The Effects Of Gun Shootings On The United States

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 question of how to make our communities safer has a list full of solutions which seem to never end. The great debate begins with have any of these solutions worked, or have the right solutions been put to play. Gun control is a very popular topic today, and rightfully so. The media has shined light on mass shootings that have claimed many lives and destroyed families. The question is on who, or what does the blame fall on. Are the gun owners the responsible, or are the weapons themselves to blame? A solution that has been set forth concludes that in order to become a firearm owner, mental stability should be proved. Should government enforce mental health evaluations for gun purchase?

The debate over gun control is not a new argument, neither is the existence of mental illness. There have been those who support and those who oppose gun control for many years. What has recently re-ignited the debate is an increase in mass shootings over the past few decades; one in particular is the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre. Incidents, such as this, fuel anger and fear, driving many to question the need for firearms in modern society, while others cite these incidents as a reason for remaining armed. The purpose of gun control is to limit the amount of violence in today’s

“Guns don’t kill people, people do.” This is a well known statement that is oftentimes considered true. However, it is not completely true. Someone who is mentally ill may be unable to make logical decisions and the perception they receive of reality may be tainted by the illness. Gun laws pertaining to those suffering mental illnesses should be more restrictive. Weapons such as guns make committing an act of violence, especially when there are multiple victims, much easier. It is difficult to assess the probability of a person to commit a violent act that harms anyone including himself/herself. Therefore, gun laws need be monitored very closely and made more consistent throughout each state in order to prevent violence that could

In the United States, over the past few decades, gun violence has increased massively, leading to over 10,000 gun-related incidents in 2015. The main cause of the massive amount of violence in the United States in recent decades is mainly because people who are in danger have no means to protect themselves. This is why guns should be more accessible for citizens, so that they can protect themselves in dangerous situations. Allowing citizens to conceal weapons would heavily decrease the amount of incidents that occur because innocent people were unable to protect themselves. Also, putting less control on guns would prevent crimes from even happening in the first place. If a criminal had intentions of committing a crime, they would be much less willing if they knew that they might possibly get shot trying to commit that crime. Thus, criminal activity and violent crimes will cease to continue at such high rates and more people will have the ability to protect themselves in dangerous situations.

After recent tragic events, such as the mass shooting that took place at a musical festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1st, 2017, which left over 50 people dead, and over 500 others injured (Bui, Zapotosky and Barrett), the topic of stricter gun controls in America has become a controversial topic for many people in our society. Those in favor of stricter gun controls believe that by implementing laws that would make it more difficult for the average person to purchase and own guns, the result would be a decreased number of mass shootings and other gun deaths in our country. Typically, with these proposed laws, it is suggested that potential gun owners should be required to undergo mental health screening, in addition to regular background checks to see if the person has a history of any mental illnesses or past crimes. However, reducing the number of mass shootings and other gun deaths in America is not as simple as just implementing new laws.

Gun Violence is a major problem in the United States, it leads to a lot of deaths every day. The area of focus is the United States of America. More controls need to be put on guns to make America a safer nation. More than 30,000 people are killed each year in this country due to guns. There are some questions that haven’t been answered like, Amendments that need to be made to reduce the availability of guns. At the point when American threats with Britain began on April 19, 1775, the Continental Congress had no standing armed force, no stores of weapons and munitions, no naval force, and no navy ships. The Continental Congress revitalized volunteers to join the battle against the British. Farmers and tradesmen conveying their own black powder guns framed a volunteer army along the street from Boston to Concord, Massachusetts, discharged the first shot of the Revolution, and battled again on Bunker Hill in Charlestown on June 17. As a result, the Constitution of the United States was embraced in 1787 on the condition that a Bill of Rights would be included. The initial Ten Amendments to the Constitution, including the Second Amendment, were sanctioned by Congress on December 15, 1791. The Second Amendment states: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. The historical backdrop of

In the small town of Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza, killed students and staff members. Lanza took twenty students and six adults’ lives during the massacre. Lanza also killed his mother in her bed before going to the elementary school. Police said, gunman took his own life. He took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law enforcement officers started to approach him. “The US media diagnosed shooter, Adam Lanza, with schizophrenia in the days following the tragic school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School” (Metzel). If only the world would’ve known before the massive shooting that Lanza had mental issues it could’ve saved the students and teachers from getting killed. After the mass shooting, “with honor of the memory of twenty first graders and six teachers who were killed last year in Newtown, Connecticut—as well as ten thousand of others who killed by guns each year- by voting a number of measures to strengthen the law that prevent gun violence in this nation” (Zigmond). I believe that anyone that wants to buy a gun should have a doctor’s release saying they have no mental illnesses and background checks should be mandatory, even though they approximately take

In the small town of Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza, killed students and staff members. Lanza took twenty students and six adults lives during the massacre. Lanza also killed his mother in her bed before going to the elementary school. Police said, gunman took his own life. He took out a handgun and shot himself in a classroom as law enforcement officers started to approach him. “The US media diagnosed shooter, Adam Lanza, with schizophrenia in the days following the tragic school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School” (Metzel). If only if the world would’ve known before the massive shooting that Lanza had mental issues it could’ve saved the students and teachers from getting killed. After the mass shooting, “with honor of the memory of twenty first graders and six teachers who were killed last year in Newtown, Connecticut—as well as ten thousands of others who killed by guns each year- by voting a number of measures to strengthen the law that prevent gun violence in this nation” (Zigmond). I believe that anyone that wants to buy a gun should have a doctor release saying they have no mental illnesses and backgrounds checks should be mandatory, even though they take about eight months to

For many decades, gun violence has taken the lives of many; friends, family, artist, presidents, and even law enforcement. These tragic losses are a result of rapid, furious reactions from people who don 't stop and think, "is this truly worth their life?”. Fortunately, some of these killers were put behind bars and loved ones were able to find justice but justice could never replace the life of someone. Gun violence is dividing America and the majority of those at risk are innocent. How many more mass shootings do we have to endure in order to realize steps need to be taken to reduce the gun violence in America? America, land of the free, home to equal rights and security is being violated due to gun violence.

The reasoning behind issues of accidental killings to mass murders is also muddled in the minds of many. Many people seem to focus on different aspects of mass shootings in order to develop a sensible explanation for their occurrences. For example, some aspects analyzed may include, focus on the motives of the gunman, the strength and efficiency of firearm laws, and society’s disregard for the mentally ill. This is what is known by “attribution theory” (Joslyn, Haider-Markel 431) This theory describes how people justify what causes certain actions and events–with individual reasoning in order to show how gun ownership builds the way individuals determine who to blame and how they view mass shootings. Gun possession causes individuals to

In the 1980’s a “mental illness” was removes from the list of 26 identifiable mental illnesses. The American Psychiatric Association, the organization responsible for mental classification, is the apex of subjectivity. They are responsible for arbitrarily adding or subtracting a lifestyle from a list of mental illnesses. They are also the organization that will determine who is mentally capable of owning a gun. Through comparisons made between Switzerland and Chicago, more evidence points to the problem being the people and not the tool or gun they choose to use. (Vargas, 2014). Gun Control is not efficient as it has not shown to reduce the amount of gun-related crimes.

The future of America is based off the choices of my generation and the generations after. I feel that a domestic policy issue that could have a strong impact on my generation’s future is gun control because we take advantage of guns and treat them like toys. Gun violence is at an all-time high and regulating gun usage could make my peers make better choices regarding guns, which could possibly decrease the amount of deaths due to gun violence.

Out of the 1,289 adults polled, merely 8% voted that the laws should be less strict. That means about 100 people in that group believe that the laws are currently too strict. From Columbine in 1999 to one of the more recent tragedies at Sandy Hook in 2012 the anti-gun activists have been trying to protect the citizens of America by changing gun laws. On the other side of the debate, pro-gun activists argue four main points: mental illness causes gun violence, psychiatric diagnosis can predict gun crime before it happens, US mass shootings teach us to fear mentally ill loners, and due to of the complex psychiatric histories of mass shooters, gun control “won’t prevent” another mass slaughter. What this group of people is arguing is that whenever you see a person with mental disabilities, you must automatically stereotype them as a mass murderer. These pro-gun activists believe that by providing an entire nation with psychiatric help will completely eliminate gun violence. Instead of curing the problem, they are attempting to cure the people. What needs to happen is the laws regarding who is eligible to carry firearms must

It should be required that all citizens looking to buy firearms receive a standardized mental health evaluation. Mental health evaluations to buy a firearm is significant to reducing gun violence. Almost 25% of the population take depression and anti-anxiety medications; therefore, a quarter of the country could be classified as mentally unfit to own a firearm if certain policies are upheld by the federal government. Mentally unstable people should not be able to own a firearm if they are not taking care of their mental health because they could easily cause fatal harm to themselves, family member, or an innocent