose mass murdering because these actions are not only unjust but inhuman as well.  The increase in gun violence can be decreased by, identifying the regions in the country where the most gun violence occurs and restricting their access to limiting or monitoring the availability of guns and ammunition.

A major concern in the United States is why mass shootings occur and what needs to be done to stop them from happening. Mass shootings have gained a significant amount of attention in 2015. Within the year, a total of 372 mass shootings have occurred in the United States killing 475 people and wounding 1,870. Mass shootings have become a popular trend within the media and have given the impression that it is the new normal. Mass shootings are a dysfunction to society, due to the fact that they create horror and tragedy within the country. Schools, shopping malls, and even movie theatres have all endured the horrific violence. Mass shootings are nothing new, however, they seem to be occurring more often and are becoming more and more violent. The three leading factors to mass shootings are problematic masculinity, mental illness, and gun control.

The article, “The Truth About Mass Shootings and Gun Control: Crime and killings have fallen as gun ownership has increased”, was written in a manner to target a specific audience by using a current hot topic amongst politicians in the United States on gun control. By discussing recent mass shooting, the author is able to appeal to his audience with Ethos appeal allowing him to maintain the attention of the audience, which, otherwise would be overlooked by people outside his target audience.

Mass shootings have been at the top of the headlines recently in the United States. These shootings are causing a major impact on those who reside in America. Something must be done immediately to bring down the frequency of these shootings so that one can be safe anywhere. There are many ways to stop this devastation that is bringing America to tears, but the most effective is to have stricter gun laws in the country. Control laws must be more harsh in order for there to be a decrease in mass shootings across the country.

According to CNN’s article “A visual guide: Mass shootings in America” between the years 1966 and 2012 America has had 90 mass shootings while the next closest country, Philippines, only has 18. This is a startling number for any country to. In the same article, of the first 164 days

According to Mass Shooting Tracker, in 2015, there were 372 mass shootings in the United States. Killing 475 people, as well as wounding 1,870.

Mass shootings are a huge epidemic in the United States right now. Many people live in fear of another mass shooting. Two important facts to know about mass shootings is what exactly a mass shooting is and how often they occur. CNN’s authors used the Gun Violence Archive to define a mass shooting in his article “A Visual Guide; Mass Shootings in America” as “any incident where four or more people are wounded or killed”(Willingham). The frequency of mass shootings depends on which source you look at; using the definition given by CNN as well statistics, the United States has seen “136 mass shootings in the first 164 days of this year”(Willingham). However, author Sam Harris has a staggeringly different statistic in his blog article “The Riddle of the Gun”. Harris claims that “seventy mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. since 1982, leaving 543 dead” (Harris). Harris’s article is three years older than CNN’s article, yet the facts are staggeringly different by an amount that is nearly impossible to reach in three years. The definitions the two articles used for defining mass shootings are obviously different, but are both capable of informing the reader on the statistics of mass shootings frequency.

In 2012 several mass shootings accrued which reignited gun-control and firearm ownership debates in the United States. There are more public mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world. Many of the shooters had a mental illness and most states do not require background checks for firearms purchased at gun shows from private individuals, which is known as the “gun show loophole”. This results in too many guns falling into the hands of dangerous people, which is why we need stricter regulations. Although many others think getting a stricter amendment on gun control violets our second amendment we still need to do something about this situation.

Either way mass shootings can be defined, they still present a huge problem in the United States. One popular definition of mass shootings is any incident in which, four or more people have been injured by gun violence. Using this definition the U.S had 204 mass shootings in 204 days in 2015 according to Mass Shooting Tracker a Reddit based organization which has been cited by the Washington Post.

So when shootings occur, especially mass shootings, “the media’s framing of crime-related issues often dictates whether public opinion will perceive crime as a concern of individual or social responsibility” (Iyengar cited by Payne 2014). So in other words, should the public be concerned about specific individuals on a micro level or should everyone be accounted for. In such cases where mass shootings occur the response to such events from our government is to remind us of the gun violence, to continue and place more fear into society. They briefly address the mental health system before going onto the “real” situation which is “the role of gun policies in an attempt to ameliorate the public’s growing demand of gun reform in the aftermath of

Most alarming, there are more public mass shootings in America than any other country in the world (Lopez). One can argue that gun homicides have declined over the last few decades (assumed to be because of mass incarceration and better policing) (Lopez), which is a positive aspect, but the danger of gun violence is still evident. In America’s 2017 so far there has been 307 mass shootings (Las Vegas), with three in the last seventeen months setting records for being the nation’s most barbarous (Miller). The most recent, occurring on November 5th, took place in Texas at the First Baptist Church with an outcome of 25

In 1996 Australia had a mass shooting. Later that same year, they passed the National Firearms Agreement (NFA). There has not been a mass shooting since. The NFA called for Australian states and territories to regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms. This included a “ban on certain semi-automatic and self-loading rifles and shotguns, standard licensing and permit criteria, storage requirements and inspections, and greater restrictions on the sale of firearms and ammunition.”

Currently in the United States, there is a large debate going on about what we should do about gun control. This issue played a large role in the recent election of our president Donald Trump. In this issue, there are two sides as well as a middle section that agrees slightly with both sides. On the extreme sides of the issue, some people believe that guns should be completely not allowed in the United States, while some believe there should be no regulation whatsoever due to the second amendment rights given to us by our forefathers. Then there are the people in the middle who believe there should be some regulation, such as background checks when you purchase

Recently there was a mass shooting in Las Vegas. A gunman opened fire on a concert from his hotel room leaving 58 people dead and over 500 injured. This incident has reintroduced the issue of mass shootings to our societal conversations. The topic of mass shootings is an emotional one. It triggers the most basic human fear, fear of the unknown. Most people have an emotional bias one way or another on this subject, making it a very sensitive topic of conversation. I will do my best not to offend anyone, if I do offend you please understand that it was not my intention. I will do my best to not let any bias I may have affect the examination of this topic. My intention is to examine the topic in a logical manner to better understand the issue. This is a problem that is not going to fix itself. We as a society need to come up with a solution.