Why Gun Violence Increasing

Gun violence has had a drastic increase over the years, leaving the United States desperate for laws to be implemented concerning the well-being and safety of citizens. Terrifying events surrounding gun violence have left researchers with no option but to investigate gun laws and regulations. Only some states require permits in order to purchase a firearm and background checks are required by federal law to anyone purchasing a gun as well. A citizen at the age of 21 is legal to purchase a handgun however, in order to buy a long gun, such as rifle, the required age is 18.

After the events of the Parkland shooting took place in February 2018, four states have already changed and rearranged their gun laws. With the increase of lives being lost, impacts on children and the division of the country resulting from gun violence that many individuals experience, the federal government of the United States will provide a solution such as new laws, resulting in an ultimate decline in gun violence by the year of 2025.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution is the right to bear arms or in simple terms it is a United States citizen’s right to possess a firearm or weapon. Over the past decade however the Second Amendment has been thoroughly debated with large increases of gun violence resulting deaths and injuries that have affected many families and communities around the country. According to a graph charted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the number of active shooting incidents from 2000 to 2016 have had a steady increase, reaching its peak in 2011 at 27 incidents in the United States. Over those 16 years, 644 lives have been lost and 785 citizens have been wounded in the process (Gun Control). Gun control is a topic that is consistently debated each year following the lives lost in a massacre shooting. With the topic, citizens bring, gun violence statistics, high-profile crimes committed with guns, and the ready availability and large number of privately-owned guns in the U.S. have spurred for gun control laws, and for their enforcement (Gun Control). A staggering statistic surrounding gun violence is the result of 30,000 people are killed per year by accident, homicide or suicide (Gun Control). The statistics surrounding the effects of gun violence show the United States government needs to act in implementing laws by the year of 2025.

The most important consideration the government should take in when debating what laws should be implemented when dealing with gun control is the safety of the nation’s future, children. Children from all different ages have been affected either first or second hand in school shootings or other gun related incidents. Children are the most important aspect when dealing with the issue of gun violence and, On March 21, 2005, a Minnesota school was the scene of the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Five students, an unarmed security guard, and a teacher at Red Lake High School were killed by 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise, who then took his own life. The eight deaths were exceeded only by the toll in the 1999 Columbine High School incident in Littleton, Colo. in which 15 lives were lost (Minnesota School). There has been no shortage of school shootings in the United States dating back to the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 that seemed to set off a trend for years to come. Since then, more than 187,000 students attending at least 193 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours, according to a yearlong Washington Post analysis. This means that the number of children who have been shaken by gunfire in the places they go to learn exceeds the population of Eugene, Oregon, or Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Woodrow and Rich). With several school shootings occurring every year, the government should work on implementing new laws that will provide gun control among American citizens. Gun control will assure parents a safer environment for their children when they attend school.

The division of the United States is due to the live that are lost each year due to homicide, suicide and massacre shootings. A country being divided is the result of, 276 gun homicides a week in America. There are 439 gun suicides. All told, there are, on average, nearly 1,200 incidents involving gun violence, every week, in America (Van Dam). A division between two opposing sides over gun violence and the laws regarding gun control is not what is in the best interest of the citizens and children of the United States. Rather than being separated, the country should be working together on how to find new ways to better protect the schools, children and lives of the United States by reducing gun violence and action.

Many opposing arguments reiterate the Second Amendment and that is entirely within their right to do so. It is right to feel the need to protect yourself and loved ones at any cost and with that will exemplify the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment states, 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 meaning that no matter what the case, a United States citizen has the right to own and operate a firearm given the proper permits and licenses. However, without restrictions on firearms that are being sold to citizens as young as 18 years old, there will be no way to ensure that the people of America are safer when they are attending school, work, sporting events, concerts and many more.

Gun violence has had a drastic increase over the years, leaving the United States desperate for laws to be implemented concerning the well-being and safety of citizens. Ever since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, acts of gun violence have seen drastic increase in numbers and incidents. The well-known shooting sparked a trend in not just United States schools, but in sporting events, concerts and public events. Before the lives were lost in the Columbine High School incident, gun violence was heard of but was nowhere near being considered a trend as it is today. The people who have been affected by gun violence know the standard that should be held when an individual purchase’s a gun of any sort. While many states have restrictions and regulations on purchasing a firearm, the United States government needs to investigate what is more important, a citizen’s right to carry a firearm or the safety of the citizens who don’t. Gun violence has a phycological on not just the survivors of these shootings but their family members as well, along with the families that have lost relatives as well. Due to gun violence having such a negative impact on schools, families and children of the United States, citizens have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on why certain laws and restrictions should be implemented in order to decrease the amount of gun violence that has been experienced. The government has fought back with their reasons as to why laws surrounding the right to bear arms should remain the same. However, it is only a matter of time before laws will be rearranged and implemented to minimize gun control. With the increase of lives being lost, impacts on children and the division of the country resulting from gun violence that many individuals experience, the federal government of the United States will provide a solution such as new laws, resulting in an ultimate decline in gun violence by the year of 2025.

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