In light of the mass shooting in Umpqua, Oregon earlier this month, President Obama 's sobering remarks made a crucial point about the nature of Gun Violence in the United States. He remarked, "Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it ... We have become numb to this." As of this day, the United States has a little over one mass shooting every day. It occurs so frequently that people go back to their regular lives after the heavy media coverage is over, only to be outraged once it happens again a week or a month later. Consequently, this problem and the general public sentiment about it has become a stain on the face of this …show more content…
The US has nearly six times the number of gun homicides as Canada, more than seven times as Sweden, and nearly 16 times as Germany” (Lopez 1). The juxtaposition of the number of gun homicides in America with other Western nations, Lopez shows how uncommon this is amongst countries similar to our own. Following the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, President Obama remarks that the American people would “have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other developed countries” (LoGiurato 1). So if this is a trend shared by all developed nations, then what makes America different?
America is a country, to put it frankly, that loves its guns. The right to bear arms is one solidified by this nation’s constitution, and many American’s exercise that right boldly. Just how many guns are available to Americans today? The ATF stated that as of 2009, the estimated total number of firearms available to U.S citizens was approximately 310 million: 114 million handguns, 110 million rifles, and 86 million shotguns (Krouse 1). With the US population currently at a little over 300 million people, this means that there is a gun for nearly every man, woman and child in our country. So there are a staggering number of guns in America, but what does this suggest? To reach a meaningful conclusion with this data, we must once again
Guns are one of the most controversial and debated-upon topics in America today. In the Constitution, Americans are given “the right to bear arms,” and many Americans are proud of and believe strongly in that right. Though, that right has been constantly misused. Homicides by gun are at a higher rate in the United States than any other country in the world, mass shootings are at an all time high (many of which have occurred in the past two years alone), and terrorism has been at an all-time high. So, naturally, it is a topic that needs to be discussed. In the articles Change Your Gun Laws, America (1), author Fareed Zakaria provides the readers with some harrowing statistics on guns and insight over how the U.S. laws on guns need to be managed.
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.
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
“ My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage… This is becoming a norm. We should be ashamed.” President Barack Obama said in regard to the shooting in Newton Connecticut in June of 2014. “We're the only developed country on earth where this happens and it happens now once a week, and it's a one day story. There's no place else like this,” he added. America is a unique country in that it is one of the only countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected. It is also the sole country with the most civilian owned guns and the highest rate of gun related violence. A mass shooting is defined as a single shooting incident which kills or injures four or more people, including the assailant. Between the years 2000 and 2014, the United states witnessed 133 mass shootings which is ten times more than those observed in developed countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Finland. According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, in 2015 only, there were 372 mass shootings in the US. 475 people were killed and 1,870 were wounded in these shootings. Excluding suicides, some 13,286 people were killed in 2015 in the US by firearms and 26,819 people were injured. According to the most recent data, ninety-two people on average are killed in the United States by guns.
It is estimated that there are as many guns as there are people (approximately 310.000.000 guns” in the US, which are held by civilians, gun shop owners,
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.
Over the last decade, we have seen gun violence in the United States hit astronomical figures. Over 275,000 American lives have been lost due to gun violence alone, and as of December 2015, there has been more mass shootings in the United States than days in the year. President Obama has expressed his desire to create some sort of effective legislation to reduce the gun violence in the United States. The lackadaisical attempt by congressional lawmakers to pass any sort of significant gun control legislation has allowed the gun violence to reach epidemic levels. In December of 2012, one of the worst mass shootings in United States history occurred, bringing the prospect of legitimate gun reform on to the table.
“Teens and young adults are far more likely to be victims of gun violence than older people. Between 1976 and 2005, some 77 percent of homicide victims ages fifteen to seventeen were killed with guns.”(Gun Control). In today’s society, people are allowed to have guns because of the second amendment. The second amendment gives people the right to keep and bear arms. Many politicians disagree on who the second amendment applies to; however, regardless of who it is intended for, gun violence has become extremely high in the United States. Men originally made guns to aid soldiers fighting in wars. Now, people are using guns to commit crimes such as robbery and murder. The only way to stop the rate at which these crimes are being committed, is to
There are a lot side affects as results of gun violence that both the victims, the pertuctutors and their families go though. It is challenge for both the victims and perpetuators to return back to their normal lives after experienced so many traumas from gun violence. For the most part victims that survived gun violence are subject to live with fear, they suffer from emotional instability, and some of them developed heath problems such as anxiety, stress. On the other hand, the person who committed the crime are left with collateral consequences such as, it is hard for them to reentry society when they comeback from jail, and with no opportunities to find a job most of them ended up back on the street. As society, we have tendency to judged
American history is an overflowing river filled with gun accounts. Guns have made a major turn in our society. The right to own a gun is one of the First Ten Amendment in the Constitution. This right is for protection, however, some people have and continue to misuse the right. In early history guns were much more used for protection purposes than they are today. Gun violence is occurring very often in the US. Not only violence, but accidents also occur with guns too. Numerous people feel insecure living in a society where many people can own a gun. Guns should not be an item permitted to be owned by common people. The influence of guns has greatly made a negative effect on our society.
Mass shootings in the United States have literally become an everyday occurrence. A mass shooting is a firearm-violence related incident where four or more people are killed or injured, and recent research shows that on average, over one mass shooting occurs per day (Lafraniere). In a country where guns are hailed as being tools for problem-solving and self-defense, there is a saddening amount of violence caused by firearms. The NRA will always claim that it is people and not guns who kill, but the amount of access the public has to these dangerous machines is extreme in comparison to many other countries. Due to the amount of violence, both homicidal and suicidal, that results from gun use in the United States, better restrictions, regulations, and safety measures should be implemented and enforced. The most important aspect of this issue that must change, however, is the cultural view of firearms in this country; without a shift in perspective, altering anything about the gun problem in the States will be impossible.
“Gun violence is rampant in America. There were 355 mass shootings in just 2016 and many of those shooting was done by one of the most dangerous weapons in America, the AR-15, a military grade, fully automatic weapon. These guns are really easy to get too, through gun-show loop holes which don’t require background checks and anywhere else varying from state to state. Clearly something needs to be done. We see places like England and Australia whose gun crime went down after their gun ban and in light of the aforementioned statistics, the best course of action is undeniably to follow in their example. No one needs an Ar-15 to protect themselves.” Statements like these are narratives pushed by the left and mainstream media in reaction to any
This country was founded on the right to bear arms ,and the freedom to bear arms is overlooked.With all the killings and school shooting leading to gun violence,most Americans seem to believe if the government takes all the guns away the gun violence would end.
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.
I chose gun violence because my uncle got shot with a gun a couple of times in his