Gun Control in the United States On December 14, 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children and six adults. This tragedy shook the nation and made Americans wonder, how could this have been prevented? Recently published research suggests mass shootings are becoming more common in the United States. Harvard University researchers said in October 2014 that a mass shooting has occurred every 64 days, on average, since 2011, compared with every 200 days from 1982 to 2011 (McLeod). With the recent spike in mass shootings, the United States should regulate gun control by revising the process for gun purchases, ban certain gun accessories, and ban automatic assault rifles. First and foremost, the United States needs to revise and enforce the process for gun purchases in all states in order to filter out mentally ill and unstable people. America’s current federal and state gun laws are weak and have many loopholes. These weak laws and loopholes have allowed thousands of prohibited buyers to legally purchase firearms over the past decade. For example, many gun purchases from private sellers are not subject to checking identification, there’s no background check, and no records are kept (Cooper). Secondly, the United States should ban accessories that transform guns into high powered killing machines. High capacity magazines have been the accessory of choice for most mass killers. Magazine drums allow popular weapons such
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
Statistical analysis about states in the U.S. proves the correlation between strict gun control policies and deaths related to firearms to the least extent. According to an article published by Richard Florida on CityLab, a research shows that states with stricter gun control have fewer gun-related fatalities. The study in the article was conducted by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers measured “legislative strength” of gun control policies in each state using data from Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Specifically, the elements that the researchers include when accounting for “legislative strength” are:
The United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number across the globe. The current public gun control debate in the United States seems to be placed on standby until it is sparked up by a major mass shooting. There were at least 126 mass shootings between January 2000 and July 2014.(pro). Opponents of more gun laws accuse supporters of using a horrific event to further a lost cause, saying that more laws would not have prevented the shootings. Advocates of more gun control often want more laws to try to prevent the mass shootings and call for smart gun laws and background checks . Pew Research Center did
Weapons have been a big problem to the United States for many years now. People have access to many weapons just as easy as the US Military does. The people of the US can both go to a gun store and buy a weapon at the age of sixteen, or they can make a deal with anyone in the streets of the US. Because of the accessibility to weapons, Americans can cause collateral damage in the neighborhood they live in. They can also commit robbery, or go anywhere and start shooting.
Researchers at the University of Alabama have conducted studies trying to find links between guns and mass shootings (Michaels). There are hundreds of millions of guns in circulation in America today. In fact, “the total number of guns in circulation is at least 240 million” (Ballaro and Finley). Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, suggests that “America’s high rate of public mass shootings is connected with the number of guns circulating in the country” (Michaels). Implementing stricter gun laws would cause fewer people to want to purchase guns, resulting in fewer guns in circulation in the coming years. In the United States, “around 30,000 people die from gun fire each year. Around half of these are murders, a little less than half are suicides, and the rest are lethal accidents” (Ballaro and Finley). (2) Currently there are several million guns in circulation, and gun deaths in America are higher than any other developed country. (5) If the trend continues, the number of gun deaths will continue to increase. As stated in the article “10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down.” author Dave Gilson states that “People with access to more guns tend to kill more people- with guns. States with higher gun ownership rates have higher gun murder rates- as much as 114% higher than states with lower gun ownership rates” (Gilson). (7) More
Gun Control in the United States has gone out of control. The United States should enforce laws to not allow any guns in a house hold in order to reduce violence and crime in the country. Reducing the rate of crime in the United States, controlling big weapons, taxing ammunition, and gun collection can help make this happen. Gun Control can make this country a safer environment to live in.
Last year, then-Republican candidate Carly Fiorina claimed that states with strict gun laws had “the highest gun crime rate in the nation” (Robertson, 2015). The following month, President Barack Obama stated that states with stricter gun laws “tend to have the fewest gun deaths” (Robertson, 2015). The West might have been won with a Smith & Wesson, but in our modern society guns are the subject of much debate. While some groups push for fewer guns and more gun control, others insist that increased gun control leads to increased crime. Both sides cite statistics in support of their views, yet experts who have reviewed the same data have concluded that the data is inconclusive. The contenders on both sides don’t ever address the other factors that contribute to crime, such as poverty, racial tensions, a strained and overworked police force, and the deterioration of family social structure. As a nation, we need to move beyond the never-ending debate over gun control. We need to work out a compromise that will help law enforcement put a stop to these terrible mass shootings while preserving Second Amendment rights.
Throughout the years since guns have existed in the United States, there have been many mass killings. However, throughout recent years, gun violence has become much more prevalent in school settings. Three of the most well known massacres occurred in Colorado, Virginia, and Connecticut. These three horrific events have become synonymous with the word gun control.
On March 24, 1998, firing from the woods overlooking their school, 13-year-old Andrew Golden and 11-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot and killed four middle school students and a teacher and injured ten other students in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The two boys had a semiautomatic M-1 carbine with a large ammunition magazine, two other rifles, seven handguns and more than 500 rounds of ammunition which they took from the home of one of the boy?s grandfather, who had a large arsenal of weapons left unsecured. Officers arrested the two boys as they ran through the wooded area near the school, and they were convicted on five counts of capital murder and ten counts of first-degree battery in September 1998.
Gun violence is very prominent in the United States. It has been for quite some time. There are several problems with how people are accessing firearms, and the type of firearms they are buying. People are accessing firearms way to easy nowadays. Some of these firearms are stolen or illegal. We need to somehow crack down on firearms and how these men and women are accessing them so easily. According to BBC, “Some 13,286 people were killed in the US by firearms in 2015, and 26,819 people were injured. These figure exclude suicides.” They also stated “There were 372 mass shootings in the US in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker, which catalogues such incidents. A mass shooting is defined as a single shooting incident which kills or injures four or more people, including the assailant.” These numbers are outrageous and something needs to be done.
According to a World Health Organization study done in 2010, the Unites States of America has the fourth highest firearm homicide rate in the world after Afghanistan, Iraq and the Congo. More recently, a study done in 2013 by the Center for Disease Control found out that there were a total of 33,169 deaths with the use of firearms and more than half were a result of suicide. These statistics have sparked an extensive amount of modern debates on whether we as an American democracy need to amend the second amendment and regulate the purchase of as well as the right to individually bear arms. Two people who analyze this debate very differently but effectively are Zack Beauchamp who wrote “Rethinking the Right to Bear Arm”, and Nelson Lund who
Gun violence has made quite an appearance on social media and major news outlets in America this year. When the Second Amendment was created it generated a permanent bond between citizens and gun. As a result of this many citizens take pride in owning a gun for mainly self-defense and recreational uses. However, this is a big issue due to all of the violence that has been occurring due to people exercising their “right to bear arm” and the loopholes in the nation’s gun laws. According to Gun Violence Archive, about 48 mass shooting incidents have occurred just in 2018. There has been at least 14 school shootings this year. Purchase of weapons has been so rapid, that there is no accurate account of fire arms in the society. The United States
Imagine this: you are in World History class at your high school almost falling asleep learning about Ancient China. It is a normal day for you and your classmates, until you hear an announcement from the principal. You expect the typical lockdown drill, but this situation is far from typical. A man with a gun breaks into your school. BANG! Several of your classmates are killed before this man can be controlled. You survive, but live the rest of your life thinking back to that day and wonder if you could’ve done anything differently. What you should be asking yourself is how did this crazy man get a gun? Although this situation is hypothetical, it has occurred several times in the United States. This is due to the loose gun laws of the United States. The Second Amendment protects the right for all citizens to have guns to form militias and fight against a tyrannical government. While this was built into the original constitution, it is causing many unnecessary problems in the U.S. today. Also, this definition carries little weight with militias no longer existing today. The United States should reassess gun control laws, resulting in decreased gun violence, and ultimately saving countless innocent lives.
The citizens of the United States have enough pride to say that they have the right to carry their rifles and hand guns for self-defense. However, the Second Amendment is not unlimited to the use of all guns. Criminals and people who are mentally ill have found their ways of receiving a gun because of how flawed gun restrictions are in the United States. Because of the loose ends of gun restrictions, public shootings will continue to occur despite the alternative preventions available. The purpose of gun control is to manage the distribution of licensed weapons to people who qualify and have the right to carry a weapon with them for self-defense or sport.
The legality of having guns and possessing firearms in the United States of America is well engraved within the Second Amendment of the nation’s constitution. However, the issue of gun regulation has remained a central topic in America’s public. Some people advocate for a total ban on gun possession, while others are totally against this idea. The shooting incident in Las Vegas weeks ago has raised controversial debates in the United States of America. In fact, the White House is concerned on the stand that President Trump will take on the issue of stricter gun laws. One of the cities that has gained the attention of both the legislators on this topic is Chicago. For its reputation for its low rate of gang arrests, lax punishments for gun law violations, and comparatively weak laws in accordance with surrounding states, it is justifiable to say that Chicago’s daily shootings are a clear indicator that strict state gun laws don’t work.