The Argument Of Gun Shootings : The Dangers Of Handguns

While mass shootings cause a huge unnecessary loss of life, most killings in the United States come from murders and crimes. Guns should be banned to lower crime rates. Because “more than 70% of homicides are committed with a firearm” (Cannon n.p.) and 2.

Assault style or automatic weapons have been a common denominator in almost all fatal mass shootings. It is unnecessary for civilians to purchase automatic weapons for non-military use. If there was a ban on the purchasing of militarized weapons by civilians, it would decrease the number of fatal mass shootings drastically.

Using this definition, a 2016 study published in the journal Violence and Victims reported that 292 mass shooting incidents took place worldwide between 1966 and 2012; nearly one-third of these were in the United States.”(DiLascio, 2017). The statistics are the answer to whether or not limiting firearms in The United States will help in the overall goal of limiting firearm violence. Other Countries such as England and Japan have more regulations on firearms and it limits the firearm related murders in those Countries. “Have some of the tightest gun control measures in the world, also feature some of the world’s lowest gun homicide rates (per 100,000 people, 0.04 killings and 0.03, respectively).The United States, by contrast, has a rate of 3.42 gun murders per 100,000 people-100 times greater than England or Japan” (Ballaro, 2016). Over the years gun crime has decreased a lot. “ Although gun crime declined steadily throughout the 1990s and early 2000s-thanks in part, perhaps, to the assault weapons ban still in force at the time-it increased sharply in 2005 and has been on a steady rise since. In 2008, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan group of 300 US mayors, found that homicides from handguns were highest in states with the most lenient gun laws” (Ballaro,

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.

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)

Pros:High-capacity magazines should be banned because they too often turn murder into mass murder. A Mother Jones investigation found that high-capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012. [7] When high-capacity magazines were used in mass shootings, the death rate rose 63% and the injury rate rose 156%. David H. Chipman, Senior Vice President of Public Safety for Shot-spotter and former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agent, stated that a high-capacity magazine "turns a killer into a killing machine."Some gang members use high-capacity magazines, such as 30 rounds or even 90 rounds, to compensate for lack of accuracy and maximize

Mass shootings are a controversial subject because many do not want to rush into gun control because they could because anxious from any recent mass shootings. Supporters of gun control believe that taking away “assault weapons” would solve this but that word was made up in the wake of these shootings . “Assault Weapons” are made up assault rifles are standard practice for the military as they are fully automatic and have big capacity magazines and are made specifically to do major damage. The “Assault Weapons” many supporters want to ban are known as semi-automatic rifles and have been around since the early days of the war with vietnam. In fact the AR-15 the most popular rifle in America and it was originally developed 60 years ago as defensive weapon and the company that developed it sold the rights to Colt to make fully automatic versions for the military called the M16 but also sold

The United States is one of the few countries were the right to bear arms is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent with incidents involving guns this year reaching an estimated 36,212 and an approximate 9,050 deaths (“Gun Violence Archive”). There are an estimated 310 million firearms in households across American, these are only estimates because current gun laws do not require them to be registered or tracked. A more staggering estimate is that most of the guns owned by private citizens are semi-automatic guns, the same type of gun used in almost all mass shootings. While these privately owned guns are legally purchased, many times, they land in the hands of criminals, and owners never report them stolen. Mass shootings and gun crimes are not the only issues with gun violence the one never talked about is suicide, more guns available equals more suicides. The United States is one of the easiest countries to own a gun legally or illegally, stricter gun control laws are necessary.

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.

The mounting deaths and associated trauma from mass shootings should motivate us to take action to make needed reforms to our gun laws, focus law enforcement resources on combating illegal gun possession and invest in prevention initiatives proven to reduce gun violence. Assault weapons cause more harm than good when they are able to purchased and owned by private citizens. And while most who do own and use these powerful weapons for harmless, recreational activities or a sense of protection, the fact is that when they fall into the hands of individuals who are not mentally sound enough to possess something of such force, the result is one of horrific tragedy. The government must take into consideration the hundreds of innocent people who have lost their lives as a result of these dangerous weapons, and work on ways to prevent

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” This is typically the rhetoric that is used by gun owners, and gun associations, to distinguish the danger of the weapon from the danger of the owner. One significant factor that plays into this discussion is the ownership and use of large-capacity magazines. Those who posses these high-volume magazines now have the ability to shoot large numbers of ammunition before having to stop and reload. Not only is the ownership of large capacity magazines unjustified for our modern society, but it also allows for tragic shootings and continued street crime to be much more severe.

Opponents of stronger gun laws say that guns are not the cause of mass shootings because on November 26, 2013 a study found that banning assault weapons did not significantly affect murder rates(http://gun-control.procon.org/). This may be true, however guns are the cause of too many mass shootings and should not be allowed. High capacity mags should be banned because between 1982 and 2012 50% of 62 mass shootings used high capacity mags to fire at innocent people. Also stronger gun control will protect children and families from armed assailants (http://gun-control.procon.org).Plus parents are demanding action after the sandy hook shooting in which 20 children from the age 6-7 were shot(http://www.newsmax.com/Fast Features). This is a real problem in the us because of firearms many people are killed everyday by people with guns.

Most homicides in the United States are committed with firearms. Approximately 270 firearms are owned by Americans scales to about 90 guns for every 100 people. Annually, the misuse of these firearms cost thousands of lives. Stricter gun control is a step into putting a halt to mass shootings. Not only should gun control keep being enacted, but the process to obtaining a gun should be stricter because it would be an immense effort to keep gun violence down and effectively save more lives.

All around the world, there has been multiple mass shootings with numerous genres of guns, but the most lethal gun we face today is the assault rifle. Firstly, in the last 10 years 14 mass shootings have been pursued with an assault rifle, half of which happened last June (Ingraham). Assault rifles are starting to be acknowledged for their speed and capability to produce a mass body count, so they are becoming a mass shooters’ weapon of choice. In contrast, 42 guns that can hold a high amount of ammo in one magazine were found in 31 mass shootings, 20 assault weapons in 14, and 33 cases had an assault weapon with a high ammo count magazine. 48 weapons of these categories would be illegal if we had a new legislation (Follman, Aronsen, and Lee).

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.