Searcy, Ar. (LP) – It seems like everyday, you hear of some gun violence going on in the world. Whether it be local or on a mass scale, it never seems to end. As for other countries, you never hear anything going on relating to gun violence. It just seems to be an American thing. Gun violence isn’t new to America but it has only blown up in media in the last few years. The media possibly could be fueling the violence, but it’s one of many possibilities. Gun violence has sparked a huge debate in America and the world is talking about what is causing it and how we can solve it. One side says it can be stopped by taking away guns; the other side say’s that won’t solve anything. The debate has been going on for many years and it seems that it will take a while to settle on something.
Both sides of the debate have many different arguments to support their side. Many different people have different opinions and they’re all very different. The debate over guns starts in what peoples feelings over guns are. It all stems from feelings and people who don’t like guns are more likely to want to ban them. “I think guns are useful. They can help in protecting a household or a school for instance. They’re useful in many situations,” stated Barry James. Barry owns a few guns at his house, but just for protection if anything were to happen.
Roughly 371 million firearms were owned by U.S. citizens and law enforcement in 2014. Alongside this, civilians are accounted for 80% of non-military gun industry revenues. Most Americans own handguns or rifles used for hunting. People can get firearms off the black market if need be, and that’s where a lot of guns used in shootings come from. A poll stated that 60% of gun owners use it for protection, 36% for hunting, and 21% for recreation/target practice. A lot of people use guns for protection and that’s a good thing. Research shows that US citizens use guns to defend themselves and others from crimes at least a million times a year.
In 2016, 11,961 murders out of 16,459 (or around 73% of murders) were done from firearms. In the past year, over 200 mass shootings have been committed. A lot of crimes are done with firearms and it seems to be getting worse
A few mass shootings are of notice. Seven years ago on December 14th, 2012, 28 people were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Two years ago on October 1st, 2017, 59 people were murdered at Las Vegas music festival. Twenty years ago on April 20th, 1999, 15 people were murdered at Columbine High School. There have been many shootings over the last few years. A lot of this years shootings have taken place in public, thought safe places, like a general store. “It’s not safe anymore. You used to be able to go anywhere fearless. Now, wherever you go, you’re fearful,” said Wyatt Mote.
But what is being done to stop these murders? As of right now, nothing of notice. This is where the gun control debate comes into play. A lot of people want to ban and take away guns while another group of people want to keep them. For protection and hunting purposes. Bill Mikell, a gun owner of many years, stated that “Guns shouldn’t be taken away. It’s the democrats that want to them to be taken away and they don’t understand that nothing will be solved.” In the political aspect, it seems like the Democrats want to get rid of guns, while the Republicans want to get keep guns. A lot of gun deaths happen in households or they are accidental. Those people that die from accidental shootings were more than three times as likely to have a had firearm in there house.
A certain group of people want to have guns banned or at least controlled to a certain point. Some arguments include that deaths would go down, guns are rarely used in self defense, guns are often stolen by criminals, and that’s just a few for instance. According to a Mar. 10, 2016 Lancet study, implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%. Gun licensing laws were associated with a 14% decrease in firearm homicides, while increases in firearm homicides were seen in places with right-to-carry and stand-your ground-laws. Of the 29,618,300 violent crimes committed between 2007 and 2011, 0.79% of victims (235,700) protected themselves with a threat of use or use of a firearm, the least-employed protective behavior. In states with increased gun availability, death rates from gunshots for children were higher than in states with less avaliabilty. This is good evidence to support their claim. Wyatt Mote said that “I think that controlling guns could help a lot with the violence. It’s just how we’re going to do it, if anything can be done about it.”
The other side wants to gun laws the way they are right now. A lot of arguments used in this area are used with the second constitutional amendment. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution reads, “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.” It’s been one of the oldest rights given to Americans, basically since the beginning of the country. Gun control laws would go against this amendment, and be deemed unconstitutional. Another argument used is that gun control doesn’t stop the violence, but owning guns actually does. States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes. Protection is another reason to have guns, a lot of people say. “A gun can save lots of people lives, yes it takes lives also, but it saves more lives than takes,” said Bill Mikell.
What could be the cause to a lot of gun violence? A lot of people point towards mental illnesses while others point towards video games for being a point of violence. A lot of people who have committed shootings appear to have mental illnesses and lots of research can back it up. Video games being a part of the violence however, does not have evidence to back it up. “Mental illnesses are a big part of these shootings in my opinion. People think they are invincible or their minds tell them things that are bad. After that, they go and commit these shootings,” said Barry James. The media could be also be fueling the shootings. People see what happens in the media and they decide to follow in the footsteps so they can be famous and get attention.
So how can we stop these violent crimes? It’s an important question that will probably take a lot of debates and arguments to settle. The end of debate doesn’t seem to be near and it will take a lot to figure it out. What doesn’t seem to be stoping is the amount of violent acts that are happening. They’re not going to stop soon unless people as a whole join together to stop it. Hopefully one day, society will settle on a way to end these violent crimes before more innocent people are killed.
