Gun Violence In New Haven

The two articles that I have read were “Connecticut School Shooting ‘An Attack on America’” by Ted Anthony and “The Price of Gun Control by Dan Baum. All around I believe these articles were both very interesting and both took different perspectives on the issues of guns in America. Both Anthony and Baum illustrated the different problems that we have in America and our communities with gun control and gun violence. But, they both brought the text together to relate it on a personal level. I enjoyed reading both texts and connecting to each one on a different level.

This study provides an investigation on youth feelings and reactions towards gun violence in an urban setting. The focus group validated that gun violence causes mental health behavior problems and stress among youth in Jersey City. However, participants in this study indicated that they have been a victim of gun violence sometime in their life. All participants highlighted that they have heard gun shots before and are used to it by now. In the discussion, many participants stated that if they go to the police that would not reduce gun violence in Jersey City because people will still continue to kill and shoot one another. The findings of this study displayed that gun violence is a huge problem in Jersey City that needs more attention from

According to the Toronto police, an Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy was a necessary investment in wake of increasing gun violence among poor (primarily black) youth in the city of Toronto, which peaked to its ultimate high in the year 2005 known as the ‘year of the gun’. A media spectacle of the Toronto’s gang violence primarily involving young black men from poor inner suburban

The city of New Orleans is one of the most populated cities in the United States of America Within the city communities face serious problems daily. Crime is major issue that haunts the mind of people within the community. Gun violence in New Orleans is a serious issue that needs to be solved. It seems like every day there is person that loses there life to gun violence. New Orleans murder rate is one of the highest in the United States today. Most of the gun violence is because of senseless people doing stupid things. I’m against gun violence because I feel that no one should lose their life for any reason. In this essay I will explain what I think could help stop gun violence, and what’s already being done to combat it.

In the African American community, 83 percent of homicides are due to gun violence. In black communities gun violence is commonly misunderstood as gang affiliation, which is false. Studies show over 50 percent of gun crimes committed were not related to a felony, but were due to some disagreement. The gun epidemic in predominantly black communities aren’t just disagreements, but race wars, police brutality, gang related, and even no reason at all.

One of the biggest potential problems however, is society. Chicago’s government affects violence by creating a disadvantageous environment within communities. Certain areas within Chicago have experienced the brunt of this through the closing of public schools and overall lack of funding. This results in children traveling far distances to school or even families taking time out of their work day to drive their children. Without easily accessible education and the funds for schools to create opportunities to keep children off the streets, children are at a higher risk to participate in anti-social behaviors. Another societal cause results from the stigma that certain Chicago communities are inherently dangerous. Just as a self-fulfilling prophecy may cause an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia to develop schizophrenic symptoms, a public perception that a community is violent may cause individuals within that community to act out

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.

The availability of guns is responsible for the rise in violence among juveniles (Page par. 1). People who are in the presence of easy accessible weapons does not always tend have violent behaviors. Areas with a high crime rate tend to have more violent behaviors associated with assault weapons rather areas with low crime rates. So for the most part, time spent should be focused on areas with high crime rate such as New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. These areas are more prone to have problematic situations in regards to assault weapons due to the drug traffickers and gangs. According to the 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, four states found that thirty five percent male and eleven percent of female students reported carrying a gun (Page par.3). That is of the people who complied and told the truth, there are a lot more people that are carrying weapons that should not be. In order for the streets of America to be safer, there needs to be laws and restrictions on this dangerous weapon.

Chicago has the highest gang population in the United States (www.huffingtonpost.com) and the highest amount of gun related murders to boot. As an effect of these crimes, many of the targets are not the rich and the powerful but instead are the weak and the poor. Those that cannot defend themselves to a great extent, they are seen as easy targets that will soon give up if it has taken too long to find the culprits. Since the underclass is the primary target for crime from the underclass it is like they are just undermining themselves in order to gain some type or upper hand on the next man that holds no real bearing. Even when taking “good moral” individuals some have turned to crime because they see no other way to make means for themselves or their loved ones. Some of these people have been laid off and have no other source of income, their back is against a wall and they want out. They want so badly to have money again so that they survive and not live on the streets like they see others, so they commit crimes for others that will pay. It is because of this desperation that violent crimes still thrive and until people realize this then violent crime will still keep the underclass suppressed. (www.clombia.edu)

The Orlando nightclub shooting in Florida on June 12, 2016 was the single largest massacre in U.S history, taking the lives of 50 individuals, including the shooter himself, and injuring 53 others. This is one extreme example of the gun violence that has been occurring in this country, but mass shootings like this and the one at Newton in 2012 are only a small part of our gun violence issue. The everyday gun violence that takes place in cities all across the United States claims the lives of thousands every single year. According to The Guardian, 33,500 civilians die each year because of gun brutality- “that’s about 1 life every 15 minutes” (Beckett). Between the years of 1999 and 2013, there were 464,003 gun deaths in the U.S, about 58% of them were suicides 37% were homicides. (ProCon.org) Gun violence and the consequences of that violence, have become a real and dangerous problem in the U.S , why else would the CDC list the United States as having the highest rate of gun violence out of all developed countries today? (Gale Opposing Viewpoints) This issue is not just attributable to a single factor, there are several that play an important part in why gun violence is such an issue in the U.S, namely laws and poverty; and in these causes we can also find solutions.

In the movie Chi-raq, Spike Lee shows us how gun violence can cause a major mental and physical impact in the communities and how firearms and guns are much misused in today’s world and society. Firearms and guns were made for self-defense and protection against an attacker, but in America we seem to misuse them. However, gun violence has played a major role in today’s crime rates and has affected our neighborhood. Guns have been used for many crimes including murders, robbery, and aggravated assaults according to Cooper, Alexia, and Erica Smith. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1). In the beginning of the film of Chi-raq, it involves a shoot-out in the neighborhoods of Chicago and he shows us that not only guns violence affects gang members

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

For years, people in New Haven have been brainstorming strategies to help prevent gun violence in the communities. With the identifying the factors contributing to gun violence, community organizers have come up with strategies that are specifically related to them. The main priority is to completely remove guns from the streets of New Haven. Right now, there are two gun buy back programs in New Haven that are lead by Yale New haven Hospital and the New Haven Police Department (City-Wide). The purpose of this program is for people to turn in un-registered guns and receive money in return. Some argue that the gun buy-back program does not prevent gun violence because they are taking guns from law abiding citizens who would never use them in a crime and do not reach those who are likely to use them in a crime (Cameron). In New Haven, guns in the streets travel from people to people and at some point, it can fall into the hands of a person who is anticipating on shooting someone. That is all that it takes. One of the most successful gun buy-back programs held in new Haven was August 6, 2016. That day, The New Haven Police Department was able to retrieve one hundred and twenty-seven operable firearms. They took in eighty-five handguns, thirty-eight rifles and shotguns and four assault weapons (Wilkins). In the past five years, the New Haven Police Department has collected over five hundred guns from the gun buy–back programs.

Handguns were used most often in homicides, most cases being in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s before falling to a low in 2008 (Cooper, et al.). Most gun involvement occurs with gang related activity, which increased from 73% in 1980 to 92% in 2008 (Cooper, et al.). The percentage of homicide victims killed with a gun increased with age of the victim until age 17, where it peaked at 79% and declined thereafter (Cooper, et al.). The sharp increase in homicides from the mid-1980’s through the early 1990’s, and much of the subsequent decline, is attributable to gun violence by teens and young adults (Cooper, et al.). From 1980 to 2008, more

A literature review of gun violence prevention is being undergone as part of this submittal. This research is important because gun violence has been a plague in the United States and the United Kingdom, among other places, for much of the recent century or two. This violence takes on two major forms. The first is general gun violence that is perpetrated as part of gang violence, robberies, burglaries, crimes of passion or spite and so forth. The other major form, which is both quite uncommon but very poignant and affecting when it happens, are school and other mass shootings like Columbine and the very recent Sandy Hook. There have been a decent amount of other school shootings and work shootings, but those are far and away the most notorious. Both were effected by very mentally ill teenagers or young adults that decide to go out in a bloody and perverted blaze of glory before they took their own life.