Gun Violence in America Is Out of Control

Do you feel safe walking the street at night? Do you carry a gun because of the stories about mass school shootings? Gun violence is an increasing issue that has not been taken care of, moving throughout the past couple years there have been multiple mass shootings and some of the shooters have gotten off with no consequences. This is leading people to believe that this is okay causing more issues with guns and violence. Many bystanders have claimed that this is not okay and something needs to be done, yet nothing has been done to stop these issues. This issue has taken place in numerous spots all over the country, in high schools, on college campuses, and at places of business. This seems to be a continuous problem with little to no effort on a change or solution to stop things such as mass shootings from happening. People have began to voice their opinions and frustrations on this issue but that is not going to change the minds of those who plan to do such violent acts. Once these people have a plan there is no stopping them, they do it unexpectedly and they do it fast. This is an issue that does not seem to be getting corrected any time soon yet it is taking the lives of so many people in a matter of seconds.

Statistics show that since 2013 there has been one school shooting per week and 18 already this year (2018). What people do not seem to understand is the amount of collateral damage these events leave behind. Beginning with Columbine in 1999, more than 187,000 students attending and at least 193 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting during school hours, according to Washington Post analysis over the course of a year. This means that the number of children who have been affected by gunfire in the places they go to school exceeds the population of Eugene, Ore., or Fort Lauderdale, Fla put together.

According to the Washington Post “Gun Violence in America is Out of Control” it states that “The United States loses far more people to gun violence — homicidal, suicidal, accidental — than almost any other country, and there is one reason: the easy availability of guns.” The US has no real system to get a gun if the psych test is passed then there can be a gun issued to a person. Some people send others to get them a gun because they know that they are not able to get one, this is illegal and its placing a gun in the hands of people that cant handle to be in control of the trigger. This leads to things like“A gunman shooting six people to death. Police said he randomly selected his victims as they went about the ordinary business of a winter weekend. On Sunday, it was Hazelwood, Mo., where a gunman killed a 37-year-old mother as she rode in her car. Yazoo City, Miss., where a 25-year-old man in a nightclub was shot in the chest and died. Merrillville, Ind., where a relative murdered a husband and wife in their 60s and then turned the gun on himself.

Near Houston, where a 17-year-old murdered a 25-year-old, apparently a rival in love, and then shot himself in the head”(washington post). All these deaths happened because of the easy access the US has to get a gun. These statistics are no were near the amount of people that are injured or severely hurt in these acts of violence. No one pays attention to the amount of people that are armed, now even more so than ever. These rules need to be changed there needs to be more than a simple test to get a gun, people that should never have a gun are getting guns and causing mass amounts of destruction, in ways that it should never happen. These things have become so routine that people talk about it for about a week or so and then they move on to the next big story. People move on so fast because they are not the victims, however the parents that lost there fourteen year old daughter have to live with that for the rest of their lives, they do not just move on from that.

People that lose their children are not able to just move on, and live their life, they are stuck knowing that someone had so much of an issue that they killed their child. These issues are because people are finding ways to get a gun and use it in a manner that is not acceptable. For example the Parkland High School shooting, seventeen people were killed. According to Fox News “Parkland High School Shooting at least seventeen killed, suspect in custody, florida sheriff says” at least seventeen people were killed during this that means that there could have been more people that were killed and not documented or they died later in their homes from this. This is also not including the people that could have been impacted a different way and taken there life after this incident. The article says that out of the seventeen people that were killed “12 of them died in the school, two were killed outside, one died on the street and another two died at the hospital” (Fox News) twelve people died inside the school, two people were killed outside proving that everyone that ran outside to get away from this and get to a safe spot were not safe. Cruz was armed and admitted to being armed with an AR-15.

At the time of this incident he was wearing a gas mask which indicated that he could have had smoke bombs on him as well, which meant that he was intending on doing more damage than he could get to in the 90 minutes he was standing before being arrested. This nineteen year old was expelled from a different school for disciplinary reasons, “his mother died in November”(Sun Sentinel), and he lived with a family because of this, proving that Cruz had many issues not just physically but mentally as well and he placed himself behind a trigger. According to Sun Sentinel “Nikolas Cruz Indicted on 17 Counts of Murder and 17 Counts of Attempted Murder” as seen in the title Cruz was indicted for seventeen counts of murder there is a list of students he killed in the article, whether they died inside, outside, at the hospital he killed seventeen people and injured seventeen more, in a matter of 90 minutes. He had no remorse after this incident like stated before he was intending to do much more destruction than he was able to. Of course he was one of those kids that had a lot going on in his life and he also had a lot going through his mind which is completely understandable, however taking out anger and sadness on other classmates to the point of murdering seventeen kids is unacceptable.

It’s not only the kids that have a mental instability that should not have access to guns and other weapons but what about the kids that live in households that have armed weapons in them. What about the kid that wants to take their life so they use a gun that their father has in an unlocked safe. Again have this easy access to guns is causing so many issues in the US today. According to The Washington Post “Yes, violence in America has suddenly increased. But that’s far from the whole story.” it states “Officer shootings have also been on the rise over the past year. Including Thursday’s shooting in Dallas, a total of 25 officers were killed by guns on the job this year, excluding friendly fire. This number is up 39 percent from the same time period in 2015.”(Washington Post, 2016) this says “excluding friendly fire” meaning this number is incorrect, there were more deaths of police officers on the job and some were from their own co-workers. “mass shootings are up as well.

According to Mother Jones’ mass shooting database, year to date, 58 people have been killed this way, nearly five times more than the same time period last year.” showing that not only are police officers being killed on the job but these mass shootings have gotten out of control, along with suicide and homicide. According to the article “Even gun fatalities that don’t make the news – garden-variety homicides – have been increasing. Data released by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an organization of police chiefs in the country’s largest cities, found that homicides in the first three months of 2016 increased 9 percent to 1,365 over the same time period in 2015.” (The Washington Post, 2016). This goes to prove that some of things that are going on in the US are not even making the news. Other people are finding out about them and making statistics from them. So what else do the people not know? If some things are not being broadcasted on the news then how are people getting justice for the issues at hand?

On the flip side it is said that the numbers for gun violence and shootings are on a decline. According to the article “What’s the Solution to Gun Violence in America?” it states that “People aren’t wrong to note that gun violence recently overtook deaths by automobile as a cause of death in the United States, but the important context is that both of those numbers have been steadily decreasing—which is a good thing!” (The Atlantic) this is a good thing because it started that even though gun violence has taken over automobiles in a leading cause of death in the US it is said that it is now in a state of decline. However there was a reply to that comment above which stated “When I look at the number of murders in Chicago and Baltimore last year, or the succession of mass shootings, it tells me that we need to do more to stop gun violence.” (The Atlantic) disproving the original statement, gun violence is not in any way shape or form on a decline. There have been 18 mass shootings this year (2018) how is gun violence on a decline? It is very obvious that the “The government has to do something about the growing number of deaths caused by gun violence.” and there has been nothing done about this issue, the government has not stepped in to get the proper system to get a firearm.

Everyone that has a gun and has “no problems” is just denying the fact that there ignorance is getting the best of them. According to the article “School Shootings Are Not The New Normal, Despite the Statistics that Stretch the Truth” it states “Since 1990 there have been 22 shootings at elementary and secondary schools in which two or more people were killed, not including those perpetrators that committed suicide” (USA Today) proving that every single year since 1990 there has been a mass shooting at an elementary school.. Today there have been multiple mass shootings in which more than two people have been killed or severely injured. These are peoples kids some younger then the age of 10 that are sent off to a place where they are supposed to feel safe, these parents have placed their own flesh and blood in hands they are supposed to trust. Then they Receive a call that says your child has been shot and killed. This is an ongoing issue in which parents are losing their kids on a regular basis, this has become the new normal yet its still so hard to understand what is going through people’s minds as they pull the trigger facing a 5 year old.

People and students should not be scared to go on with their everyday lives because of the choices others choose for themselves. Being able to get your hands on a gun should not be as easy as it is but it should not be the hardest thing. The things you should go through in order to get a firearm should thoroughly check your background and any signs of mental problems.shootings and problems with gun is avoidable, we as people just need to take action and push for change. Shootings are not just going to stop of of nowhere it is up to us to stop further events. Gun violence is not decreasing whether it is homicide, suicide or mass shootings and something needs to be done to stop allowing everyone to get firearms.

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