Authors Point of View: After reading the article on gun violence by Jeff Nesbit, I believe he wrote the article in search of answers. He brings up an interesting issue in questioning if gun violence is a public health epidemic. He is suggesting that the government give money to federal science agencies, such as the CDC, to research how many people die from gun violence every year, and use the information found in that research to find the root of the problem and try to stop it. He recognizes that groups such as Cure Violence are actively trying to stop this violence in some communities but suggests that these organizations could benefit from facts about the subject found through scientific research. He also believes the NRA is lobbying the government to block this research. He mentions how people are only concerned about the problem when a tragedy happens and then forget about it until the next one occurs. I think his main intention of writing this article was to get peoples attention and call on the government to try and find a solution to this problem that occurs daily and is seeming growing in this country, instead of just acknowledging it, grieving, and then eventually shrugging it off whenever a tragedy happens.

Opinion:
Although I agree with some points Nesbitt makes, overall I disagree that the government should spend money to research gun violence as a public health “epidemic”. The definition of epidemic can be found as, “the widespread occurrence of a disease or undesirable phenomenon”. Although I think that gun violence is a terrible thing, I do not believe that it is so widespread or sweeping over the nation. Tragedies pop up randomly when crazy people do these random acts of violence, and I don’t believe there will ever be a way to get rid of all the crazy people in the world, but I am not opposed to more research on mental health issues that may cause these acts. I believe another factor that adds to these high statistics of gun violence is from urban crime, such as inner city gang members shooting each other. Those crimes I believe are often a product of the environment and poverty, so I don’t think scientific research could help in that area. The best way to fight that is to get out actively in the community like you see some of these groups in the city doing.
I believe gun violence has been a problem for a long time it’s just become a more debated topic recently due to news outlets and social media covering these tragedies more intensely. I don’t think this is a bad thing though, people should be aware of this problem and of the tragic things that go on in our country daily. So overall while I am not opposed to the research at this time I think the government is not in a good position to spend money on it at this time and I would like to see the money go towards researching other medical issues and cures to diseases. I do think however it would not hurt to tighten gun laws in some states, by adding permits to purchase and requiring background checks. I don’t believe they should be taken off the street completely though because citizens should have the right to defend themselves with all the crazy people running around out there today. I do hope one day that there will be answer to this problem, because people deserve to feel safe when they’re at home, work, or walking on the street. At the end of they day I still feel like America is the greatest country in the world and I’m proud to live here.