The Pros And Cons Of Firearm Violence

Every day 297 people in America are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, unintentional shootings, and police intervention. Everyday 89 people die from gun violence, 31 of those people are murdered. Today I'm going to be talking about the social justice issue of gun violence. Gun violence, death and injury from firearms is a major issue in all parts of our world. Gun violence continues to affect young people, lower-income people, and communities of color. This social justice and public health issue occurs in places all over the world, however it has become such an epidemic in the United States that it will result in gun violence being one of the main topics in the 2016 presidential election. There are many causes for gun violence, for example, in this day and age pop culture influence is the greatest cause of gun violence. Guns have also became more accessible and easy to obtain. Poor identification and treatment of mentally ill people is another significant cause for gun violence.

This opinion piece from The Washington Post was written by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut. Published days after the recent Las Vegas Shooting, Murphy tells of his past experiences with gun violence urging for stronger gun control legislation. He states that the “phenomenon of horrific mass shootings is exclusive to the United States”, so the solution should be able to be solved by Americans. He argues that our response to “regular mass shootings” has been un-American, and how can a country that has solved the greatest problems in the world, not solve a problem that puts our fellow citizens in harm. “…we choose to be an increasingly distant outlier of exceptional violence”, Murphy states.

With an increase in the number of mass shootings that have occurred in the United States in the last few years the issue of gun control laws has become a prevalent topic of debate throughout American society. This debate stems from two opposing arguments over gun control. Some feel gun control laws are fair and not the contributing factor to these mass shootings, whereas, others feel that there is an urgent need for strict laws in order to end the problem of mass shootings. There are numerous pros and cons to the enforcement of stricter gun control laws but we must note a few things: stricter gun control laws would interfere with the second amendment, it is not the gun that kills it is the individual, and it is ultimately not laws that are

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.

It seems like an epidemic to turn on the television and have the screen be bombarded with news broadcasts surrounding a school, college, and even churches and having those two words engrained at the bottom, “Mass Shooting”. In just those two words dread stabs its way into our hearts. Soon the media interviews a bystander that witnessed the massacre. They describe how the blissful harmony of mundane life was broken by the abrupt thwack of lead as it glides through the air. The number of mass shootings has exponential increased. What drives a person to such an immoral act? Finding the irrational motivation behind this problem goes deeper than blaming firearms, instead it means finding the cure to the virus of mass shootings through the three causes in the seeking of glorification, lack of an authoritative figure, and the obsession of some radical ideology that devalues respect of human lives. These three factors are in part what have allowed the once random acts of mass shootings into an increasing occurrence of everyday life in America.

In the recent years, the conversations of gun violence are increasing dramatically because of some homicide cases. Truly, the gun violence has been the one of biggest elements which threat both personal safety and national security in the United States. Website named Smartgunlaws.org stated that “Since 2015, the total number of incidents is 42,847; Number of deaths are 11,021; It is a really shocked statistics.” (Smartgunlaws.org,2012) It is a really shocked statistic that there are so many people died because of gun violence, but unfortunately there still some people don’t know what is gun violence. A professional editor Mascia defined that “Gun violence describes the results of all incidents of death or injury or threat with firearms without pejorative judgment within the definition. Violence is defined without intent or consequence as a consideration. To that end a shooting of a victim by a perpetrator is considered gun violence as is a defensive use or an officer involved shooting. The act itself, no matter the reason is violent in nature.” (Mascia, Fuhrman,2015).

Would background checks prevent further tragic mass shootings from reoccurring? There have been 18 mass shootings since 2011 that have claimed the lives of over 100 innocent individuals. Illegal smuggling and purchases of ammunition by the thousands occur frequently throughout the United States and endanger the lives of many people by acts of terrorism that strike fear and terror into the hearts of citizens. The possession of large-capacity magazines should be outlawed along with the required background checks to any purchases made legally in authorized gun stores because gangs and criminals illegally smuggle these narcotics to cause harm and damage, school shootings happen once a week on average, and terrorist attacks endanger the lives

Do you realize the number of firearm deaths is steadily increasing each year; in 2000, there was 28,663 deaths, in 2010 there was 31,692 deaths, in 2014 there was 33,599 deaths (Alpers, 2016). Today, the chance of you being killed by a firearm is equivalent to the chance of you dying in a car accident. The dialogue on firearm importance, becomes a more discussed topic everyday. We must be aware of the supporting and opposing arguments, for the better safety of our society currently. We must also be aware of the physiological needs after a gun related incident. The American Psychological Association mentions coping with the aftermath; discussing the event, turning away from news and gathering your emotions with a break, or even helping others do something good (Managing, “n.d.”). Firearm violence prevention is crucial; not only to save lives, but also to prevent hurting individuals psychologically. American Psychological Association, and The Prevention Institute, have different perspectives on firearms, but all the same intent, to end the violence between Americans.

The world has witnessed increased incidences of gun violence. Even before getting over the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, scholars, pundits and the political class were already calling for change. Some believe that gun violence is caused by the ease of accessing guns. Access to mental services has also been discussed (DeLateur and Fox 125). Others

We often see too much gun related violence in today’s news. Throughout the years we have seen a large increase of shootings in the United States. According to the Huffington Post, from January 2013 to October 2015 there has been 994 shootings out of the 1,004 days. It is no doubt that we are in living in a society where these shootings are becoming a repeated occurrence. This is a highly controversial topic

The Gun Violence Achieve states, “there have been more than 1,500 mass shootings in America since Sandy Hook in December 2012”. It appears that America has been in a constant state of grief, prayer, and remembrance from these atrocities that we continue to see across our country. But yet after each horrific event, it is as if they recede into our memory without any changes implemented regarding gun violence and national safety. Our country is not hopeless. There are steps we can collectively take to prevent such mass shootings from tearing our country apart.

“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)

It is no secret that a firearm can be a very deadly weapon. According to the article titled “Gun Violence by the Numbers,” nearly 93 Americans are killed every day by gun violence. This number is totally unacceptable. Unfortunately, reducing this number to zero is about as possible as time traveling, but there are many steps that can be taken to bring down the deaths by gun, especially in highly populated areas. The best way to reduce the deaths by gun violence is to decrease gun restriction laws, increasing policing and decrease police pressure by the public and media.

In today’s time there is no stopping the public from witnessing the day to day violence across America. It floods the daily news, it scrolls past our eyes through our smartphone screens, it blares through our stereos, and it’s published in our newspapers and magazines. As humans, in this day and age prosper where bad news is never hidden from the media. It is recognized all the time, the thoughts of violence crossing one 's path never settling just right in in the stomach. People live to assume they are merely lucky until, essentially, they have become the bad news constantly being brought to the public. Violence, unfortunately, is apart of life, becoming more of a problem in some places than others- but constantly lingering among us. One of the most disputed, and common results of violence nowadays in America is specifically gun violence. “Guns are responsible for roughly 30,000 deaths a year in America” (Goldberg). This is, without a doubt, a serious issue in America. Taya Kyle, the wife of Chris Kyle, who inspired the movie ‘American Sniper’ spoke out: “My government has proven that it 's not able to protect me against people who want to kill. And I don 't blame the government, because there is only one person to blame here: The man or woman who decided to kill.” (Kyle). It is no one 's fault during a violent gun crime but the person who committed this crime, no one can predict the future. It is not the guns fault for

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