...GUN VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN AND TEENS Every year in this country, thousands of children and teens are killed by gun violence. Those who live in the lower class are in constant fear of being killed or maimed during acts of violence. Drug deals, gang wars, racial wars, and random school shootings such as Sandy Hook Elementary School, tells America there are no safe places in this country that does not have some kind of violence. According to the Children’s Defense Fund, there are more infants, toddlers, and preschool children killed than officers who are in the line of duty. Firearm deaths in the United States stated that in 2010, there were 2,711 infant, children, and teens killed by gun violence (CDC 2012). Between 1981 and 2010, gun violence killed 112.375 infants, children, and teens. This is 25,000 more deaths than the number of soldiers killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined (Children’s Defense Fund 2013). Of these deaths, 1,982 were murders by gun violence. Every state between 2000 and 2010 lost children to gun violence with the deadliest of these in Alaska with an 8.7 gun deaths for every 100,000 children (Children’s Defense Fund 2013). The deadliest state was Alaska with 8.7 gun deaths for every 100,000 children and teens each year, more than twice the nationwide rate of 3.6. While Alaska was 21 times more deadly for children and teens, the safest state in the nation is Hawaii. While all the states in this country has dealt with children’s’ death...
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...with mass shootings and violence, making it seem as if America’s gun problem revolves around them. America has many gun problems, including mass shootings, but suicide leads to the most gun deaths per year. When the discussion for gun violence revolves around mass shootings, it makes it harder to decrease gun violence. Many studies show that homicides and mass shootings are slowly decreasing or leveling out, while suicides have been gradually increasing since the 90’s (Sanger-Katz, 2015, para 8). The media covers news stories involving mass shootings, homicides, and homicide-suicides, but rarely covers stories about suicide. Suicide is a well-avoided topic in America; it makes people uncomfortable to talk about mental illness. People also avoid talking about suicide on media because it brings embarrassment to the family involved and leaves a stigma that makes it harder for people with depression to ask for help (Masters, 2016, para 3-4). Additionally, it gives people the idea to commit suicide if they are feeling hopeless. This is especially true for the younger population. While I was in high school, my school either had no suicides or over five consecutive suicides in one year. However, because it is a sensitive...
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...children are hurt from guns every day, in which twelve children are injured and seven children are killed. These are only just children. Imagine how many people become victims of gun violence every day. There is a lot of debate between whether or not more laws should be passed to control the ownership and manufacturing of guns in the United States. Can gun control laws reduce the amount of gun violence? The clear answer is yes. First, the suicide rate will lower if we enact more gun control laws. Next, making people undergo background checks before owning a gun will help reduce the risk of a firearm ending up in the hands of a criminal or a mentally ill person. Third, there will be more gun deaths if it is easier to obtain a...
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...Second Amendment was first ratified on December 15, 1791. Because of the Second Amendment, the use of guns is a lot more dangerous for us in society today. The number of suicides and homicides are increasing every year and the United States has a higher amount of firearm related murders than other countries. Even though American gains a lot of rights and benefits due to the Second Amendment, the negative effects are increasing every year. By improving the Second Amendment, and putting more restrictions on gun regulations, there would be a safer society for the people. Our world has evolved – the Second Amendment should evolve as well. The right to keep and bear arms makes people feel a lot safer because they have some source of protection. It is impossible for the government to protect every American citizen, so the people should have...
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...put More Restrictions on Gun Ownership and Use The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "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." The Second Amendment is the people’s right to bear arms. The United States should put more restrictions on gun ownership and use. Any american citizen can purchase a firearm from a store with a simple background check or firearms are sold at gun shows with no form of investigation on the customer's criminal record. The customer purchasing the gun is asked to fill out a form that takes a couple of minutes to complete. The form consists of questions about the customer's...
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...PROTECT CHILDREN NOT GUNS 2012 THIS REPORT IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF TRAYVON MARTIN AND THE THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS KILLED BY GUNS EACH YEAR IN AMERICA. Children’s Defense Fund Mission Statement T he Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective and independent voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, drop out of school, get into trouble or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit public charity supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. © 2012 Children’s Defense Fund. All rights reserved. Table of Contents Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Stand Up and Take Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Child and Teen Gun Deaths . . . . . . . . . ....
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...There are many rules concerning gun ownership in the country of India, but these rules and regulations are not that much different than the ones implemented in the United States. In India firearms are managed “by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Internal Security Division II, “all of the rules of gun ownership are governed by “metropolitan and special-task police forces”. The right to bear arms in India is not guaranteed by the laws in India. In India civilians are not allowed to own automatic weapons. In India owning a handgun is allowed with a license if it is for protection and for target shooting. This however was not always the case, in 1857, there was a mutiny against the British militia by the India government, this made the British army stand up and evaluate the regulations of gun ownership in India. Even in India, the thoughts of not allowing gun ownership to civilians that can pass a compete background check is not even considered. A great person was once quoted as saying “"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." -- The Dalai Lama, (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times) speaking at the "Educating Heart Summit" in Portland, Oregon, when asked by a girl how to react when a shooter takes aim at a classmate”. There are many questions concerning gun ownership, these questions are generally addressed whether it is in the United States or whether it is in India. Some of the questions might be: “Will there...
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...Gun Violence Tabatha Richardson Axia College of University of Phoenix While opponents of gun control still contend that everyone has the right to bear arms, the gun violence is still raging on and destroying lives and families. Last year 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the United States; while our government and the people on opposite sides are debating and arguing about being pro-gun and anti-gun, a child, a teen and many people are dying by the second. Released in 2002 according to the latest national data that is one child every three hours. According to Children’s Defense Fund and National Center for Health Statistics every year at least 4 to 5 times as many kids and teens suffer from non-fatal firearm injuries. Between 1979 and 2001, gunfire killed 90,000 children and teens in America. In one year, more children and teens were lost their lives to gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined. Children’s Defense Fund. Firearm deaths among kids under 15 are almost 12 times higher in the United States than in other industrialized countries combined, says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Education Association Health Information Network (2005). From Statistics Facts & Quotes in 2005 there were 1,019 gun deaths in the state of Illinois, which a 3% increase from 2004 statewide gun deaths. The 2005 Illinois gun deaths included 569 homicides 56% of all IL gun deaths 424 suicides 42% of all IL gun...
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...Guns do not kill people. People kill people. The person is the one who pulls the trigger, killing someone. A gun cannot kill a person by itself. Some people disagree, and because of this, there is an issue on gun control, whether people should freely possess them or not. The debate is between making gun laws more or less strict, letting people wield them freely or not.Though the results of laws being less strict are far more acceptable than laws being more strict. Some reasons include that when guns are removed, crime increases, possessing a firearm can help with self defense, and when guns are taken out, gun violence still exists. Primarily, removing guns causes more crimes. Samuel Francis, contributor of Gun Control: Opposing Viewpoints,...
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...Guns Are Not the Problem, People Are Violence in school environments have become a major issue, and there are many precautions we can take to prevent this violence. Precautions such as better background checks before purchasing a gun will greatly decrease deaths due to gun violence. In America, the average number of school shootings is approximately 1.37 per week (Davies). There are too many lives lost throughout the year to gun violence. It is time for America to step it up when addressing the flaws in the laws and regulations in the systems. Seeing that gun violence in school environments have recently become such an issue, the United States must address these issues head on by enforcing more and existing laws and change the laws that contain imperfections. Gun violence has not only spread throughout the United States but also in many other countries as well. On an average day in America, there are at least ninety-six deaths resulting from gun violence (Guns). Every day, seven teens and children from ages zero to nineteen die due to gun violence. This means that four out of...
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...Gun control has been an issue in the United States even before the country was established, and declared independent. The first ever attempts by the British were embargoes on gunpowder. Also two massive direct attempts to confiscate firearms. The first major gun control act that followed was not until 1934 with the National Firearms act (or NFA) in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Today it has become a controversial issue with many people taking very opposing sides. Along with multiple school shootings, the emergence of attempts to ban types of firearms and ammunition, people have been debating this more and more. It has become more than just attempts to control gun violence, but also attempts to restrict violent games, improve hospitalization of the mentally ill, and suicide prevention. When talking about gun control common themes are bans of weapons and background checks. Less talked about are suicide and the mentally disabled. When people see mass shootings there immediate thought is...
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...of a firearm-related incident" (Erdtmann 291). This astonishing amount of gun-related incidents demonstrates how pressing America’s gun violence issue is. Enacting stricter gun legislation is one popular, yet highly controversial method to reduce the level of gun violence in the United States. While gun advocates may argue that placing restrictions on gun sales may negatively impact their constitutional right to bear arms, through the philosophical lens, creating stricter legislation regarding gun sales is the most effective way to reduce the number of firearm-related...
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...The term gun control refers to any action taken by the federal government or by state or local governments to regulate, through legislation, the sale, purchase, safety, and use of handguns and other types of firearms by individual citizens. Gun Control is one of the most serious issue that America is facing today. It is very controversial and “polarizing issue”(Barrett, 2), which means it tends to divide people. There is very Mixed feeling about gun control. The question of whether gun control policies increase, decrease or have no effect on rates of gun violence turns out to be a difficult question. Gun Control is very complicated issue, it become more complicated as people try to discuss it. Some people have very strong opinions against guns,...
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...by a man with a rifle of his own, effectively stopping the shooting before it could further escalate. Recently the media also did not blow up coverage on the maryland school shooting where a teenager fired rounds in his school but was stopped by an armed school officer, stopping the shooting before anyone could get seriously hurt. The shooter Rollins a 17 year old, was not armed with an assault rifle or any rifle for that fact, instead he was armed with what most shooters would use, a handgun. This may be why the media did not want to cover this extensively, because it was not an assault rifle used and/or the fact that authorities actually did their jobs and stopped the shooter. The anti gun liberals are using the media and the minds of young liberals to advance their goal in banning all guns, possibly getting rid of the second amendment. After many tragedies the media have always said that the current shooting is the worst one yet, the “deadliest school shooting ever” when this is not the case. In the recent Parkland shooting it was...
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...In recent days, months and years, our world has witnessed some unthinkable events of violence slaughter and death. Whether it be school shootings, racially and hate fuelled attacks or plagues of terrorism, there is never a time when we switch on the news and don’t hear of another distressing account of annihilation. Who or what are the culprits? No-one knows for sure. But a main factor in America’s case is guns. Since the Dunblane massacre of 16 innocent primary school children along with 1 teacher and the perpetrator himself of March 1996, shock resonated throughout the United Kingdom. The result: a ripple of gun control movements across the UK which led to a tightening of our gun laws and accessibility. Since then,...
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