Intro:
The debate over gun control laws is a very controversial issue in the United States and out of the many issues currently up for debate in American politics, there is no other topic that has a partisan divide quite as deep as the debate over gun control. Few people advocate for mass shootings or other forms of gun violence, except of course for the perpetrators of such actions. It may be easy to blame the recent uptick of gun violence in recent years on the sheer prevalence of guns in American society. After all, if there are no guns that means there should be no mass shootings, right? Many estimates put the number of guns owned by Americans at over 300 million and often more than the U.S. population itself. (112.6 guns per 100
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The perception is that mass shootings are usually committed by people dealing with mental health issues that have easy access to firearms.
Data & Methods:
To examine this issue, I decided to retrieve data on mass shootings in the United States from Mass Shooting Tracker, a group that is dedicated to documenting and tracking gun violence in the United States. In addition I decided to seek out gun ownership data that is organized by state. Finally, I decided to obtain data related to general gun crime and gun deaths that occur in the United States to see if any comparison can be made with the mass shooting statistics. Generally, for each of the visualizations presented, I used ggplot in the program R in order to create a scatterplots to examine how gun deaths, gun crime, and mass shootings relate to one another. Furthermore, I will be using the “cor” function to examine correlation results of the data analysis and visualizations. The methods that are being used are a simple but effective way to visualize and examine this data. I believe that this is the best way to get a big picture view of the issue and to get the core answer as to whether or not gun possession results in gun violence.
Results:
Figure 1 provides a good overview of the gun ownership dataset and just overall how gun ownership is distributed across the country. Most gun
1. There was a study done by the FBI and other agencies to find the relationship between gun ownership and homicide. Specifically stranger to stranger and non-stranger to non-stranger homicides. They used the unified crime reports and statistics from all over the country in different states. Their reports showed that there was no correlation between stranger to stranger homicides. There was however a relatively strong correlation between non-stranger and non-stranger homicides.
Lemieux found that there is significant evidence that “mass shootings and gun ownership rates are highly correlated… and that this association remains high even when the number of incidents from that United States is withdrawn from the analysis,” (Lemieux 82). This quote emphasizes the point that the number of guns in a community has a direct relationship with the amount of mass shootings that occurs in a certain area. The United States has a leniency in gun policies that allow for there to be an astronomical number of mass shootings every decade. If the United States were to model the gun laws after some of the other countries in the world there could be a higher chance of the mass shooting rate going down. Such countries as “Australia [have] not experienced a mass shooting since 1996 when it implemented more rigorous gun policies in response to the Port Arthur massacre,” (Mata 174). Australia isn’t the only country whose gun policies have kept mass shootings from filling the gun records; Mata’s research has uncovered that Great Britain and Switzerland have also shown positive progress. Countries other than the United
Guns are major part of living in the United States of America. The U.S alone has 35% to 50% of the world's civilian owned Firearms. More than likely you have at least one in your house. As more and more guns are being produced and sold in the U.S more anti-gun activists are pushing for increased gun control but the facts show that more gun control actually means more gun related violence. There is no doubt that there is a problem with gun related violence in the U.S. but there is a perception that it has suddenly worsened but in all reality things are better that they have been in decades. Once again on the news you will hear that 30,000 people killed last year with guns. What the media does not say is that of those 30,000, 20,000 of those people killed themselves with a gun. Some of these facts are shocking to hear. Even though gun control is the first thing we turn to when gun related violence occurs the negative factors are far greater than the positives.
The amount of gun violence in the united states has risen to epidemic proportions. The U.S has allowed guns to become so easily accessible, that violence and gun related violence have become a daily occurrence. In the United States, there is a mass shooting that kills four or more people every twenty-three hours. The united states also manufactures and imports a huge surplus, Approximately 30 guns are produced and imported for every one exported from the U.S.. There are more than enough guns being circulated in the U.S. The number of gun murders per capita in the US in 2012, the most recent year for comparable statistics, showed that nearly 60% of homicides were gun related.
There are some commonalities that should be considered in developing an effective government policy aimed at preventing mass shootings. According to Michel Martin of National Public Radio, “in more than half of mass shootings, 54 percent, the perpetrator also shot an intimate partner or relative.” Furthermore, according to gun policy expert, Robert Spitzer, mass shootings “almost never occur spontaneously with no prior indication.” This means that there is some knowledge available that could prevent mass shootings. “Despite their differences, however, these mass killers shared one quality with each other and with every other American besides: easy access to deadly weapons” (Frum). Many of the guns used in mass shooting events were legally obtained. Dan Gross of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence sums up the issue with gun control as “’not as much a matter of keeping certain guns away from all people as it is a matter of keeping all guns away from certain people’” (Martin).
Throughout the history of the United States of America there has been debate on gun control. The debate has become even more relevant as more semi-automatic assault rifles are being sold and the amount of shootings we have been having, especially in this last month. There are a variety of views one can take on this argument. Many conservatives have been saying that more gun control is not necessary as it’s not the guns killing the people, it’s the people pulling the trigger that are killing innocent lives. On the other hand, people who are more liberal would like to see legislation passed that would put control on the sale of firearms as keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous people who will willingly pull the
In the past few years Gun control has become a hot topic throughout America. With all the shootings going around the United States, we are faced with controversies over gun control. Americans believe that their government is going to do whatever is best for them, but is that true when they are trying to strip us of our rights that were created for us over 300 years ago. Our country has been thriving with the amendments and laws set before us, and today we are trying to change them. But by just changing a few laws is that really going to stop a criminal from getting what they wanted, there criminals for a reason. Our second amendment gives us the right to bear arms and protect our selves from enemies foreign and domestic. This is the foundation of country; we fight to keep the right that were given to us, so that we can protect our families, our country, and our freedom.
Mass shootings are a huge epidemic in the United States right now. Many people live in fear of another mass shooting. Two important facts to know about mass shootings is what exactly a mass shooting is and how often they occur. CNN’s authors used the Gun Violence Archive to define a mass shooting in his article “A Visual Guide; Mass Shootings in America” as “any incident where four or more people are wounded or killed”(Willingham). The frequency of mass shootings depends on which source you look at; using the definition given by CNN as well statistics, the United States has seen “136 mass shootings in the first 164 days of this year”(Willingham). However, author Sam Harris has a staggeringly different statistic in his blog article “The Riddle of the Gun”. Harris claims that “seventy mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. since 1982, leaving 543 dead” (Harris). Harris’s article is three years older than CNN’s article, yet the facts are staggeringly different by an amount that is nearly impossible to reach in three years. The definitions the two articles used for defining mass shootings are obviously different, but are both capable of informing the reader on the statistics of mass shootings frequency.
The single source most likely has the most credible information about gun control is “The Gun Debate Is a Culture Debate” by Trevor Burrus. Burrus informs his audience that the gun control debate is more of a cultural debate which won’t help reduce gun violence. For instance, Burrus states “When it comes to guns, the much ballyhooed red state/blue state cultural divide is real”. Without Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a solution, they are divided as they have their own agendas instead of working toward the greater good. As well Burrus states “If we want to have a productive discussion on guns we must find a way to cross this cultural divide”. This proves that without unity, the gun control issues won’t be solved. Both
In about every nation, gun control has always been an issue of controversy. Gun control laws are quite different from country to country, each possessing different requirements, specifications, and ordinances, so on and so on. What will be examined are the specified gun control laws in three international countries, ranging from Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as a comparison and contrast of the the similarities and unique differences toward American gun control laws and those in other countries, and finally, the effects of having loose gun control laws. Unlike America, these countries possess stricter laws regarding gun control.
On Wednesday June 18, 2015 nine shot dead at a historical black church in Charleston, South Dakota and only a month later on July 16, 2015 in Chattanooga, Tennessee with five dead leaving citizens devastated. The past year contains more than 350 mass shootings, averaging 1.02 shootings per day and continuous growing number of deaths, multiple mass shootings around the world leaving dozens of victims in its path. There is no exact definition of mass shootings, but most sources believe it is when four or more people are shot in one location. Citizens in America are easily able to obtain a gun and the growing issue is whether this should change and stronger laws in place. Although citizens believe gun control laws take away second amendment and right to protect themselves, mass shootings are increasing yearly and action needs to happen to prevent the next attack.
The debate over stricter gun laws has been ongoing in the United States for quite some time now. Individuals who oppose stricter gun control laws argue that the second amendment to the constitution of the United States constitute part of the bill of rights that protect the right for American citizens to bear arms, and any attempt to set up laws for gun control will be a direct violation on this (Hofstadter 10). They argue that the primary purpose of the amendment was to ensure that American Citizens had the capability to protect themselves against criminal activities and defend the country against external aggression. From a personal perspective, the recent surge in instances of gun violence in the United States of America indicates that stricter gun control laws are necessary for the safety of the American citizenry. Thus, this paper is going to focus on highlighting the benefits of more stringent gun control laws and why members of the public should support it.
Gun control has and will always be a highly debated topic in the United States. There have been several violent tragedies in the past like the ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School, San Bernardino, California and Aurora and Columbine, Colorado involving guns; making this topic an even more highly argued topic. A large segment of American citizens feel these incidents were a direct result of not having stricter gun laws in our country. Many are calling for our government to implement stricter gun laws to ensure that events like these never happen again. Both sides of the aisle are well represented on this topic. One side wants more restrictions on attaining and the use of guns. On the other side, many feel that stricter gun control laws are
Do you feel safe knowing your neighbor has the legal right to own a weapon that could end your life? Gun control in America has been a long fought out debate. Republicans typically believe that it should be entirely legal for Americans to own guns because it is their right from the Constitution and they need it to defend themselves. Democrats typically believe that guns should not be legal because they are dangerous weapons and they can be abused by violent people. The debate over gun laws has continued to divide American because of the many topics that people similarly address yet differently view and the different topics that some people solely argue and some completely disregard.
The controversial issue of gun control is one of the most debatable topics among politicians and civilians alike. This is because of the complexity of gun control and the long history that is related to the subject. Gun control is typically an effort, by the government, to create legislation that regulates the sale and use of firearms within the country. There are various arguments that surround this topic which include gun-related violence, accidents, self-defense, murders, suicide, constitutional rights, and so on. James Q. Wilson, a professor who has taught at Pepperdine University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, and a published author of several books, take a negative stance on the subject of gun control. Wilson contributed to the gun control debate in the last few years with his written op-ed article. According to Wilson, there is no possible method to eradicate the hundreds and millions of guns that exist within the country, restrictive gun laws will not significantly affect the United States’ murder rate, and that guns play an important role in self-defense in everyday lives. Contrary to what Wilson believes, strict gun control is necessary and should be enforced to ensure public safety because gun laws have the power to produce a positive outcome in the long run, reduce gun-related violence, and reduce the numerous risks that gun ownership open.