In the United States Constitution, the second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. In the last thirty days, our country has seen two of the most deadliest shootings in our nation’s history. The first occurred on October 1 in Las Vegas at a country music festival and the second occurred on November 5 in Texas at a Baptist church. Due to the recent rise in gun violence over the past few years, individuals are finding a correlation to the rise in gun violence and the rise of mental illness. With a call for stricter gun control laws arising, an individual’s mental health is becoming more and more relevant.The rise in gun violence is caused by the rise of mental health in America.
In research conducted since the 1970s, sixty percent of mass shooters show signs of mental illness.Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter, was described as an individual who seems to “wallow in it and ride out the low periods by hiding in his room and sleeping for 12 hours or more at a time...Lanza seemed to have no friends or people he could turn to for support or assistance and did not appear to have any enjoyment of life”(Johnson 2017). Seung Hui Cho, the mass shooter of Virginia Tech 2007, was sent to a psychiatric hospital the December before the shooting after he made suicidal remarks to his college roommate. Stephen Paddock, the mass shooter in Las Vegas this year, had a family history of mental illness and was “prescribed an anti-anxiety drug in June (cited year)”. Omar Mateen,
The United States is home to approximately 5% of the world’s population and 31% of all mass shootings. Through these mass shootings and various other methods of gun violence, tens of thousands of people die every year. These gun-related deaths primarily originate from murder and children accidentally shooting themselves. Although those in favor of gun control tend to believe that guns should be terminated completely, the second amendment prevents lawmakers from being able to do so. Therefore, in order to combat these causes, alternative gun control solutions must be made for each one. Gun-related murders can be decreased through the use of universal background checks. Additionally, accidental shootings can be minimized through the
Furthermore, mental illness is turning out to be a major cause of gun violence, in order to reduce gun crimes and instead of creating more laws and stipulations, steps must be taken. A professor at the University of Virginia and clinical psychologist, Dewey G. Cornell stated, ''We need to focus on prevention more broadly, before the violence, to have a real impact.'' (qtd. In Broader Approach). Some interpret that as, Americans need to stop focusing on the laws, and start realizing that dangerous situations, such as a mass shooting, can be prevented by recognizing the signs. Countless individuals are beginning to share his feelings. Some mentally ill people are starting to have a major part in mass shootings and those
It is often discovered that the shooters (almost exclusively men) are or were lonely, depressed, or angry. Many have or had diagnosed mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit disorder, schizophrenia, or Asperger’s syndrome. In fact, according to Rachel George of PolicyMic, of the 24 reported mass shootings since April 2007, 15 have involved a shooter officially diagnosed with some sort of mental illness (George). In addition to being mentally ill, shooters are often described as suicidal people, and many shoot themselves after shooting others. It would not appear, however, that the prevalence of mental disorders among shooters has any correlation with suicide (as eight of the 15 diagnosed took their own lives, with four of the nine undiagnosed doing the same, according to George). Cases in which the shooter did not commit suicide can lead to a trial. For example, James Holmes, a shooter who killed 12 in a Colorado movie theater, plead not guilty to all charges due to insanity. His trial will occur within the next year.
Many students in America, might consider school almost like a home because they spend about half a day in. We need students to be safe at school, so why not have an officer patrolling the hallways. To make the school much safer, the officers should have guns in case there is a threat towards the students. In the eyes of many United State citizens a gun can symbolize death; however, a gun can save several people’s lives. As U.S citizens, we have the right to keep and bear arms, so why do we not have police officers with guns patrolling schools. “Gun violence is a major social issue in America and American schools and university campuses have become targets of gun violence” (Bond). In the U.S we had several severe situations when someone comes to the school and starts to kill not only students, but teachers and staff, this could have been prevented if we were prepared and secured. Although the opposition may suggest it could be more dangerous to have an officer or guard be allowed with a gun; however, having an officer with a gun would decrease the number of shootings and other minor problems at schools.
2. My topic is socially significant because many people every day die from the result of gun violence. I wanted to search if there was any way we could improve our gun regulations, and thus reduce how many people die from the gun violence.
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)
The rise in cases of gun violence and related incidences of assault has drawn the public to the issue of guns and gun control. Such has been evident within the spheres of politics especially with the last election period seeing the incumbent president Donald Trump suggesting on stringent gun control laws. However, despite the acknowledgment of the need to have better gun laws, much ground and consensus has never reached. Such, to an extent, contributed to the current lack of political goodwill within the country to have the necessary legislations enacted to facilitate the same on the controls (Grandy 23). Of the guns under question are the assault rifles. Like the military weapons, assault rifles have a destructive potential to causing
While mass shootings will almost always make the news, and nine times out of ten involve an individual that is mentally ill getting their hands on a gun. Take a look at the movie theater incident, Sandy Hook, and the latest school shooting in Oregon, all these shooters were mentally ill and yet somehow they acquired a firearm. Should we fault the mental health system or
Just imagine sitting in class one day and hearing a loud bang and the next moment there is a confusing, abrupt, commotion. Imagine walking into a movie theater and not walking out. It is hard to imagine things like this happening because we have never experienced these moments ourselves, but to victims of gun violence, these moments are familiar and very real. Gun violence is becoming too common in this country. So common, that when there is a shooting, people are unaffected by such news. There has been desire from the people of America to change gun policy, but there are also people that argue against this because it goes against our Second Amendment rights. Although there are reasonable arguments on behalf of and against more regulations on guns, more regulations and background checks would reduce crime and death due to guns.
Guns have been is society for centuries. They have been used for hunting, war, and even safety. However, in the past several years they have begun to take the lives of many innocent victims, often young children. In response to the killings in Newtown, Conn., it has been noted, “If this were a country, the number of children killed by gun violence would violate international law.” (Browne-Marshall) F.B.I. data shows in 2011, 1,668 African American children were killed due to guns. Day by day gun violence is rising and it is not only in ghetto neighborhoods.
In 2015, 13,367 people lost their lives due to gun violence according to Gun Violence Archive. The Archive also states that out of that number, 693 were children from ages 0-11. We can all agree that there is indeed a problem that we have to address. The solution to that problem, however, has been debated by many. I believe the solution to this problem exists in three parts: Mandatory training and licensing along with more heavily secure gun storage, stricter regulations on the purchasing of a firearm—disabilities and criminal records should be more deeply looked into before transaction—and finally, equipping teachers at highs schools with the right kind of weaponry to prevent mass shootings.
On January 17, 2017, “Surge in the Violence” was released by the Crime lab at the University of Chicago, which had combined a report on the statistics of homicides taken place in the year 2015 and 2016. The number of homicides taken place in the year of 2016 has soared by record high of 67 percent than the previous year. Chicago is one of the busiest and advanced cities in the world and getting such high numbers in the field of crime is a shame and leaves a bad impression on the rest of the world. The violence related to guns has also increased enormously and according to “Chicago Tribune”, 2,958 people have been shot dead by now this year. Though the data shows that the homicides by gun has decreased significantly but the number is still a problem. The gun violence now is a serious problem and the current situation demands strict gun laws.
Recently, the SAFE Act, or Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, has sparked a large debate amongst New York residents. The law, passed January 15th, 2013, created many new restrictions for gun owners and those looking to purchase guns. Perhaps the most controversial part of the ordeal was the hasty enactment of the law. Many dispute that it is an infringement on their constitutional rights. In addition, the State doesn 't have the means to enact many parts of the law. The law assumes that restricting the physical guns will solve the issue of gun violence; however, the real issue is mental health, or rather the lack of sufficient mental health care in New York State. The SAFE Act will do little to prevent further gun violence, instead it will restrict law abiding citizens from obtaining firearms for hunting or sport, and it continues to enrage many who feel it 's a violation of their rights.
The headlines are dramatic and communities are stunned as it reads “Shooter kills 23 children at a school near you.” The first thought that rushes to the head is “this is crazy.” Or, that individual must be out of his or her mind. Upon further investigation, it is determined that the shooter has had a long record of mental illness. This situation could have been avoided, if that individual had the covered healthcare. As a result, random shootings would be curtailed. In retrospect, this care could have been provided for by families and caregivers, if
Many people think more strict gun laws will make them safer but statistics show that is not true. Chicago laws state a special license is needed for concealed carry and citizens are not allowed to open carry. Also, a license is needed for other guns (Beauer, 2017). There were 125 shootings in Chicago alone in October (Ali, 2017). Chicago makes up much more gun violence than a state as a whole. For every 100,000 deaths 25.1 of them are from gun violence (Kurtzleben, 2017).