Gun Violence in America
There has been a great surge of discussion about the threat of gun violence here in the United States, a topic that has been expanded into a national and even international debate. Gun violence today affects many, and has been highly scrutinized by lawmakers, lobbyists, which has coined pro/anti gun activists. But what are the numbers telling us? Is this really a public health crisis? The American Psychological Association defines firearm violence as taking a number of different forms, including, but not limited to, suicide and suicide attempts, violent conflicts and disputes, intimate partner violence, unintentional deaths and injuries, violent criminal activity, and violent acts while intensely distressed, intoxicated,
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One of the main risks is racial disparities regarding homicide by discharge of firearm. The CDC reported that in 2013 almost 60% of victims of homicide by firearm were black (CDC, 2016). Additionally, as mentioned earlier, white males attribute to only 17.0 deaths by firearms compared to African American males at 31.5 in 2013. This data highlights the overwhelming majority of deaths by guns are members of the African American community. Some social determinants that can decrease the risk of being a victim of gun violence are not simply demonstrated because gun violence is a sensitive subject in America that sparks wide debates on moral, governmental, and various other societal issues. There are many firearms in the United States – more than 300 million (Hepburn, Miller, Azrael, & Hemenway, 2007) – about as many guns as people (APA, 2016) which can be an increased risk factor for committing gun violence, but what about those who are killed? Decreasing their risk is equally as complicated. Reducing access to firearms significantly decreases gun violence (APA, 2016) as does policies like Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, which hold adults liable for insecure storage of firearms around children, have decreased adolescent suicides and unintentional shootings of children (Webster & Starnes, 2000; Webster, Vernick, Zeoli, & Manganello, 2004). In addition, ones of low SES that display signs of poverty, socially disorganized neighborhoods, or high crime rates need a sense of community at the institutional setting. In a study conducted by the University of Maryland for Congress, they revealed that increasing employment in communities can reduce crime rates, thus reducing victims of gun violence (Bushway
As a public health crisis, the government is not only justified in taking action to curb the problem, but they should also feel obligated. Over 10,000 Americans die due to gun violence each year, and tens of thousands more are injured (Brady Campaign, 2017). Aside from protecting its citizens and their lives, gun violence also creates an economic burden on the United States. Researchers estimate that the annual cost of gun violence is $235 billion, which gives policymakers an economic incentive to reduce that externality
Gun Violence is a public health issue within the United States causing more than 32,000 people to die each year, which means approximately 88 deaths a day are because of
Research shows that whether attempters live or die depends in large part on the ready availability of firearms. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health of all 50 U.S. states reveals a powerful link between rates of firearm ownership and suicides. Based on a survey of American households conducted in 2002, it was found that in states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of households reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower ( Harvard). Many lives could be saved if firearms weren't so accessible. The American government needs to adopt policies that would keep guns out of the hands of vulnerable adults and
If gun control is regulated, then we will have less crime. Access to firearms makes killing easy, efficient, and impersonal, which increases the lethality of crime. Josh Sugarmann, the Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center has once said, "We recoil in horror and search for explanations, but we never face up to the obvious preventive measure: a ban on the handy killing machines that make crimes so easy.”Allowing untrained people to carry guns puts others at risk and it can result in self-inflicting injuries both by suicide and unintentional incidents. Gun violence in America kills more than 30,000 and injures almost 70,000 each year. Guns can be misused and abused, which is why gun
A literature review of gun violence prevention is being undergone as part of this submittal. This research is important because gun violence has been a plague in the United States and the United Kingdom, among other places, for much of the recent century or two. This violence takes on two major forms. The first is general gun violence that is perpetrated as part of gang violence, robberies, burglaries, crimes of passion or spite and so forth. The other major form, which is both quite uncommon but very poignant and affecting when it happens, are school and other mass shootings like Columbine and the very recent Sandy Hook. There have been a decent amount of other school shootings and work shootings, but those are far and away the most notorious. Both were effected by very mentally ill teenagers or young adults that decide to go out in a bloody and perverted blaze of glory before they took their own life.
Guns have been is society for centuries. They have been used for hunting, war, and even safety. However, in the past several years they have begun to take the lives of many innocent victims, often young children. In response to the killings in Newtown, Conn., it has been noted, “If this were a country, the number of children killed by gun violence would violate international law.” (Browne-Marshall) F.B.I. data shows in 2011, 1,668 African American children were killed due to guns. Day by day gun violence is rising and it is not only in ghetto neighborhoods.
In the African American community, 83 percent of homicides are due to gun violence. In black communities gun violence is commonly misunderstood as gang affiliation, which is false. Studies show over 50 percent of gun crimes committed were not related to a felony, but were due to some disagreement. The gun epidemic in predominantly black communities aren’t just disagreements, but race wars, police brutality, gang related, and even no reason at all.
Handguns were used most often in homicides, most cases being in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s before falling to a low in 2008 (Cooper, et al.). Most gun involvement occurs with gang related activity, which increased from 73% in 1980 to 92% in 2008 (Cooper, et al.). The percentage of homicide victims killed with a gun increased with age of the victim until age 17, where it peaked at 79% and declined thereafter (Cooper, et al.). The sharp increase in homicides from the mid-1980’s through the early 1990’s, and much of the subsequent decline, is attributable to gun violence by teens and young adults (Cooper, et al.). From 1980 to 2008, more
If I could take up a cause for gun vilence I would. I would stand up to this because I know what it's like to loose someone from gun violence. I know what it's like for an innocent person get killed because of gun violenece.My cousin was shot. He was an innocent person who didn't diserve to die and they shot him. I would to protests start marchs' and anything that is possible to change gun violence. I would try to change the gun violence situation. It's not fair that innocent people who shouldn't deserve to die are dying because of that. We need to make a stop. We need to prevent people dying. I would try making a difference my making a website or just telling people to get ogether if they are against gun violence. And if we are all in the
Everyday 93 Americans are killed by guns. Whether it is due to homicide or suicide, it does not matter. At the end of the day gun violence is increasing exponentially. In numerous states, gun laws have been placed in the hopes of reducing gun violence. But now many people believe that gun violence should be treated as a public health problem. I for one feel that gun violence should be put in the category of public health. Every year more than 30,000 people are victims to gun related incidents. It has become such an issue that gun violence is causing more deaths than some life threatening diseases.
The Orlando nightclub shooting in Florida on June 12, 2016 was the single largest massacre in U.S history, taking the lives of 50 individuals, including the shooter himself, and injuring 53 others. This is one extreme example of the gun violence that has been occurring in this country, but mass shootings like this and the one at Newton in 2012 are only a small part of our gun violence issue. The everyday gun violence that takes place in cities all across the United States claims the lives of thousands every single year. According to The Guardian, 33,500 civilians die each year because of gun brutality- “that’s about 1 life every 15 minutes” (Beckett). Between the years of 1999 and 2013, there were 464,003 gun deaths in the U.S, about 58% of them were suicides 37% were homicides. (ProCon.org) Gun violence and the consequences of that violence, have become a real and dangerous problem in the U.S , why else would the CDC list the United States as having the highest rate of gun violence out of all developed countries today? (Gale Opposing Viewpoints) This issue is not just attributable to a single factor, there are several that play an important part in why gun violence is such an issue in the U.S, namely laws and poverty; and in these causes we can also find solutions.
With the popular culture providing positive images of guns, the United States has a gun prevalence that is very rare in the modern world. While many people appreciate the “gun culture”, guns are heavily involved in violence in the United States. According to U.S. Department of Justice, since 1960, more than 750,000 Americans have died under firearms, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries. The figure 1 provides a comprehensive survey of U.S. violent crimes for the period from 1993 to 2011.This figure illustrates that from 1993 to 2011, about 60% to 70% of homicides were associated with a firearm. Over the same period, between 6% and 9% of all nonfatal violence, with about 20% to 30% of robberies and 22% to 32% of aggravated assaults involving a firearm.
Every day 297 people in America are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, unintentional shootings, and police intervention. Everyday 89 people die from gun violence, 31 of those people are murdered. Today I'm going to be talking about the social justice issue of gun violence. Gun violence, death and injury from firearms is a major issue in all parts of our world. Gun violence continues to affect young people, lower-income people, and communities of color. This social justice and public health issue occurs in places all over the world, however it has become such an epidemic in the United States that it will result in gun violence being one of the main topics in the 2016 presidential election. There are many causes for gun violence, for example, in this day and age pop culture influence is the greatest cause of gun violence. Guns have also became more accessible and easy to obtain. Poor identification and treatment of mentally ill people is another significant cause for gun violence.
In America, most occurrences of gun violence do not involve a mass shooting, terrorist attack, or police intervention. The majority of gun violence centers around suicide and homicide. Of the 309 people who are shot in America each day, 32 are murdered, and 58 commit suicide (1). Most policymakers see this as an issue, although the stances they take to combat it vary from party to party. Policies to help curb the issue rarely pass, due to their polarization nature and the protections within the Second Amendment.
Gun violence is a major problem. Various proposals have been offered by the lobbyists, politicians and citizens to reduce including ban on assault rifles, military style riffles, some even went on to the extent of shedding some worrisome over the second amendment because of the series of gun violence in the country. No doubt that this is a challenging subject and it requires bold actions in order to reduce the violence perpetrated by the wrongful use of gun that is now a days use to take the life of not only adults but young kids in elementary school, home invaders use guns to kill innocents, arm rubbers rub banks to get what they want, citizens on citizens crimes is becoming rampant. This worried me so much, and I had to shed some suggestions that I think might be useful or even considered in reducing gun violence. “From July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014, there were a total of 48 student, staff, and other nonstudent school-associated violent deaths in the United States, which included 26 homicides, 20 suicides, 1 legal intervention death, and 1 undetermined violent death.” NCES Data.