gun violence Essay

* It was found that “criminal gun use is far more common than self-defense gun use.” Studies show that the number of respondents claiming to be victims of gun violence outnumbered those claiming to have used a gun in self-defense by more than 4 to 1.

National Crime Victimization Survey data,”robbery and assault victims who used gun to resist were less likely to be attacked”. John Lott, PhD,and David Mustard. PhD, which claim “more guns equal less crime”. This shows that you don't even need to harm someone to protect yourself .

The second amendment of The Constitution of the Unites States rules that “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.” In recent years this has become a highlighted and popular discussion topic throughout people and media. Typical with American media the subject of gun control is visited with broad stroked of red and the use of fear tactics while completely ignoring the complicated and underling positives and negatives of public access to firearms and the benefits and risks associated with this freedom. Most people do not carry a weapon at all and may question others who do because of the moderately low risk of being a victim of a crime. Those how carry however like to think “Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.”

Although The National Rifle Association, America’s largest, private gun advocacy group, will argue that “Studies indicate that firearms are used over 2 million times a year for personal protection...”(Lapidos.), the Violence Policy Center (backed by data from the FBI and the National Crime Victimization Survey) reports that “…the total number of self-protective behaviors involving a firearm by victims of attempted or completed violent crimes or property crimes… comes to an annual average of 67,740.” That’s a rather large discrepancy suggesting that the number of guns actually used in self-defense is much less than the NRA would have us believe. Clearly, “as the VPC paper states, ‘guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes.’(Lapidos.)” In contrast, Americans are now more likely to die from gun violence than a car accident (Samuels.) As documented by the Gun Violence Archive, year-to-date in 2015 there have already been 7,347 deaths and 14,777 injuries. Of those deaths and injuries, 416 of them were children under the age of eleven and 1,424 were teens between the ages of twelve and

Gun is violence is a very controversial political topic that has been discussed repeatedly over the last couple years. While there are many people that support loosening gun laws there are also just as many people who are 100% against the idea. David Burnett and Darby Dickerson happen to be 2 individuals who both have conflicting views on gun laws and what should and should not be allowed in the United States. In this particular case, the two differ specifically on how gun laws should be treated on college campuses. On one side, there is David Burnett, dean of Texas Tech University School of Law, who completely supports the idea of concealed carry on college campuses. On the other side David Burnett, the director of public relations for Students, who is completely against the idea. Both authors do a very good job at not only standing firm in their position but also providing the evidence to back up their position.

It has helped reduce the chance of one becoming a victim of a criminal attack. With a firearm, one could be in a position to protect on self in case he/she has been attacked. Research shows that about 55% of criminals or attackers retreat when the attacker has a gun at hand. Another study also shows that in an event of an attack, those that used guns to resist the attacks were less likely to get injured unlikely those who used their hands, canes or a baseball bat for example. With a firearm, one could also protect a group of people, for example, his/her family from an attack.

Today, there are an estimated 357 million firearms in the United States. Today, there has been an increase in mass shootings since the year 2000. With this sharp rise, debates have begun on how to solve the problem. In order to combat this rise, some argue that there should be restrictions on who, and what type of guns an individual is allowed to possess. For example, Los Angeles, California, is notorious for having some of the strongest restrictions on firearms. Gun control laws such as prohibiting residents to own a handgun or rifle magazine that fits more than ten rounds, has been issued to quell this problem. This requires residents who possess these items to remove, sell or transfer them out of city limits. This law, with the intent to increase the safety of citizens, has in turn taken away their second amendment right to bear arms. Gun control supporters justify this disregard for the second amendment on the basis that the general welfare of the American people will increase. These restrictions although in the name of safety, have taken away the rights of law-abiding

Furthermore, according to Gunowners.org, Gary Kleck’s book, who is a professor in the school of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee, implies that guns are used 2.5 million times a year in self defense, which means that each year firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.” Gunowners.org also adds, as reported by the National Safety Council, “Of the 2.5 million times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, the overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will kill or wound his/her attacker.” This proves how citizens are more likely to use guns in case of self defense, and if the gun is needed it is most often used just to scare the criminal away. When debating if concealed-carry should be allowed, it should be considered that law-abiding citizens know how to use guns with common sense. In the final analysis, even if it is proclaimed that if one allows guns in certain places it will end up with guns in the hands of criminals, it is quite easy to see people have been given the right to possess guns, therefore one may use it in case of an

On Thursday, October 1, 2015, Christopher Harper-Mercer, a 26 year old student who was armed with six guns, killed nine people in Umpqua Community College in Oregon. According to a report released by the F.B.I., mass shootings in the United States have risen drastically since 2000. Also, studies show that countries with higher rates of gun ownership have more mass shootings, an incident involves more than four victims of gun violence, but not include gang violence. The United States has 5% of the global population, but has the most population with people who own firearms. Because some people own multiple weapons; therefore, on average, there are about 89% of the U.S resident own guns, which also have 31% of mass shootings during 1966 to 2012. Gun control is a controversial issue that the people in the United States argue about. Some people want stricter gun laws for a safer environment, while others want to own guns for recreational or self-defense purposes. To find out if restricting people’s rights to own firearms will minimize the number of the mass shootings in the United States, I conducted some research with my group mates. Based on the news articles and scholarly articles, we found that restricting people’s rights to own guns can reduce the number of mass shootings, but not by much, because people who commit mass shootings will obtain the weapons illegally.

Many people are injured and even killed everyday because of the misuse of firearms. Over the past few years the number of injuries and deaths have increased rapidly due to the large number of guns on the streets. About 65% of households confess that they are threatened by a gun at one point in their lives by someone. The percent of children killing their parents with a firearm has increased 3.3% over a 28 year period. The presence of guns in the home increase an individual's risk of death by homicide by 90%. Homicide with a gun is ranked second in deaths by fifteen-24 year olds. By having a gun in the a household with children, the odds of having a household death are greatly increased. Guns have truly increased the number of casualties in the United States today. However, with proper gun safety measures, these statistics can be decreased (Standing).

Gun violence should be addressed in the United States because it is one of the leading causes of death facing Americans. According to the Center for Disease Control, over 33,000 people die in gun related deaths each year, nearly two-thirds of which are suicides. Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, there has been great concern for the safety of children in schools. Other mass shootings like the recent Las Vegas shooting are making all Americans feel that they are at risk of becoming a victim. Gun violence has devastating effects on the physical health, mental health, economic vitality, and growth of US communities. According to the article “Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth”, children exposed

What my father, and the others don’t know, is that a gun kept in a home is 22 times more likely to be used in an accidental shooting, suicide, or criminal assault, rather than be used in self-defense. That sure doesn’t make me feel safe as I lay down in bed at

Did you know that, Although many claimed to own a gun for personal safety, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center says a gun in the home is more likely to be used to commit suicide or to threaten or kill an intimate than to be used to defend from an attacker?

     Self-defense is the most common reason for owning a gun. Research has shown that a gun kept within a house is 43 times more likely to kill a member of the family, a friend, and rather then an intruder. Dr. Arthur Kellermann and Dr. Donald Reay published this following information in The New England Journal of Medicine: “A study of 743 gunshot deaths found that 84 percent of these homicides occurred during altercations in the home. Only two of these 743 gunshot deaths occurring in the home involved an intruder killed during an attempted entry, and only nine of these deaths were determined by police/courts to be justified” (Jason 2002).     Approximately eleven percent of gun owners and about thirteen percent of handgun owners use their firearms for protection (Gun Control 2002).

Second, owning a gun greatly increases your chance of getting through a hostile confrontation unscathed.A survey done by the Department of justices National Crime Victimization shows that women resisting with a gun are 2.5 time more likely to not get seriously injured that offering no resistance to a perpetrator. For a woman resisting without a gun, the chances of getting seriously injured are 4 times greater than resisting with a gun. Although significantly less for men, the chances of surviving without serious injury are still higher when resisting with a gun