Gun Violence and Awareness

Gun Control: Gun violence and awareness

On Dec. 15, 1791, ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution eventually known as the Bill of Rights were ratified. The second of them said: 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. (1)
Gun control is as old as old west (4). Laws regulating ownership and carry of firearms apart from the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment were passed at a local level rather than by Congress but later were rooted as a part of institution from the start because this way you can keep your citizen and your country safe. United States is among few countries which have highest citizen to arms ratio.
Fire arms per 100 people: (2)

On average, there are 276 gun homicides a week in America. There are 439 gun suicides. All told, there are on average nearly 1200 incidents involving gun violence, every week in America (6). Thirty people will be shot dead in America today on average, it could be more. If it's less then more will die tomorrow, Or the next day. The United States' gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other countries (3), which is clearly obvious as America has most arms % per 100 people.

Federal law sets the minimum standards for firearm regulation in the United States, but individual states have their own laws, some of which provide further restrictions, others which are more lenient even though there are many laws that prevent sales of certain arms but still each state makes their own set of rules and tries to bend these laws to their liking. Some states, including Idaho, Alaska, and Kansas, have passed laws designed to circumvent federal policies but the establishes the supremacy of federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld some firearms restrictions, such as bans on concealed weapons and on the possession of certain types of weapons, as well as prohibitions against the sale of guns to certain categories of people (5), which is how it should be because you don't want to sell guns to a mentally disable person or you don't want to sell a full size machine gun or 50 Cal rifle.

We witnessed the destruction caused by weapons during 2 world wars and in the second world war pure destruction was demonstrated when atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have advanced so much in technology and we have come so far but same goes for technology used for weapons. These days you can use few kilograms of Uranium 235 to wipe out entire city in few seconds (Atomic bombings killed 90,000“146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000“80,000 people in Nagasaki). (7)

Racism still exists whenever a black individual is involved. All they're trying to do is protect the one's they love. Since July 2018, at least three black men in the United States have been shot by police in separate incidents while trying, according to witnesses, to stop an active shooting. (8) We might say that we have no racism left in our country but still there are several cases and incidents like these which show that black people are still facing some sort of racism even if they are trying to be nice or saving someone else. There are many issues and proposals but one's that require immediate action are assault rifle ban and when any type of fire arm is being sold they should require background check.

Semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15-style rifle used by Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz were prohibited under the 1994 federal assault weapons ban passed by Congress and signed into law by president Bill Clinton. It prohibited the manufacture and sale of the weapons for civilian use and also limited "large-capacity" magazines -- defined as those capable of holding more than 10 rounds. (9). The White House has said following the Florida school shooting that President Donald Trump supports efforts to improve the federal background check system for gun buyers (9). But on the other hand, there is high percentage of people that oppose assault rifle bans and when this situation is developed Democrats and Republicans see this an opportunity to push their agendas.

Democrats are more than twice as supportive of an assault rifle ban than Republicans, with 56 percent of Democrats for a ban and just 25 percent of Republicans in agreement. Similarly, nearly 9 in 10 Democrats are in favor of stricter gun laws as opposed to just 31 percent of Republicans (10). Not only need gun laws but we need to educate one's buying those firearms because even if someone with a clear background buys a gun and don't know how to use it might end up hurting someone or in worst case it can end up killing someone. When she was in sixth grade, Sandra Parks wrote an award-winning essay about gun violence and crime in her hometown, Milwaukee. This week (Nov 21, 2018) two years after she described how we are in a state of chaos, she was fatally shot when someone outside fired a gun at her home and a stray bullet went into her bedroom (11).

This case demonstrates how careless we are when it comes to guns. Once you press the trigger there is nothing you can do to stop that bullet and you don't know what the result is going to be. The 35-year-old middle school science teacher was working on his handgun at his home an hour north of Albany when something incomprehensible happened: A bullet discharged, striking his wife. Ashley Rosen Brock 34, was rushed to a hospital in Saratoga Springs, New York, where she died on Thursday (Nov 18. 2018). Eric Rosen brock was performing maintenance on a legally-owned handgun. The investigation is continuing, but the police said the death appeared to be the result of an accidental discharge. (12)

Mass shootings in 2017 using raw numbers. From January 1 to November 5, there have been 307 shootings in which four or more people were injured or killed. This map shows the number of shooting incidents, per 5 million residents, in each state.

We should focus on two things if we want to stop gun shootings and more accidents like these. First, we need to enforce laws that ensure background and mental health check because depending on one's mental stability they can decide if they want to issue firearms to someone like that. Second, we need to enforce laws that ensure proper training of fire arms before selling them like we have rules before getting our driver's license. We should treat gun laws like driving laws.

Before getting on road you've to pass written and then practical exam to ensure you've enough knowledge about road which can remarkably reduce risks of accidents in future. But why there are no such laws for firearms which is more dangerous than just driving. Because if you get in a road accident you might survive but if someone shoots you there is 5% chance you might survive, but most of shootings end up in death of someone.

Work Cited

1. Gray, Sarah. A Timeline of Gun Control Laws in The U.S. Time, Time, 22 Feb. 2018, time.com/5169210/us-gun-control-laws-history-timeline/.
2. Masters, Jonathan. Gun Control Around the World: A Primer. The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 Jan. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/worldwide-gun-control-policy/423711/.
3. Jowit, Juliette, et al. Four Countries with Gun Control “ and What America Could Learn from Them. The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Mar. 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/15/so-america-this-is-how-you-do-gun-control.
5. Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West. Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 5 Feb. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gun-control-old-west-180968013/.
6. U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons. Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons.
4. Dam, Andrew Van. The Surprising Way Gun Violence Is Dividing America. The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 May 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/05/31/the-surprising-way-gun-violence-is-dividing-america/?utm_term=.640753372bb3.
7. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki.
8. Moore, Lela. ''I Am the 'Good Guy with a Gun''': Black Gun Owners Reject Stereotypes, Demand Respect. The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Dec. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/reader-center/gun-rights-black-people.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGun%2BControl.
9. Gun Control in the US: What Are the Current Issues and Proposals? SBS News, SBS News, 20 Feb. 2018, www.sbs.com.au/news/gun-control-in-the-us-what-are-the-current-issues-and-proposals.
10. Poll: Majority Opposes Assault Rifle Ban. U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-10-19/poll-majority-opposes-assault-rifle-ban.
11. Caron, Christina. Girl, 13, Who Wrote Essay on Gun Violence Is Killed by Stray Bullet. The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/us/sandra-parks-milwaukee-gunfire.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGun%2BControl.
12. Ferr‰-sadurn, Luis. Man Fatally Shoots His Wife While Working on a Handgun. The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/nyregion/corinth-ny-shooting-ashley-rosenbrock.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGun%2BControl&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics?®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=collection.

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