Preventing Gun Suicide In America

Gun violence has been a conspicuous problem in the US, especially in recent times. The problem appears to be unique to the U.S, perhaps due to the advocacy that exists for guns by the NRA (National Rifle Association), as well as its constitution that permits household gun ownership. Thus, guns have grown to become a part of U.S culture, and there is an ongoing debate about how ethical or appropriate its (guns) prevalence is. Some argue that guns are needed, since they enhance the ability of people to protect themselves, while others protest that guns are harmful to society. I for one, am a strong believer in the latter, and assert that gun violence is the highest cause of death under the age of 40 in America - basing my argument of factors, such as the pervasiveness of guns, mass shootings, and the intertwining relationship between gang violence and drug distribution.

Imagine Black Friday shopping at the local mall knowing that people all around could be carrying loaded guns! Even though this may sound far fetched, under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, citizens have the right to possess and carry guns. Was this the intent of the Founding Fathers when they penned the Second Amendment? When written, the Second Amendment was about protecting the American government from both foreign and domestic threats (Truthout). Gun control is one of the hottest topics at water cooler discussions across America today. This topic is very polarizing. American citizens news feeds are flooded with stories about shootings on a daily basis, innocent victims being shot during a crime, senseless mass shoots, shots fired in self-defense, police shootings of criminals, and last but not least, the shooting that occurs in war. Americans are bombarded with reports and images of gun violence from television, the press, social media, and computer war games. Yet, how many people have actually held a gun? How many have

People who appreciate activities like shooting competitions and hunting, use firearms responsibly. This use contrasts with other uses, which often result in consequences that can be both intended and unintended. With past and present mass shootings, and acts of bloodshed perpetrated with the usage of weapons; has triggered a focus on gun control that once again has been brought into the spotlight. The purpose of the ongoing gun argument addresses the crimes that are committed with guns. This issue of gun control separated people into two groups: those who believe that carrying guns might prevent some crimes and fatalities, and those who don’t. There are individuals who believe absolutely the reverse: that more crime and deaths

Many teenagers and even adults feel worthless and depressed and give up on life. Instead of taking action and getting help to solve their life problems, these people choose to commit suicide. There are about 30,000 suicide deaths per year. This number is outrageously high. One out of every 45 attempts of suicide actually succeeds. Whether suicide attempters succeed or fail, all depends on how easy it is for them to get the resources they want to use for this task, especially firearms. Deborah Azrael, a research associate at Harvard’s Research Center, found that when guns were predominant in a state, suicide rates were higher. The inverse of this statement was also correct, in states where guns were not prevalent, suicide rates were lower. Many lives would be saved, many suicides would be prevented, and many families would be able to avoid heartbreak and despair, if firearms were not accessible in the United

A counter-argument to private citizens owning firearms is that they are a major contributor to suicide worldwide. In an international study conducted by Professor Martin

Suicide was by far the greatest number of deaths from firearms. According to the CDC of the total 33,594 deaths from firearms in 2014 over 64% of the deaths from firearms were a result of suicide (Kochanek, Murphy, Xu, Tejada-Vera 2014). While it is tragic to know that means the other 36% were killed by having a firearm turned on them it still shows that the dangers of firearms lies mainly in the hands of someone who has a mental illness. Even if we assume all other deaths were from people who had no form of mental illness that is over 20,000 people who if mental illness did not exist or even just better treated, would still be alive today. In order to treat mental illness however, we must be able to distinguish what is and is not a mental illness. For the purpose of this article a mental illness is; any disease or disorder that is clinically recognized and causes some sort of distress. Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year (Martinelli., Binney, & Kaye 2014). Considering that most gun deaths are caused by suicide, it is understandable to assume that these people were

A shocking 11% of teenagers suffer from depression in the US, with 14% having suicidal thoughts and 7% attempting it. By having easy to access guns, teenagers have a much higher chance of finding and using a gun on themselves. When asked, the majority of people who were about to commit suicide had second thoughts after being unable to find an easy access method that didn’t require much thought or lengthy pain, for example hanging themselves. Comparing the percentage of suicide by guns to Australia, a country that changed their regulations on guns in the last twenty years and now has a 35% decrease in gun suicide since this law change presents the clear evidence that restricting guns will reduce the number of suicides

Hours earlier he was a happy 4 year old that loved the Hulk, Iron Man, and all of the Avengers. Now as Bryson Mees-Hernandez approached death with his brain swelling from a bullet hole in his face, his mother assured the boy it was ok to die. Bryson was playing under his grandma's bed and accidentally shot himself with a .22 caliber in the face. Many ways could've saved his life if Bryson’s grandma would have stored the gun in a safe where Bryson couldn't have got ahold of it and accidentally shot himself. About 200 million Americans own guns; about 59.6% more males use guns for suicide than females. The only way to stop that is to build a safe reliable gun room.

In the United States National Vital Statistics report written by AM Minino in 2002, it was indicated that annually there are about 30, 000 people who die because of firearm injuries. And within the United States 28, 663 deaths have been caused by gunshots and these are mostly suicidal acts. Some of the facts in the report say that next to suicides are homicides with the use of guns and the third highest numbers of deaths due to gun violence are unintentional shootings, since this is America; most of these people have been living in the metropolis (Minino, 2002).

If US citizens do not have guns than many of these citizens will be in harm's way. Gun control will not prevent suicides. If gun laws are enacted there will still be suicides. Suicide is one of the main causes of death. Many countries that have low gun rates have high suicide rates. Also taking away guns is not going to cure mental illnesses. The US should not take away from stable people but instead take these guns away from mentally unstable people. Many school shootings and or mass shootings happen from mentally unstable humans. The United States should send more money to mental facilities or psychiatric hospitals instead of taking the money and putting it towards gun control. Not only should the US put more funding towards mental and psychiatric

Modern America is dealing with a new pressing issue, gun related homicide and suicide. America is one of world’s leader in this department unfortunately. Action needs to be taken to reduce these outrageous statistics. The reason for these unusually high gun related homicides and suicides is the United States lack of federal regulations on gun laws and the myriad of easily accessible firearms. Each of the fifty different states has their own interpretation of the second amendment, meaning there are fifty different sets of laws on how to obtain a gun. Some states have more relaxed laws, meaning no permit or no background checks. Other states are stricter on gun laws making it much more difficult to own a firearm, by placing cool down periods or requiring background checks. America is one of the leaders the world in rate of gun related deaths and suicides, because of the immense amount of easily accessible firearms and no federal regulated gun laws.

“We lose eight children and teenagers to gun violence every day. If a mysterious virus suddenly started killing eight of our children every day, America would mobilize teams of doctors and public health officials. We would move heaven and earth until we found a way to protect our children. But not with gun violence.” (Warren, 2014)Criminal gun violence, which violence enacted by the use of a firearm, includes murder, assault, and suicide, or attempted suicide. This violence imposes a heavy burden on our standard of living, not only on groups that have the highest victimization rates, but also on the community at large. By one estimate, this burden amounts to $80 billion per year. (Cook and Ludwig, 2000)

The rate of victims to gun violence is exceedingly high, but if the Second Amendment is changed or even repealed, this could alter the percentage of death and injuries. The lack of gun control is responsible for a large portion of death in the United States. Statistically, according to BBC News, in a study of a 100,000 people per country the U.S had the largest death ratio. Sixty percent of firearms belonged to citizens of the United States (Guns in the US: The statistics behind the violence). The study alone was on homicides committed in the different countries using firearms, if suicides and accidents had been included the number in the US would have increased significantly. These numbers should not be taken lightly as they should motivate our government to make a change because they prove the danger of gun possession. Furthermore, firearms increase the number of casualties. In an article written by Kerry Shaw, the author expresses how multiple people are at risk during an attack when the attacker is in possession of a gun. She touches upon the fact that the targeted victim is not the only life at risk when others are around (Shaw). Though Shaw’s article is on domestic abuse, the points she makes relate to any situation in which the aggressor has a firearm. The presence of a gun instantly catapults the lives at stake in these types of situations and therefore adds to the number of victims. In addition, the accessibility of firearms add to their danger. While other countries deal with struggles like mental illness and war, the United States has a far larger enemy within gun

Jacobs begins by stating that although all gun deaths are tragic, it is important to know how many are suicides, homicides and accidents. By analyzing data from multiple official sources, he addressed the issues surrounding suicides, homicides, gun accidents and gun crimes. In the process, he found that America is a pretty violent nation in general. He came to the conclusion that although there is still a high amount of gun violence and accidents happening every day, for the most parts the numbers have actually been decreasing, despite the increase in guns. He concludes by noting policy makers should focus on anti-crime strategies and social welfare rather than on gun

This paper will explore the history of guns, myths and realities of gun violence. Gun violence is a hot topic in America today and some may believe that America was built on gun violence. This country was colonized by the use of violence with guns. We’ve had wars since the invasion of this country. The violence has been around also with the well-known 1775 speech from Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty or give me death” (Jr.). Give me death is a very strong statement that to me means this is of a violent nature. Since then violence with guns would only escalate from taking land to taking lives whether it be homicides, suicides or threats of violence against one another. With the violent history of gun violence in America and so many different opinions, who or what is responsible for the destruction on self and society and what are the some of the ways to discourage these behaviors.