The Pros And Cons Of Mass Shootings

“ 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.

Guns have been in the government system even before the United States has been a country. But guns have been used for misconduct in the past twenty years due to school shootings public shootings and other killings due to guns. There has been a lot of commotion of how guns are supposed to be handled ever since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. One reason guns are being part of why gun control is being debated are scenarios that require mass shootings in both schools and public places. Major school shootings such as Columbine High School Shooting in 1999, Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, and Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, and major public shootings such as the Tucson Shooting in 2011 and the Aurora Movie Theater Shooting in 2012 became large factors on what should be done to limiting guns use. But since the Second Amendment does say that the US citizens have a “right to bare arms”, it’s harder to put a restraint on what people in the National and State Governments can do. Since the United States has the most gun ownerships per capita (almost ninety out of a hundred people own some kind of gun), it has the most violence coming from the different uses and interpretations on how guns are supposed to work. Guns in the United States tend to go hand in hand when it comes to violence and homicide. The Federal Government’s role is very poor in what should be done. There are not a lot of “federal laws” that

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.

Every time there is a mass shooting, the government proposes new rules, but they never put them in place because of the National Rifle Association (NRA) is influencing the government, therefore, Congress has not been able to renew or place a ban on assault weapons.

In a speech regarding the Charleston, South Carolina shooting in June of 2015, President Obama stated, “More than 11,000 people were killed by gun violence in 2013 alone.” After the Sandy Hook shooting, in Newtown, Connecticut with a death toll of 26, Congress has still failed to pass these regulations which 90% of Americans wish to have. While tightening the gun control may not guarantee the complete absence of mass shootings or gun violence and crime, it has definately been shown to significantly reduce these rates. America is in need of tighter gun control laws because current regulations do not deter violence and crime, and the interpretation of the constitutional right has since been misconstrued.

Gun control in the U.S has been a highly talked about topic the past couple of years. Through the development of technology and social media; many people across the country have been more involved in voicing their opinions about this issue. America is known as the land of the free, many people take pride in being able to bare arms. However, this right has been abused by not only civilians, but law enforcement as well. The United States has the 31st highest rate of gun violence in the world and it is not decreasing anytime soon. The phrase “America's largest mass shooting” has been reassigned to numerous occurrences that have taken place over the past decade. It is apparent that through these tragedies it is time for a serious change, innocent lives are being lost for no reason.

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 first recorded school shooting in America dates back to 1764, during Pontiac’s War. Since then, hundreds have occurred, claiming many lives (Galvin). In the modern era, the rarity of these events has been steadily decreasing, which may be caused the confusion that surrounds gun laws and regulations. The new debate over this issue is likely due to the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Since that event, about 65 people who have committed a school shooting have referenced Columbine as a motive. Also, there has been over 250 shootings since that fateful day in 1999 (Pearle). To deal with these tragic occurrences, the government has opened the debate on gun laws and regulations. But this debate often leads to officials being unable to make up their minds or whole groups of people being split on their opinion. This causes a stalemate that does not help our nation's current situation. Currently, the government is not doing enough to prevent school shootings.

As of October, there have been 350 mass shootings in the United States in 2017 alone. With data from the Mass shooter tracker, it shows that from 2013-2017 2,592 people were killed and another 7,305 people were left wounded. The federal Bureau of investigators defines a mass shooting as “the murdering of four or more people with no ‘cooling off’ period between murders.” Mass shootings are at the center of most debates when it comes to cum control laws. A mass shooting can take place anywhere from an airport, office building, or even school. Why do people commit mass shootings? What can people do to help prevent mass shootings?

After the tragedy at Umpqua College, the former president, President Obama, has addressed the nation for the fifteenth time concerning a mass shooting. President Obama has been trying to propose new laws to stop all the gun violence the whole time he has been in office. A recent presidential candidate, Jim Webb, had a recent debate over the mass school shootings. Jim Webb was a Democratic candidate for the upcoming election but recently dropped out of the election. In the debate Jim Webb argued that gun sellers have to stop the distribution to criminals, and the mentally ill. Mr. Webb believes that American citizens have the right to defend themselves but background checks must be enforced to firearm sellers (Pavlich 1).

In the course of history gun control and mass shootings has always been an issue, but much too often, history has been being made. Gun control is an understatement for what actually is being implemented. The process to get a gun, for example, a rifle, is all too easy. Let me personally walk you through this gruesome process . First, you walk into the store, second you pick your desired weapon, third you walk to the cashier to do a background check, finally you buy the gun. The hardest part about that process was choosing the actual weapon you want. With little gun control comes more mass shootings, and with more control comes less mass shootings. Obtaining a gun is much too easy, and needs to become more strict, or even

This article had multiple key arguments about mass school shootings, and mass school shooters. The first key argument would be that school shooters have a “type”. According to the article, school shooters are most likely to be young white men who feel as though they have been oppressed by their peers or society. Kalish and Kimmel’s second argument in their article was to say that humiliation is emasculation; “If you humiliate someone, you take away his manhood” (Page 454). Young white men decide to conduct a school shooting due to their peers making fun of them or not accepting them, according to the article. The third key argument in the article was that there is a gender gap in suicide. It is not apparent in all age

When we find a reading vastly interesting and informative regarding a recent or an upcoming event, we fail to realize that many writers insert their biases when composing their work. There are certain things they don’t want to include as well as things that they want the reader to believe. It seems kind of like a jack in the box. You crank the pull bar and never pay attention to the noises or anything and then bam! You’re hit with the jack and you get a reality check. Although people don’t want to admit it there is still a stigma towards homosexuality. Many are bullied and discriminated through the USA solely based on the person they want to be happy with. If we let our old ideology cage us from following what our hearts want, we cannot say

Gun control seems to be a topic that almost always gets brought up after any act of terrorism like large shootings occur. Shootings unfortunately occur quite often in the United States. Whether it is a mass shootings or one person shooting someone on the street. “Research conducted by experts, Amy P. Cohen, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Mille, at Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University helped create a study that found the annual rate of mass shootings has tripled since 2011. Prior to that year, and since 1982, a mass shooting occurred on average every 172 days. However since September 2011, the days between mass shootings have decreased, which means that the pace at which mass shootings occur is accelerating. Since then, a mass shooting has occurred every 64 days.” @@@ When a mass shooting takes place, the gun that is most likely and often used is a large capacity weapon. Each state usually defines large capacity weapon differently. In the state of Massachusetts, a large capacity weapon is defined as, “Any firearm, rifle, or shotgun that: is a semi-automatic with a fixed large capacity feeding device; is a semi-automatic and capable of

The subject of gun control is a highly controversial topic in the United States of America. The regulation of guns and the legal control of their distribution is something that has been debated for centuries, ever since the Bill of Rights was enacted. There are many reasons that gun control laws should be stricter, especially considering how dangerous these weapons are. The United States Constitution does indeed protect a citizen’s rights to bear arms, but there has to be some regulation. The gun control of automatic and semi-automatic weapons is necessary to eliminate mass shootings and other gun related crime.