Columbine High School, San Bernardino, Roseburg, Charleston. The list goes on and on. Thousands die in the United States alone due to gun violence and gun related crimes. What the public of the US find so hard to understand is that the very weapon that helps reassure “safety”, is the weapon that causes innocents to die so effortlessly by the hands of maniacs. Maniacs who forget who they really are, who lose their grip on reality and how the world really works. Shouldn’t they be the last person a government allows the use of a firearm? If at all? The ordinary citizens of the United States of America should not be given access to firearms. Instead, gun laws and gun control should be further enforced on to the public. Common citizens should be under an obligation to submit their rights to own a firearm. This is because guns cause crime rates to shoot up, homicidal killings to increase in number, and because even adolescents are likely to use guns and the violence it brings as an “escape route”.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, intentional mass shootings have been a common occurrence that the citizens of the United States have become familiar with. But being familiar doesn’t reduce the level of pain and grief parents, children, and family members feel after such a horrible event. NationMaster, an organization that records multiple statistics of almost every country, and allows a feature to compare countries based on certain statistics, states that, “the U.S. murder rate is 12,996, annually.”. That means that 12,996 people are killed every year in the United States of America. Another comparison involves the number of firearms per 100 residents, “Approximately 88 out of every 100 citizens in the U.S. own a firearm. That leaves them ranked number 1.”. When compared to the statistics of Singapore, the gap between numbers is shocking. Not only is Singapore’s murder rate far less (16 deaths annually), but the number of firearms per 100 residents is drastically further down. The estimation is 0.5 out of every 100 citizens owns a gun in Singapore. This clearly shows a direct correlation between the number of firearms and the number of shootings or murders. And that the more guns a country or city holds, there is an increased likelihood of shootings or killings to occur. No matter if citizens say they feel “safer” owning a firearm.
Authorities, media, and the public sometimes forget that the mad maniac behind many intentional shootings are children. Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, and Red Lake. The most common causation to horrific moments is from revenge seeking. Kids are less likely to feel these emotions and acquire this motivation. So clearly they must be mentally unstable for whatever reason. Something or someone has provoked him or her to carry out horrendous actions such as the mass murdering of innocents. If children or people in general are not socially stable, then indirectly, giving them access to firearms is last thing we should do, if at all. According to NoBully.com, “Since 1992, there have been 387 school shootings in the US alone.”. Situations like Columbine are becoming far more common. In these cases, the perpetrators are literally hunting their classmates in attempts to inflict as many fatalities as possible. Two gunmen were able to kill 12 students and injure 23 others, before ending their own lives with gun fire. Colorado is a relatively conservative US state with fewer violent crimes than more heavily populated areas. However, there have been five school shootings there since 1992 and two of them have resulted in multiple fatalities. Now even children have become a potential threat to the public, only because they too, have access to these murder weapons. Which is the one of the biggest factors for people to be afraid of them.
While it may seem obvious that guns are the cause to so many deaths of innocents, there are a massive number of citizens of the US that still believe that giving the public easy access to firearms is the best decision. The 2nd amendment states 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.". Such language has created considerable debate on the 2nd amendments intended meaning. On the one hand some people believe that, the amendment’s phrase, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” creates an individual right for the citizens of the United States. On the other hand, some scholars point to the collective rights theory. A collective rights theory of the 2nd amendment states that citizens do not have an individual right to possess firearms. And that federal, local, and state authorities are able to regulate firearms without compromising a constitutional right. The 2nd amendment plays a major role in the discussions and debates on this issue. And since the 2nd amendment is written by the four fathers of the United States, that is why it makes it impossible to ignore it.
In conclusion, the issue of firearms and weapons has and is causing horrific fatalities all around the US. The ability to own a gun holds many different consequences, negative and positive. But the public of the United States are caught in a misconception that owning a gun helps protect themselves, their families, and others around them. If so, why is it statistically proven that residents in Singapore feel far safer walking alone at night than in the US? Singapore’s law and punishment system has become far more strict over the course of 50 years since it first became independant. Gun control in Singapore is not even in the discussion, as to own a gun and be a regular citizen is simply illegal. The statistics prove that the number of murders in the US annually, directly correlates with the level of access the public possess on machines built to kill. Would you rather have your safety almost 100% guaranteed? Or would you own a firearm just to “feel” safer, but still be exposed to countless dangers from maniacs?
Crime is and has always been a very real issue that all countries of the world face today. No doubt there are places where crime rates are far lower compared to others, clearly that must mean there are “safer” countries. But why is it safer? Why does Singapore and places like Greenland report far less murders or violent crimes? There are multiple possible causations as to why people in places such as Australia or Canada feel safer than they would in the US. The FBI states that, “the number of cases of violent crime rate during the first 6 months of 2015, is 1.7 percent higher when compared to the same time period in 2014.”. Another poll carried out by PewResearchCenter states that, “A national survey finds that nearly half of gun owners (48%) volunteer that the main reason they own a gun is for protection; just 32% say they have a gun primarily for hunting and even fewer cite other reasons, such as target shooting. In 1999, 49% said they owned a gun mostly for hunting, while just 26% cited protection as the biggest factor.”. This clearly shows us that more and more citizens of the US are acquiring guns not for traditional hunting use, but for protection. Protection from dangerous people who in turn use the same weapon to carry out their barbaric goals. There is always a solution to any problem, but to fight fire with fire, not only is that an unnecessary path, it’s a mistake. A mistake that costs and will continue to cost thousands of innocent lives.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, intentional mass shootings have been a common occurrence that the citizens of the United States have become familiar with. But being familiar doesn’t reduce the level of pain and grief parents, children, and family members feel after such a horrible event. NationMaster, an organization that records multiple statistics of almost every country, and allows a feature to compare countries based on certain statistics, states that, “the U.S. murder rate is 12,996, annually.”. That means that 12,996 people are killed every year in the United States of America. Another comparison involves the number of firearms per 100 residents, “Approximately 88 out of every 100 citizens in the U.S. own a firearm. That leaves them ranked number 1.”. When compared to the statistics of Singapore, the gap between numbers is shocking. Not only is Singapore’s murder rate far less (16 deaths annually), but the number of firearms per 100 residents is drastically further down. The estimation is 0.5 out of every 100 citizens owns a gun in Singapore. This clearly shows a direct correlation between the number of firearms and the number of shootings or murders. And that the more guns a country or city holds, there is an increased likelihood of shootings or killings to occur. No matter if citizens say they feel “safer” owning a firearm.
Authorities, media, and the public sometimes forget that the mad maniac behind many intentional shootings are children. Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, and Red Lake. The most common causation to horrific moments is from revenge seeking. Kids are less likely to feel these emotions and acquire this motivation. So clearly they must be mentally unstable for whatever reason. Something or someone has provoked him or her to carry out horrendous actions such as the mass murdering of innocents. If children or people in general are not socially stable, then indirectly, giving them access to firearms is last thing we should do, if at all. According to NoBully.com, “Since 1992, there have been 387 school shootings in the US alone.”. Situations like Columbine are becoming far more common. In these cases, the perpetrators are literally hunting their classmates in attempts to inflict as many fatalities as possible. Two gunmen were able to kill 12 students and injure 23 others, before ending their own lives with gun fire. Colorado is a relatively conservative US state with fewer violent crimes than more heavily populated areas. However, there have been five school shootings there since 1992 and two of them have resulted in multiple fatalities. Now even children have become a potential threat to the public, only because they too, have access to these murder weapons. Which is the one of the biggest factors for people to be afraid of them.
While it may seem obvious that guns are the cause to so many deaths of innocents, there are a massive number of citizens of the US that still believe that giving the public easy access to firearms is the best decision. The 2nd amendment states 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.". Such language has created considerable debate on the 2nd amendments intended meaning. On the one hand some people believe that, the amendment’s phrase, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” creates an individual right for the citizens of the United States. On the other hand, some scholars point to the collective rights theory. A collective rights theory of the 2nd amendment states that citizens do not have an individual right to possess firearms. And that federal, local, and state authorities are able to regulate firearms without compromising a constitutional right. The 2nd amendment plays a major role in the discussions and debates on this issue. And since the 2nd amendment is written by the four fathers of the United States, that is why it makes it impossible to ignore it.
In conclusion, the issue of firearms and weapons has and is causing horrific fatalities all around the US. The ability to own a gun holds many different consequences, negative and positive. But the public of the United States are caught in a misconception that owning a gun helps protect themselves, their families, and others around them. If so, why is it statistically proven that residents in Singapore feel far safer walking alone at night than in the US? Singapore’s law and punishment system has become far more strict over the course of 50 years since it first became independant. Gun control in Singapore is not even in the discussion, as to own a gun and be a regular citizen is simply illegal. The statistics prove that the number of murders in the US annually, directly correlates with the level of access the public possess on machines built to kill. Would you rather have your safety almost 100% guaranteed? Or would you own a firearm just to “feel” safer, but still be exposed to countless dangers from maniacs?
- Chemerinsky, Erwin. "Second Amendment." Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 13 July 2014. Web. 16 June 2016.
- FBI. "Crime Statistics." Federal Bureau of Investigation. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 6 Sept. 2015. Web. 4 June 2016.
- Moore, Maloy. "Deadliest U.S. Mass Shootings." Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2016. Web. 13 June 2016.
- "Why Own a Gun? Protection Is Now Top Reason." People-Press.org. PewResearchCenter, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 3 June 2016.
- "Singapore vs United States Crime Stats Compared." NationMaster.com. NationMaster, 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 June 2016.
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