Limit Firearms? I understand that people want to create more limitations to access firearms because they are associated with suicide rates. However, I feel as if this viewpoint is focused on the emotional aspect of the situation, not from a factual standpoint. What people tend to ignore is that by limiting access to firearms will not change a person’s motivation to want to end their life. They will merely find another route. To an extent, creating more limitations on firearms could help, but I do not feel as if it would help to the extent that people would want to believe that it would. In the Washington Post, there was a segment how Shannon had committed suicide with her family firearm. While I notice that a family could take that personally that she would end her life as she did, I think they took it to an extreme extent. They did not teach her how to kill herself. When a tragic event occurs as this, people tend to take things out of proportion. In the end, they are not logically looking at the situation. When people merely focus on what happened not why is happening, they start to draw conclusions that are illogical. People have the want to blame something or someone instead of seeing that they are ignoring where the lines are actually connecting. People look at the statistics that will support what they want. They stated that states that the lowest gun ownership rates will also have lower suicide rates. However, I would be interested in where they are getting their
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun. If gun laws become opposed to the law, then only criminals will have guns. Stricter gun laws will not stop a madman from killing. In fact, 34% of mass shooters were prohibited from owning weapons; although, a surveyed showed 57% of gun owners believe guns are too easy to buy and 35% of people who carry guns would make Americans feel safer. Gun control will only affect the law-biding citizens simultaneously as the demand of illegal weapons on the black-market increases. Background checks will only restrict criminals from legally buying a firearm, but that does not stop a mentally ill person; which are usually the ones to start a shooting massacre. The second amendment literally states “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Protected by the second amendment, it will be hard to regulate guns because now every single individual has a right to bear arms. For example, the Texas Baptist church shooter was gun downed by an armed citizen. Had there been stricter gun laws in Texas towards not being able to have a concealed firearm in public, the shooter could have gotten away. People should have the right to exercise the second amendment; therefore, gun control will not work because criminals will always find a way to obtain guns, supply and demand on the black market will increase and there are more existing weapons than people in the U.S.
More gun control might lead to fewer suicides by gun. Between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,273 firearm suicides in the United States, accounting for 52% of all suicides in those years. Firearm related suicides accounted for 61% of gun deaths in the U.S.A. between 2000 and 2010. Gun control might lead to fewer gun deaths, but it will not lead to fewer suicides. As my father says, “If someone is so mentally deranged that they think taking their lives is the best solution to their problems, they will commit with anyway possible”
Tougher gun control laws will most certainly lead to less people owning guns. It is argued that if less people own guns, then those who choose to commit suicide using a gun will be saved. However, there is no direct correlation between those who choose to commit suicide and the amount of people who choose to own a gun (Thompson, 2001). Although gun
Guns have been used for homicide and suicide at a disappointingly high rate over the years. Each life lost is a life that matters. Do we really want to let our children grow up in a world where everyone has extremely simple access to purchase firearms that could harm you? There are always new cases of homicide and suicide making headlines in America but gun control is nonexistent yet to help prevent these cases. As Americans, we shouldn’t have to worry about risking our lives while going into public with our families. If the ability to acquire a firearm was stricter, there would be no worry about any of these horrible things happening to ourselves. America is a free country; we are supposed to be able to live without worry and
The debate over gun control has been raging through the American political systems for years. On one side, there is the National Rifle Association (NRA) and 2nd Amendment-citing citizens who use their firearms for hunting and self-defense. On the other, there is Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) and followers of the Brady Campaign who want to ban guns on the basis that they are dangerous. Both sides have strong arguments, anchored in historical precedent and statistical analysis. Anti-gun control lobbyists’ arguments include the guarantee of the 2nd Amendment, the definition of “militia” as any adult male, self-defense, the relative uselessness of permits and regulations, and court cases in favor of firearm possession. Pro-gun control activists
These people usually have mental issues and they should not be given access to guns. According to cdc.com, “More than half the suicides in the United States are caused by firearms. These people, who have a history of mental illness or depression, still have access to firearms, and they kill themselves with them” (Anger-Katz, “Gun Deaths are Mostly Suicides”) Suicide by guns is the major cause of death caused by guns. These people are purchasing firearms with the intent of killing themselves. This is a serious issue because these people usually have mental disorders, and most of the time, they don’t understand the consequences of suicide and the effect their death will have on other people. By restricting guns, more than 20,0000 people’s lives will be spared from
Some say that more gun control laws would reduce gun deaths. The website, procon.org, Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted, February 26, 2016, says, “There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013” (p 6). Of these deaths, 58.2% were suicide, 37.7% were homicides, and 2.2% were unintentional. Guns are the leading cause of death by homicide with 66.6% and by suicide with 52.2%, and are the 12th leading cause of all deaths. The study published by American Journal of Public Health found that "legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increased risk of violent death" (p 6). Guns are related to a lot of deaths, and are among the top weapons associated with all deaths. Also, just legally owning one increases a person’s risk of dying
Advanced regulations and background checks could protect from further mass shootings and murders. The main issue of mental health and gun control, despite widely believed of mass shootings, is suicide rates, 61% of gun deaths are caused by suicide. With a new mandate in place for a mental health screening before licensing a citizen could prevent high suicide rates and a few, 4%, mass shootings (CNN). Even after several mass shootings, like Sandy Hook,
Although, many Americans believe they have the right to bear arms and use guns for protection. According to the article, “American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph” the author Julia Jones states “The prevalence of guns go a long way toward explaining America’s terrible record – they are used in two – thirds of all murders. This demonstrates, guns are the most common weapons that are used in most of all the murders that are occurring. Due to the fact that guns are the most common weapons, it makes the United States have a horrible record. According to the same article “American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence in one graph” states guns play a large role in suicides too. The article, also states that in 2013; 21,175 Americans killed themselves with guns, while 11,208 were killed by others. This means, people buy guns to take their lives away without a hesitation. This also means, people die no matter with a gun, either they commit suicide or someone kills them. As shown above, there wouldn’t be so many gun attacks and suicides if stronger gun control laws should be
More than 89 people die from gun violence every day and out of those 89 people, two- thirds of them are suicides. Guns displayed around the house make it three times more likely for suicides to occur (Gun Violence 2). Every day, out of seven children and teens that die from gun violence, two kill them themselves. Out of 41 children and teens that are shot and survive every day, one of those 41 survive from a suicide attempt. 89 people that die every day from gun violence, 55 of them kill themselves. Every day, 208 people are shot and survive and ten of those people survive a suicide attempt (Key Gun Violence Statistics 2). In one year on average 827 out of 2,677 kids kill themselves and 280 out of 14,822 kids survive a suicide attempt (Key Gun Violence Statistics 2). In our communities, hundreds and thousands of people commit suicide with a gun (Fact Sheet: New Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Make our Communities Safer 2). “Firearms were used in 19,392 suicides in the U.S. in 2010, constituting almost 62% of all gun deaths. Over 50% of all suicides are committed with a firearm. On average, 49 gun suicides were committed each day for the years 2005- 2010. White males, about 40% of the U.S. population, accounted for over 80% of firearm suicides in 2010. Firearms were used in nearly 44% of suicide deaths among persons under
Do we need better gun regulation? If we want to solve the problem, then yes, even as far as banning guns completely. Having a gun in the house can make suicide much easier. Studies show that most suicide attempts happen shortly after the person’s decision to kill themselves, and so having easy access to a deadly weapon means that the person might be more likely to actually carry through with it, and with a gun there is a smaller chance of survival. In fact, over
This simply is not true, and it is a possible realization that the opposite would be the result. “For the country as a whole, handgun ownership doubled in the late 20th century, while the murder rate went down (Sowell).” Figure 3 graphs the increase in gun ownership in relationship to violent crime instances, this evidence is overwhelming. Guns act as deterrents to criminals when confronted during home invasions, burglaries or other criminal activity. When criminals have no fear of retaliation they are now free to create whatever havoc they would like, and the weapons that they will be using are procured illegally, leading people to deduce that gun control laws will not keep the weapons out of their hands. They are purchased in alleys, street corners, stolen from homes and gained in innumerable ways illegally. There are a significant percentage of suicides each year that are the result of gun usage. Although it is a tragic figure, can the weapons themselves be blamed, or is it another situation where if someone is committed to an act they will find whatever is the easiest means to bring it to fruition. As morbid as the statement is if a person wants to take their own life to escape the pain and agony that is causing such a depression, is it not reasonable that they would use a gun? Is a gun not the surest way to guarantee the end of their
Wintemute and Teret, professors at Johns Hopkins University attribute this to the shame associated with mental health in America. Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that from 1990 to 1997, 90,000 of the 147,000 suicides committed were committed with a firearm―a tribute to the handgun’s operational simplicity and effectivity. Overall, handguns are responsible for seventy percent of firearm suicides. Douglas Wiebe of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Public Health conducted a nationally representative study which revealed that ninety-four percent of gun-related suicides would not have occurred had a gun not been present.
I read the article “The Association Between State Laws Regulating Handgun Ownership and Statewide Suicide Rates”. I have found that in 2010, suicide by a hand gun was ranked tenth in the U.S. for cause of death. The data supported that states with stricter laws on having a hand gun had less suicide rates then the other states who didn’t have strict laws on owning a hand gun. The data also gave an overall ideal that the states with stricter gun laws had more attempts of suicide (Anestis, 2015). This article was written with the intent to influence voters to pass new laws on gun control to prevent as many suicides as possible.
According to a study conducted by the American Journal of Medicine, “US homicide rates were 7.0 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2 times higher” (Grinshteyn 268). With gun violence at such an astounding level, proponents of gun control believe having stricter laws regarding firearms will reduce the number of deaths in the United States, especially suicides. Supporters also believe