Exploring The Root Causes of The Problem of Gun Violence in The United States

A President gets caught after having backdoor’ sexual relationship with his secretary, a prime suspect of a murder case is proven innocent because he was rich and famous; anything can happen in America. The greatest nation of world, America saw its ugly side through the mirror on a sunny day of April. Sex, corruption, drug, and violence are the four major problems that modern American society is suffering. The massacre of thirteen students and a teacher by two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, shocked the nation once again. The tragedy displayed how violent the teenagers today can get. Dylan Klebold, a seventeen year old senior and Eric Harris, an eighteen year old senior walked into the school library and viciously murdered twelve of their classmates, and a teacher who tried to save his students. There are several aspects of modem America that helped and instigated the tragic incident. The movies, Internet, video games, and media as a whole that are getting more outrageous and violent are definitely one of the aspects that contributed to the crime. But, it was the gun and the bullets that took away thirteen innocent lives. Easy access to weapon and the incomplete weapon law are the major causes that instigated the holocaust.

The movies and the television shows are already out of control and it is not insane to say that people might see naked ladies having sex and a person getting his head chopped off on the national television. The government installed the ‘rating system for the Hollywood movies and the television shows, but I was already getting tired of xxx movies and brutally murdered people even before I went to high-school. The movies and the TV shows are like pouring rain to the teenagers without an umbrella.

It would be like counting the number of hair on a person’s head to count the number of the violent movies. The sons of the modern American culture, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris must have seen and learned from the movies and TV shows how to kill a man with a gun. The video games are improving daily. The simple graphics, stories, and movements are no longer the characteristics of the new ‘virtual reality’. The games like ‘Doom’, and ‘Quake has very realistic graphics and offers the player a chance to kill and see his enemies gut spilling out without going to the jail. The two games topped the game chart when they were released. This fact shows how many kids loved the killing game. If cyberspace is a brave new world, America Online is its capital city and Eric Harris was one of its inhabitants. Eric Harris posted violent massages saying that he will kill whatever that is against him. Two vicious murders were the only two of millions of kids who are frustrated and social misfits, They like to read, and write bizarre poetry, play graphic video games, and surf on the web for bomb-making instructions, and articles related to death and rage. Another reason that added to the shooting at Columbine high-school is negligence of the parents. America is the land of independence and freedom. Unfortunately, America became the crime heaven because of the people who do not know that responsibility always follows freedom. Some of the parents are either too busy to live their own lives or unable to control their children. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold hid their gun and bombs in their closets. I once hid cigarette in my closet and was caught the day after by my mother. After that day I had to search for a perfect hiding place such as inside of a pillow. Both Dylan and Erics’ parents must have been extremely ignorant because Eric and Dylan tested their bombs in the garages in their houses. As long as the parents were not blind and deaf, it is impossible to not to notify there is anything extraordinary about their kids. Under the negligence of the parents, Eric and Dylan could successfully prepare for their “killing party.’

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. From the beginning of America, guns were used as the essential protection against the ones who tried to take away freedom. In America, guns have become the symbol of youth, self-protection and power which is supported by the culture. Today, two hundred million guns are spread over a population of about two hundred seventy million in America. The massacre at Columbine high-school have never happened without guns. This time, guns were placed in the wrong hands. In order to purchase a gun, the person has to be twenty one years old and must have license for certain weapons. But unfortunately some gun stores are like the liquor stores who sell cigarettes to kids who are underage. Both Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris purchased fatal weapons such as TEC DC-9 at the local gun store. In addition, millions of guns are sold on the streets with cheaper prices. Like an ink drop on a piece of white paper, illegal guns are spreading under the false excuse of ‘self-defense.’ After the massacre at Columbine high-school, the congress installed a new law which is requiring all the gun stores to check the criminal record of the customer. The new law cannot stop all the illegal guns from falling into the wrong and irresponsible hands.

There is an old saying in Asia, ‘one who succeed with a sword shall fail with a sword.’ Fighting for its own freedom, America had guns in its hands to defend himself. Unfortunately, as time passed by, Americans started using weapons to eliminate the ones they do not like. The Columbine high-school holocaust displays the terrible effects of violent images in the media and in computer games, the responsibility of parents, and the availability of lethal weapons.

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