Why Gun Violence is Getting Worse

Guns are the reason for most homicides in america, they cause more and more damage each year, and recently in the past few years it has gotten worse due to mass shootings.So far this year only there has been about 307 mass shooting in America. The number of people who die do to gun violence is 96 and about 250 people get shot and survive. Overall, 64 percent of deaths were determined to be homicides, while an additional 27 percent were suicides and 9 percent were accidental shootings(Santhanam). This is the horrifying statistics of this country and yet, there is no major changes made. Although many people feel like guns area big part of protection, it's only causing more and more madness by the day and getting it under control will save many lives. If there is new gun laws passed, that gives the people of this country insurance that innocent people won't continuously lose their life.

Growing up and going to public elementary/schools, I am grateful nothing of such tragedy like school shootings has ever happened when I was there, but I can't help and think that there is innocent children losing their lives at such a young age from gun violence at a place where your expected to feel safe. This year one of the biggest school shooting was in Florida on Wednesday, February 14. A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School named Nicolas Cruz, came to school where he opened fire killing 14 student and 3 teachers.

The gun, a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 .223, was purchased at Sunrise Tactical Supply, according to the Associated Press.Federal law allows people 18 and older to legally purchase long guns, including this kind of assault weapon. With no criminal record, Cruz cleared an instant background check via the FBI criminal database (Jansen).

He was not even asked questions because he passed a simple background check, this and many other incidence should have brought awareness to congress that you should only have to be 18 and have a clear background in order to go out and purchase such a dangerous weapon.

There should be more than just background checks in order to purchase a gun, for example mental health is important and having mental illness can be dangerous to have and dangerous towards other people if you don't receive the help that you need. The reality is that most people with personality disorders do not seek treatment and are not known to mental health providers(Mental illness and gun laws: What you may not know about the complexities.) People even fail to acknowledge their mental illnesses because of the society we live in, and I honestly don't blame them either because most people believe that they will get bullied and made fun of by others, but by getting the help they need it might not reach a point where they might want to harm themselves or others.

It's important to note that those with diagnosed serious mental illness, who are determined by a psychiatrist to be a serious risk of harm to themselves or others, already get admitted to acute or long-term inpatient care and are kept there until they are deemed not dangerous (Mental illness and gun laws: What you may not know about the complexities.)

Can it be that hard for congress to make a law to ban guns that would actually help benefit people? I strongly believe that adding this simple law would save hundreds of people from hurting themselves or hurting others.

Most gun and shooting accidents involve children who find unsecured, loaded guns around the house or in the family car. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement says, "The absence of guns from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents." However, many families have firearms at home and gun ownership has not decreased in recent years( Iannelli.)

Parents are getting these firearms for protection but in result loosing their own children because they are not properly putting them away and keeping them out of children's reach.In the span of two years almost 1,330 children have died from accidently shooting themselves and other children. A lot who have young children are not only not putting them far enough from children and they are most likely keeping their guns loaded with the bullets in the magazine.

There has not been anything dramatically done to change the law of guns and there has barely nothing been done to control the issue. There is many other countries who have their gun controls under control or banned and that seems to be working for them, they don't have the same issues as America with all these extreme mass shootings. For example Canada does not ban guns but they do have strict laws for them such as: gun owners can not carry outside of their homes unless its part of their job, all guns must be kept locked away and they cannot be loaded, also they require safety training for owners.

I've lived in Minnesota for majority of my life, I have not witnessed many people die until I was about 15, and my brothers best friend was shot and murdered in burnsville MN. I remember him going through the worst depression I could emagine. It hurt him to know that his best friend life was taken from him so brutally and it made him more angry as years passed by. It was just something he couldn't get through and he didn't want to talk to anyone about. It continue to worry me me to see him not want to talk to anyone and distance himself from everything he loved, and I finally got the courage to ask him why he was still mad instead of being sad? He replied to me because he was shot and killed He then continued to explain to me that if it was natural cause that killed him he would not have the madness in his heart. As time went on we spent a lot of time together and I got him to go back and do the things he loved, and he started to enjoy life again because he noticed living that way was not healthy.

About 2 years passed and on January 24, 2016 one of my friends lost their brother also due to gun violence. This one hurt very much, not just to see my friend and her family feel what's they were feeling but also the fact that I also knew him. He was a kind, sweet, caring person and only 19 when he was shot and murdered. His life was not worth what he died over and I knew that this feeling of losing a loved one was only going to get worse for her and her family due to the fact that not only did he die, but someone took his life with a gun. A lot of these people who go and shoot people only think in that moment and that person but they fail to understand that people will have a hard time continuing with their lives because that person whose life they took has people that care and love them. I also remember going to his funeral and my friend asking me to go into the room her brother was being washed in. When we went in, she automatically broke down, and I've never been in such shock my life. He laid over us with five bullets in this chest and one in his head. His blood no longer running in his body and his body looking so dull. I broke down and just couldn't understand how someone could be so cruel and be so inhumane to do such thing. I watched his mother kiss him on his forehead and say goodbye as tears went down her face.It broke my heart to see her say goodbye to her son that only got to live 19 years of life.

We then buried him and everyone that came soon started to get in their cars and leave because it was so cold. I sat at his grave with my friend and just watched her. She told me that she was so angry at the other man who took her brothers life with a gun. I remember talking about this with my brother and automatically that conversation came to my mind. I then started to notice that them being shot and murdered was making it harder to move on for her as well. I knew that this was going to be a tough time for her so I made sure to around as much as I could be so that she doesn't exclude herself from people and things she also loves doing.

That same year in November 26th, I remember getting a call and being told that my brother was shot. I didn't know how it feel, I didn't know if he was dead or alive, I just remember my blood pressure rising and my body become completely frozen. I was at my cousins house and they wondered what was wrong and kept tapping me, i just started to cry and think the worst, after a few minutes of sitting there and breaking down my phone rang and it was his girlfriend to tell me that she was at the hospital and that he was shot in this rist and he was going to be fine. I was relieved that he was alive but still crying because if the fact that he was hurt, I ended up going to the hospital and seeing him sit on the bed asleep with a huge cast and just hug him and restful te was alive. Once he was awake he told me that he was outside of a restaurant in Minneapolis and there was a group of men in a car and let shots fired in front of the restaurant. He told me he was standing outside with his friend and as soon as he realized what was happening told me ran behind a car and before he got there hiding his head with his and and that's when he got shot.

I was so happy he was alive and although the doctor told him the bones in his wrist completely shattered and that they would have to put a metal piece to hold his hand straight up. The doctor also let him know that he would never be able to move his wrist up and down again. I knew that was frustrating for him. He didn't deserve what happened to him and it made me angry to know that someone shot him and to know that him and many other innocent people standing outside that restaurant could have died that day. I noticed that day the damage that guns were doing to people and the amount of other people only have to deal with being shot or their loved ones of theirs either being shot and hurt, or being shot and murdered.

Not long after that many boys from the city i'm from who are somali were shot and murdered. It's like it was getting worse by the months and I think i was realizing more because I was getting older. I went to about another funeral in December,2016 from this boy who didn't know but went to the same islamic school when we were younger. Being at his funeral only made me remember the last time i was there for the same case. It made me sad to see mothers and families cry once again. It made me more sad to know that his cause of death was because of a gun.

After a while things started to calm down and on June,11 2017 I remember being at work on break and getting another call from my other brother and him telling me that he was shot in the leg the night before and quickly saying that he would be fine and that the doctores got the bullet out. I didn't want to cry because I was just so confused, I just wanted to leave and go to the hospital and be there with him. So that's exactly what did, without telling anyone I just left. I called my sister and told her the exact thing he told me. Me and my whole family met at the hospital and by that time he has a cast and he was just happy to see us. He was shot in an apartment complex by a guy looking for another man and mistaken him for my brother.

It has only gotten worse in minneapolis with gun violence, I have been to 3 funerals this year alone of 3 young men, the oldest being 25 being shot and killed. Every Time I was there I would remember seeing the others who I came for. About a week ago a student from Saint Paul College who was out with his cousins and friends were playing with guns and his cousin accidentally shot him in the face. He was fighting for his life and was brain dead. He ended up just dying December 11, 2018. I've never met or seen him, but my sister told me she had class with him and telling me how much of sweet and funny boy he was. I'm not sure how old he was but he was surely not over the age of 22.

Gun violence is only getting worse, and writing this paper only made me realize that some

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