In 2015 alone, there were 372 mass shootings, including 64 school shootings in America alone. In 2015 alone, some 13,286 people were killed by firearms just in the US. In 2015 alone, there were no significant changes to our gun laws. We are half way through the year of 2017, and yet we are still struggling with the issue that should have been controlled centuries ago. We cannot sit still any longer; we must strengthen our gun laws.
On June 12, 2016, a man came into a gay bar and began shooting at innocent people; marking our history as the most deadliest mass shooting in the United States. Although some people felt that gun laws must be enforced before, after this traumatic event, many Americans and Politicians began to seek change in our laws. Or so they say. Although this event was the most deadliest mass shooting in the United States, it is not the first shooting to gain the nation's attention. December 2, 2015, two assailants killed 14 people and injured 22 in San Bernardino, California. June 18, 2015, a man ran into a church killing nine people in the middle of prayer at Charleston, South Carolina. December 14, 2012, a man forced his way into an elementary school, shooting at first graders, killing 20 first graders and six teachers in Newtown Connecticut. July 20, 2012, a man begins shooting in a movie theater, killing 12 and injuring over fifty. The list goes on and on. The shooting in Orlando may have had the most victims, however unfortunately at the current rate we are at, the Orlando shooting can be expected to eventually just become another shooting to add onto our list. When will our government finally realize we need to step up our gun laws?!
A NewYorkPost claimed that in a poll taken on June 21- 27, 2016, "59 percent favor an assault weapons ban, even though only 47 percent said the ban would work and 49 percent said it “would not be effective.”. Fifty-seven percent said it’s too easy to buy a gun, and 62 percent said “expanding background checks would help reduce gun violence.”". Some may argue that sticter gun laws would not do much, arguing that those who seek violence will get their way around the laws, however when comparing the statistics, America has the greatest ratio of deaths caused by gunfire to all deaths.
Our problem with shootings may require more than just stricter gun laws; our issue may even be embedded deep in our culture. Our solution is not clear yet, but something else is: We cannot just sit still anymore, we must make a change, and it begins with out gun laws. For the hopes of a brighter future, I cannot emphasize more how much more we need to change our gun laws for the better.
For her Blog Stage 7 my classmate Rebecca Choi wrote a piece on her blog, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, about the large number of mass shootings in America and the lack of action in Congress to combat this epidemic.
ReplyDeleteTo start off her article she began by presenting some cold hard facts about mass shootings in America, citing the number of mass shootings and deaths as a result in 2015 and noting that no real move has been made in congress to combat gun violence. I however did notice some small errors that were a little distracting while I was reading. Rebecca used the word “alone” 4 times in 3 sentences, not a huge problem, just something to think about when writing things like this where diction can really serve to elevate the argument being made.
Then she went on to go into more detail on some of the shootings from the past year mentioning incidents such as, San Bernadino, Charleston, Newtown, and finally ended with Orlando. Then the author questions why the government has yet to make any moves to solving the gun violence problem in our country.
Then Rebecca cites a statistic from the New York Post from a poll about people favoring assault weapon ban but also saying that it probably wouldn’t help, people saying its too easy to buy a bun and that expanding background checks would help reduce gun violence. I think stating some real evidence to back up her claims made her argument more solid.
In the last paragraph Rebecca sums up her article by stating the while there isn’t a clear solution yet, people should still be looking to make a change to the gun laws.