Category: Gun Violence

The Problem of the Development of Gun Culture in the American Society

Today’s media highlights current news events that are controversial while also imposing their personal bias of the event. This influences the audience’s behavior by significantly increasing the rate of public conversation on these topics. Public conversation and controversy can initiate social movements like protests, activism groups, and incite the continuous division between political parties. The general public is usually quick to adhere to one of two sides, based on information solely presented through biased media. This may give rise to the misconception that traumatic events, such as kidnappings and gun homicides, happen only to other people. Recently gun legislation has been a hot topic for debate since the occurrence of mass shootings have skyrocketed. What people are unaware of, is that the frequency of all forms of gun-related deaths, including suicide, are continuing to grow in the US. Gun homicides are commonly thought of as unpredictable and random events, however recent data suggests a sociological based theory to better understand gun culture trends in the U.S.

It has been reported that between 2003 and 2015, the US firearm death rate increased by 24.9% (Grinshteyn, 2019). This study provided connections between firearm death rates and gun legislation in each state to infer why this trend was being observed. The political climate, or conservatism, surrounding the qualifications for legally obtaining a gun, are vastly different in each state. Gaining access to a firearm will differ depending on the state, specifically more lenient gun legislation, such as conservatism, is thought to result in easier access to guns. Previous data suggests that states with more residents who voted Republican had greater access to firearms and higher rates of firearm suicide (Augustine, 2013). Easier access to firearms does not entirely explain why there is a rise in gun homicides and suicides. The 2015 National Firearms Survey found 63% of respondents indicated “protection against people” to be a primary reason for owning a firearm. The dramatic liberalization of gun laws over the past four decades reflects and facilitates the development of Gun Culture (Yamane, 2017). People are aware that gun prevalence is increasing, and the only way to maintain self-protection, is to match the adversary and own a gun themselves. Gun exposure explains the increasing gun violence trend, gun access directly (alone) explained 33.9% of the differences in suicide rates and 55.4% of the gun suicide rates (Augustine, 2013). Now that more people are owning guns, the likelihood of a gun being involved in direct confrontation and accidental death are higher. The gun industry also promoted guns as objects of (typically masculine) desire through the mass advertising that was increasingly embraced by corporate America to fuel consumer capitalism (Yamane, 2017). Divided political opinions, public conversation, and gun legislation are found accountable for the increase in gun homicides and gun suicides since 1999.

Not only is the incidence of gun homicide and suicide increasing, gun culture and violence are now happening more than ever before. Gun violence is considered any violent act committed with the use of a gun. Depending on the act committed, it could be considered criminal violence, in which the violent act is the objective. For this analysis, gun violence is based on homicide and death rates where a firearm was the weapon. Other industrialized nations do not exhibit the same trends in gun violence, which leads us to question how the current social structures and cultures influence the rate of gun violence. Statistics comparing gun suicides between nations confirms the U.S is the highest in the world, “Few countries parallel the rates of gun suicide in the United States; for example, the U.S. firearm suicide rate is 1.25 times the next closest nation (Finland) and 200.8 times Japan’s firearm suicide rate” (Augustine, 2013). The next closest nation is almost 1.5 times lower than the U.S.; this huge difference reflects the prevalence of gun violence. Compared with the US, Norway has about one-third of the number of guns per 100 civilians — and about one-tenth of the rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people (Grinshteyn, 2019). Concrete analysis on gun violence leads researchers to question why gun violence is solely predominating in the U.S.

In the U.S. it was found that there is a cultural significance in owning a gun, an ideal that relates personal responsibility to the broader concept of citizenship. A term used to emphasize this connection is, the “citizen soldier”—gun carriers as citizen‐protectors are morally upstanding citizens exercising their historically masculine duty to protect their families and others (Yamane, 2017). As explained earlier, exposure, and easier access to firearms directly influences gun homicides and suicide rates. Therefore, the cultural value of being the form of protective masculinity leads to an increase in gun owners. In the past it is seen that, gun carrying for men as being strongly connected to their cultural conceptions of masculinity (Yamane, 2017). Drawing on previous conclusions, when people begin buying guns, it perpetuates a cycle of obtaining firearms, for fear of everyone else and their firearm as a method of protection. The pressure of personal responsibility in the U.S. drives the division between communities, specifically the government and the public. There is a strong distrust in law enforcement, and the justice system, which can create a sense of self advocacy as a citizen – to protect one’s family and themselves, they must be the ones to do it. Other nations, such as Norway, do not exhibit the same gun violence trend because their governments go to great lengths to build trust in local communities. Sociologists who study the Nordic model have found that social cohesion between citizens and the government goes a long way toward ensuring a (mostly) peaceful society (Grinshteyn, 2019). Its apparent that unity as a nation is very influential when it comes to gun violence. Today, the U.S. is not united, the political controversy and genuine distrust in our legal systems is the source for explaining why gun violence is so prevalent in U.S. society compared to other industrialized nations.

Evaluating rates of gun-related incidents in populations and the groups within them can be used as a predictor for gun violence. Previous data on gun violence suggest that social distance is related to gun victimization: the closer one is to a gunshot victim, the greater the probability of one’s own victimization (Papachristos, 2012). Interestingly, most people experience clustering of their social networks on socio-demographic characteristics, primarily because people generally have significant contact only with others like themselves; this phenomenon is called “homophily” (Kalesan, 2016). Social network homophily based on race has also been also well-documented, this is where people establish friendships based on race and race-specific biases (Kalesan, 2016). Social scientists can apply this information when developing an understanding about what types of people are most likely to experience gun violence. Its been found that non-Hispanic whites have a likelihood of 97.1% of knowing at least one-gun violence victim within their SN while blacks have a 99.9%, Hispanics have 99.5% and other racial groups have an 88.9% likelihood (Kalesan, 2016). Different ethnic groups experiencing varying amounts of gun violence emphasizes social network homophily.

However, there must be an explanation to why blacks and Hispanics experience a higher incidence of knowing a gunshot victim, and potentially being one themselves. It’s thought that socioeconomic determinants, and the availability of firearms are factors that place these minority groups at a higher risk. Research tells us that racial/ ethnic minorities are experiencing the trauma of gun violence to such an extent that their ability to cope is compromised These stressful and traumatic events contribute to mental states and overall quality of life that is disrupted by emotional changes, and those are passed on through generations (Mitchell, 2019). In addition to racial minority groups facing increased risk of victimization, males are at risk as well. Studies have found that men completed 87% of the firearm suicides in 1998 and had a firearm suicide rate more than 6 times the rate for women in the same year (Augustine, 2013). This might correlate with evidence that relates masculinity to the cultural significance in owning a gun. Men are more likely to be gunshot victims because they are more likely to be in proximity of a gun. Though there is still much to be learned about gun violence trends, there is evidence supporting potential theories as to why gun violence continues to persist as a social issue in the U.S.

Works Cited

1. Augustine J. Kposowa, Association of suicide rates, gun ownership, conservatism and individual suicide risk, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 10.1007/s00127-013-0664-4, 48, 9, (1467-1479), (2013).
2. Felson RB, Berg MT, Rogers ML. Bring a gun to a gunfight: Armed adversaries and violence across nations. Social Science Research. 2014;47:79-90.
3. Grinshteyn, E., & Hemenway, D. (2019). Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 123, 20–26.
4. Kalesan, B., Weinberg, J., & Galea, S. (2016). Gun violence in Americans’ social network during their lifetime. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 93, 53–56.
5. Mitchell, Yolanda T, and Tiffany M Bromfield. “Gun Violence and the Minority Experience: NCFR.” Gun Violence and the Minority Experience | National Council on Family Relations, NFCR, 10 Jan. 2019.
6. Osborne, G. B. (2010, June). Taylor, Jimmy D. American gun culture: collectors, shows, and the story of the gun. CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, 47(10), 2022.
7. Papachristos, A. andrew. papachristos@yale. ed., Braga, A., & Hureau, D. (2012). Social Networks and the Risk of Gunshot Injury. Journal of Urban Health, 89(6), 992–1003.
8. Yamane, D. (2017). The sociology of U.S. gun culture. Sociology Compass, (7).

Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: Critical Essay

In 2022 so far, there have been 27 school shootings and over 200 general mass shootings in America, and it is only May. America’s numbers are greater than any other country when it comes to deaths from gun violence. Included in that, is the number of school shootings which has been at a steady increase since 1980. Moreover, Antonis Katsiyannis of Clemson University said in 2018, ‘In less than 18 years, we have already seen more deaths related to school shootings than in the whole 20th century.’ Now more than ever, students live in fear that they will be next to experience what too many American students already have. Many, enraged by the uptick in gun violence and frequent attacks, are protesting for stricter laws regarding the sale and availability of guns. There are two shootings to analyze, both similar in nature, that occurred 30 years apart. By comparing the Stockton Schoolyard shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting we learn that in response to a major tragedy, America failed to make any drastic or effective changes in federal law to prevent these horrific incidents from occurring.

January 17, 1989, started off as a normal day at the Cleveland elementary school in Stockton, California. With only a few minutes left of the recess, Patrick Purdy opened fire on the children on the playground with a semiautomatic assault rifle. He fired 105 times injuring thirty people and ultimately killing five children whose ages ranged from six to nine years old. After three minutes he used the other gun he was carrying, a pistol, to commit suicide. It was reported that during the attack he said to a bystander: ‘the damn Hindus and boat people own everything’. Because of this comment, and the fact that a majority of the victims of this shooting were Asian, people believed that it was a racially motivated attack. This was later confirmed when the investigation was publicized months later. While this attack was considered the worst of its time, many people today are unfamiliar with the specifics of it and even more are unaware that it was a hate crime.

Patrick Purdy who was 24 years old when he committed this atrocity, had actually attended Cleveland Elementary School as a kid and lived in Stockton for a while when he was older. Purdy had a rough childhood, with an absent father and neglective mother. Over his lifetime he had compiled a lengthy criminal record which included arrests for vandalism, drug possession, prostitution, and weapon convictions. Nevertheless, he managed to obtain his weapons fairly easily. To purchase the AK-47 he used a fake name and lied on a required form about his past arrests. At this time, California did not require background checks or a waiting period for gun purchases. When the public found out about Purdy’s ease with obtaining his weapons, many were outraged. So, after lots of gun control advocacy, California passed the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989. It made it illegal to own over fifty different brands of semi-automatic firearms, or assault rifles. This included different rifles, pistols, and shotguns. Something similar was attempted in 1988 but was rejected by the overwhelming gun lobbyists. On the federal level, in 1989, President G.W. Bush signed the Semi-Automatic Assault Rifle Ban in an attempt to prevent assault weapons from being brought into America. Though, this was not very effective because people just found ways to get weapons domestically.

On Dec 14, 2012, one of America’s deadliest school shootings occurred at Sandy Hook elementary school. The events of the day began when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother in their own home. He shot her four times with a .22 caliber rifle that she had purchased. He then gathered her other weapons which included an AR-15, two semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun, and ammunition magazines, and drove her car to the Sandy Hook elementary school. He entered the school by shooting at a window next to the locked school door and was quickly confronted by Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach, both of whom he shot and killed. After killing two more staff members, he entered a first-grade classroom where he shot and killed fourteen children and a teacher and then went to another classroom where he killed another teacher and six more students. All of the children murdered were just six and seven years old. When he heard the sounds of police approaching he shot himself in the head. Lanza had attended Sandy Hook as a child and had serious mental illnesses, however, no facts emerged to provide an adequate explanation for his motives and the damage he did.

The massacre convinced many people that the gun laws in place were weak and that changes needed to be made in order to prevent tragedies like this one. President Obama hoped to make gun laws stricter, however, the Senate had other plans. Three different proposals were made, all of which were rejected by the Senate. The 2013 Assault Weapons Ban would have prohibited the sale of magazines that carried more than 10 rounds of bullets and many specific gun models. Another bill would have required criminal background checks before online or in-show gun purchases. Some restrictive gun laws were passed in specific states, but nothing made it to the federal level.

After no success with changing gun laws on the federal level, nine families of victims decided to collectively sue Remington. The company Remington manufactured the AR-15 that Lanza used in the attack, therefore the families wanted to hold gun manufacturers accountable. Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son was a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting said: ‘Nothing will bring Dylan back. My hope for this lawsuit is that by facing and finally being penalized for the impact of their work, gun companies along with the insurance and banking industries that enable them, will be forced to make their practices safer than they’ve ever been, which will save lives and stop more shootings.’

The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016 when the Remington lawyers argued that they were protected by federal law which states that gun manufacturers cannot be held liable for the misuse of their products by others (Protection for Lawful Commerce in Arms Act- PLCAA). Despite this obstacle, the plaintiffs found a different legal angle to pursue when the lawsuit was opened up again in 2019. This time around they sued Remington for their illegal advertising tactics, which violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). The plaintiffs accused the company of targeting mentally unstable kids through their advertisements of memes and cartoons. On February 15, of this year, almost a decade after the incident, the Sandy Hook families settled on $73 Million with Remington. While this settlement did not change the unthinkable events of Dec 14, 2012, it accomplished something by giving hope to others in similar positions who were afraid or unable to sue the large companies responsible for the death of their own loved ones.

Much can be learned from the commonalities and differences between the Stockton Shooting and Sandy Hook. Starting with the basic similarities, both incidents occurred at elementary schools and were committed by a white male in his twenties who attended the school in the past. In both cases, Lanza and Purdy had easy access to the assault weapons they used in their attacks. Purdy purchased his weapons illegally while having an extensive criminal record and Lanza stole the guns that he used to carry out this crime from his mother. This shows that even after so much time America was still struggling immensely to prevent the wrong people from getting ahold of guns. Adam Lanza did not have a criminal record, however, he did have severe mental illnesses and his mother should have been more protective of her weapons, especially knowing her son’s condition. Purdy, however, had no record of mental illness.

These comparisons bring up an important debate. When considering taking preventative measures and the underlying factors that cause shootings like these, some argue that mental illness is what needs to be taken care of, while others argue that a change in the laws is what is necessary. While mental health is something that can be dealt with on a more personal level, within institutions and communities, gun control cannot be. As a result of the Stockton shooting, there were state laws passed to prevent the use of assault rifles and the President even signed a law to limit the importation of assault weapons. But that is all because for centuries gun lobbyist organizations like the NRA which represents gun owners, and the NSSF which represents gun manufacturers. have made it extremely difficult to get Congress to pass federal laws regarding gun control. For example, they sell more guns to school security teams, further risking that the guns get into the hands of someone they shouldn’t be in.

The devastating Uvalde shooting that happened just days ago emphasizes that even now we are still dealing with the same issues that we were over forty years ago. We are faced with the reality that no real progress has been made if these many children are still dying at the hand of gun violence. As of now, the Second Amendment remains, ‘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.’ But who knows where America will stand on ‘bearing arms’ in a year, ten, or forty?

Florida School Shooting: Synthesis Essay

On February 14th, 2018 at approximately 2:23 pm, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School became the victim of a mass shooting caused by a 19-year-old gunman, Nikolas Cruz. Cruz opened fire, with an AR-15 rifle, between the hours of 2:21-2:27 pm when he decided to pull the fire alarm causing everyone to rush out; students and staff members. Cruz was able to shoot and kill a total of seventeen students and staff members while leaving the rest with physical, psychological, and emotional trauma. Cruz, who was expelled from Stoneman, due to “disciplinary reasons” was able to do this tragedy because he had easy access to legally own a weapon in the state of Florida. Not only did he have easy access to a weapon, but he was able to enter the school with no difficulties because he wore a disguise that included wearing school gear, and as well that there wasn’t enough security to help protect and make sure intruders who could be harmful to the students from coming into the school. Cruz was able to find his way around the school because he already had a map planned out of where everything was located and where he needed to go first.

There were many variables that contributed to Nikolas Cruz’s opening fire at Stoneman Douglas. One of them being the social variables where society was the cause of Cruz’s opening fire. People believe the actions taken were caused by bullying, neglect of an adolescent, and not giving the proper help that Cruz needed at the time. Nikolas was adopted at a young age, both his adoptive parents passed away which took a toll on him, but it was as huge of an impact as when he found out about his mother’s death. “His mother’s death was what had finally destabilized the boy and sunk him in a deep depression”, unfortunately finding out about his mother’s death took a huge toll on his life and it became a major variable in why he took certain actions that he did. He wasn’t given the proper help that he should’ve gotten after experiencing so much trauma in his life and at a young age without having anyone to turn to. The school or even the doctors who diagnosed that he fell into a deep depression should’ve provided him the help he needed, whether it was a psychologist, medicine, or even someone who could look after him in school.

However, Cruz didn’t get the necessary help he should’ve gotten which allowed him to have someone he could speak to about his problems or to just motivate him to do better, but none of that happened. His mother’s death wasn’t the only variable that took part in Nikolas Cruz, many people believed that what could have caused Cruz to open fire was because of getting revenge on the people who would bully him. “When students or former students attack their own school.

The attacks are public acts, committed in full view of others. In addition, although some people might be shot because the shooter held grudges against them, others are shot randomly”, this explains that most of the time school shootings happen because the shooters will directly target people to get revenge or simply just shoot random people to get that “satisfaction”. As stated in the article by Dr. Raj Persaud & Dr. Peter Bruggen, “from a fellow student seems particularly opposite– “How tired he was of everyone picking on him and the staff doing nothing about it.” this is implying that there are certain students who can confirm that Cruz was being bullied for either being “weird” or a “loner” and yet nobody, not even the staff members did anything to stop it, which is why Cruz believed the only way he could get revenge was by shooting up the school and targeting certain people. Almost everyone around him would neglect him for what they believe and see of him, many students would be categorized and assume that “he would be the one to shoot up the school” or he’ll be a possible “school shooter,” this is where many people failed as a society because not only did they say that, but it could’ve caused him to become one so he can make everyone happy and give them the ‘satisfaction” that they were correct.

Even though society contributed to Cruz acting the way he did, it wasn’t the only thing. Nikolas Cruz, himself, caused him to be the way he was and act the way he did. Most people know that Cruz lost both his adoptive parents and his birth mother which caused him to fall into a deep depression, which usually consists of antidepressant medications, and sometimes these types of medications have side effects that are different for each user. There are plenty of people who would agree that Cruz was mentally unstable caused of all the medication he would take, and his depression wasn’t the only thing that showed he wasn’t stable to be alone or own anything that could hurt himself or others. “Cruz showed an early obsession with guns and a record of violence against animals, classmates, and neighbors: he tortured, killed or dismembered some of the neighborhood pets, he had quarrels and fights with his classmates that led to his temporary expulsion of the high school”(Flynn C. P), Nikolas Cruz not only showed signs of being a possible threat to others and himself due to the fact that he was obsessed with violence and mistreating animals, which is the number one sign that criminologist and psychologists believe has to do with mental instability. Due to studies, “research has employed a psychopathological explanatory model, assuming that animal abuse is an indicator or symptom of some mental defect or personality disorder”, meaning that humans that mistreat animals are most likely to be entitled with a mental or personality disorder that could be harmful to both humans and animals.

Many studies out there would prove and agree that seeing how people treat animals could define whether the person could have a mental disorder, nowadays there’s deer hunting for some people who do that as a hobby but that isn’t considered to be a mental disorder. What is the mistreatment of animals would be any animal that isn’t typically being hunted down.

Law enforcement and other criminal justice institutions took part in not properly offering help to protect or even stop the shooting to have occurred. The school security guard, Scot Peterson was the first responder on the scene when Cruz opened fire. According to the state law enforcement department, Scot Peterson ‘refused to investigate the source of the gunshots, retreated during the active shooting while victims were being shot and directed other law enforcement who arrived on scene to remain 500 feet away from the building,’ (Burk, M.) and typically any officer should address to the scene where they should attempt to prevent any harm from occurring, but Peterson did not address the scene. He neglected from entering the school and instead went to call on his radio for backup, which caused many people to lose their lives.

Multiple people believe this was wrong of Peterson to do because he could’ve been able to save at least one person’s life. As stated in the records of the FBI, “FBI did receive two separate tips that we now know were related to the alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz.” In other words, the FBI did receive tips about Nikolas Cruz being a possible threat but failed to address the issue and provide the appropriate resources to prevent something from happening, this is where the criminal justice institutions messed up in. Multiple people trusted their lives in the different criminal justice institutions that are here to ensure their safety whether on the streets or in schools, but because of the failure of both Peterson and the FBI to act accordingly, it has left people traumatized or losing their life. There were many possibilities where the FBI or even the district police could’ve put a stop to this because it wasn’t just the tips but there were students as well who said they told staff members and even high authorities about Nikolas Cruz but said “We warned them multiple times, but they still didn’t do nothing” (Emma Gonzalez). Nobody gave it too much mind believing that he wouldn’t actually open fire when knowing the consequences that could happen.

This massive shooting caused an outburst all over the United States because there are multiple people who are tired of school shootings happening since it’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. After approximately weeks or even months of Stoneman Douglas students trying to recover from the traumas that were left behind. Emma Gonzales who was a former student from Stoneman Douglas was one of the many different activists who were behind the “Never Again” movement, which targeted the NRA and President Donald Trump for their incompetence in not realizing that letting people have easy access to weapons can and will destroy lives. As Emma stated, “Congress and President Donald Trump had repealed a law that made it harder for people with certain mental illnesses to buy guns,” meaning although it was still the NRA’s fault for selling guns to mentally ill customers, which they couldn’t do anything about it as well because of Trump and the lawmakers taking away the one law that could save multiple lives. Of course, Trump and the NRA didn’t stay quiet, in fact, they believe it isn’t completely their fault and can’t make the gun laws stricter because it could cause some people to get angry for them invading their second amendment. Emma Gonzales and other activists are trying up until now to get lawmakers to put stricter gun regulations on the NRA when they sell their guns and they specifically were targeting AK-47 semiautomatic rifles, but there were times when the NRA became ignorant towards all the accusations they faced from the activists and other citizens. The government and lawmakers would say it wasn’t their fault for this tragic incident to happen and that they had nothing to do with it. Politicians were ignorant of the fact that it was their fault because they took away the one law that could’ve stopped so many lives from being lost. They also failed at not making stricter gun regulations, which involved having all gun stores do thorough background checks, equipping them with more modern technology that would help them stay more organized and search up anything they need to make sure the weapon is being purchased by the right person.

There are many theories that could be used to determine if Nikolas Cruz did what he did because of genetics, rational choice, or even caused by social control. Biology, genetics, and evolution theory have to do with the criminal inheriting any criminal aspects from either the mother or father, although it isn’t determined if either his father or mother inherited into Cruz any criminal aspects. In various news outlets, there seems to appear that Cruz’s mother, Brenda Woodard, has been to prison for numerous counts of charges and that it happened 10 years before Cruz was even born, meaning that all of what his mother did before he was born could have transferred to him. All the emotions she felt, all the stress, and everything else that could’ve caused for Cruz to be born and inherit any type of criminal behavior. Throughout that time,

Brenda had two other children with separate fathers, but it turned out to be that one of those half-siblings turned out to have criminal aspects due to the inheritance of the mother, both the half-sibling of Cruz and his mother had similar charges. However, his other brother was adopted by another family and they were able to say that they haven’t experienced any type of misbehavior that includes any criminal acts and that he isn’t the same as his other siblings where he would show signs of being mentally unstable or becoming a potential criminal.

The next theory that could be a possible answer is rational choice because it means that someone decides to take a certain action that will benefit their goals more than cost. This could be applicable to Nikolas because he had only one goal which was to open fire at Stoneman Douglas and even though he didn’t pay much mind to how much his action will actually cost because he only wanted to benefit and think about him committing the crime and winning the satisfaction of going through with his plan. It’s important to keep in mind that it took Cruz time to plan out this whole shooting where he was able to benefit from getting revenge back from people who bullied him or even did nothing to help him when he had nobody by his side. The final theory is social control which has to do with society having a major influence on how people act and handle certain situations. There were plenty of incidents that were indicated where the community, and school that Nikolas Cruz was in caused him to act out because there were many people who would assume that he would be the school shooter, and, of course, that has a major influence on someone since the more you accuse him for being something he could possibly not be could turn around causing him to actually become a school shooter to satisfy everyone’s accusations.

Overall, Nikolas Cruz was influenced by many different things throughout his lifetime, which caused him to commit this crime which left 17 people dead plus others left with severe trauma physical and or emotional. He was socially influenced by society, genetically inherited it, and his own rational choice theory. Society didn’t do anything to help him but push him to the verge of him realizing he has no one who’ll be there for him and there’s nothing left for him, meaning he didn’t have much to lose. Genetics took a bigger part of his personality because inheriting his mother’s criminal personality made Cruz most likely to come out as a criminal at some point even if he was adopted by another family, that wouldn’t stop Nikolas from ever committing a crime once in his life span. Everyone’s biological background is important to know because sometimes people can tell how you will act or become in the future, but of course, not everyone is the same and it could change. This comes to our next point of finding out a logical explanation of why it occurred, rational choice contributed a lot to Nikolas Cruz because he decided to do such a thing just to either feel satisfaction or get the benefits he was hoping to get without caring what the actual cost would be, in this case, the cost of multiple lives being lost. There are many things that could come to perspectives that we’re able to determine why certain actions were taken. Thus, Nikolas Cruz didn’t have only one theory but had two other theories that could back him up in classifying why his actions occurred. However, there are multiple people who would say that what he did was heartless, and that’s extremely true, but there are many videos and students coming forward where they explained and told news outlets that before he even started opening firing he would tell some students to run and get out from the school because it was going to get messy. If Nikolas Cruz was as heartless as other school shooters, he wouldn’t have spared some of the students’ lives that he encountered before opening fire, he would’ve killed them there in that insistent when he got the chance.

Criminologists can determine that the theories they have figured out to learn can apply to figure out why exactly male criminals are the way they are especially on school shooters who have multiple motives to even open fire at any school, although, some of the times there aren’t reasons why they opened fire. When comparing the Columbine shooting with the Parkland shooting there are similar aspects that were taken. Both of them had the motive of harming and taking the lives of innocent people who either bullied them or never gave them a chance to even talk to them and see who they are, leaving them all alone. On the other hand, the sandy hook shooter didn’t have the same motives as the other two shootings, he was never bullied or caused any type of neglect, which isn’t the only thing different, his targets/victims were elementary students and his own mother.

References:

1. Crevillén, D., Gutiérrez, B., & Training and Research Department. (2019, January 6). About guns & red flags: Parkland school shooting. SPECIAL REPORT. Retrieved from https://www.grupodcsolutions.com/single-post/2018/03/05/About-guns-red-flags-Parkland-school-shooting-SPECIAL-REPORT.
2. Flynn, C. P. (2001). Acknowledging the “Zoological Connection”: A Sociological Analysis of Animal Cruelty. Society & Animals, 9(1), 71–87. https://libproxy.sunywcc.edu:2590/10.1163/156853001300109008
3. Persaud, R., & Bruggen, P. (2019, September 26). Psychology Gets Inside the Mind of Florida School Shooter. Retrieved from https://pro.psychcentral.com/psychology-gets-inside-the-mind-of-florida-school-shooter/.
4. Never Again. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=qDt_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&dq=+march+for+our+lives+movement+parkland+shooting&lr=&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q=march for our lives movement parkland shooting&f=false.
5. Oversight of the Parkland Shooting and Legislative Proposals to Improve School Safety. (2018, March 14). Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/oversight-of-the-parkland-shooting-and-legislative-proposals-to-improve-school-safety.
6. Burke, M. (2019, June 5). Former Parkland security officer Scot Peterson was charged with neglect for not entering school. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-parkland-security-officer-scot-peterson-charged-neglect-not-entering-n1013831.

School Shooting: Thesis Statement

Thesis:

By strengthening gun laws and improving school security, mass school shootings would become minimal and we would not have as many across the nation.

I. Have you ever asked yourself when this would stop, or how many more innocent children would have to die in order for something to change?

• A. In 2018, there were 113 people killed or hurt in mass school shootings across the United States.
• B. 2018 has been the worst year for school shootings yet.

II. As months go by, we continue to see stories on TV, social media, or even as close as our own hometowns where there have been mass school shootings.

III. In order for these mass shootings to stop, we need to improve the security of schools across the United States and also strengthen gun laws.

IV. There are many people across the nation that would also agree that we need to find a way to eliminate school shootings, so innocent people stop dying.

V. Today, I plan on identifying the problem of school shootings and then explaining two solutions I researched.

• A. In order to explain and make my case today, I will begin by explaining the statistics of mass shootings in school and identifying the problem.
• B. Secondly, I will describe two solutions that could be made in order to help minimize this issue.
• C. Lastly, I will be describing the solution I think makes the most sense and explain why I think that.

I. Main Point #1: School shootings have been around for over 30 years, but in the past few years, the number of people injured or killed by these shootings has increased.

• A. As Tanya Greathouse said in her article “School Shooting’s” published in 2019, a school shooting, in the typical case, is an event in which a student at an educational institution- an elementary, middle, or high school or a college or university- shoots and injures or kills at least one other student or faculty member on the grounds of that institution.
  • 1. 2018 has been the highest year of shootings or gun-related problems in schools since the 1970s. There were 94 incidents just in 2018 alone. Relating this back to my topic of strengthening gun laws, the majority of these occurrences involved the use of handguns.
  • 2. As Jason Silverstein wrote in the article “There have been more mass shootings than days this year” in 2019, as of September 1, the number of mass shootings across the US thus far in 2019 has outpaced the number of days this year, according to a gun violence research group.

II. Main Point #2: One solution to decrease the number of mass school shootings in the United States, would be to strengthen our gun laws across the nation.

• A. Gun Control is a broad term that covers any sort of restriction on what kinds of firearms can be sold and bought, who can possess or sell them, where and how they can be stored or carried, what duties a seller has to vet a buyer, and what obligations both the buyer and the seller have to report to transactions to the government (NYTimes).
  • 1. As Colleen Walsh stated in the article “Want to stop mass shootings?” in 2019, the elephant in the room, the thing that makes us stand out among the 29 other high-income countries is our guns and our weak gun laws.
• B. Something that would help have stricter gun laws would be to have stricter background checks on people buying guns.
  • 1. Although currently, you still have to receive a background check in order to buy a gun, there have been many loopholes found in the system.
    • a. Gun owners: training, loading their guns safely, storing their guns safely, having a reason to own the gun2. For example, as Richard Perez-Pena said in the article “Gun control explained” in 2015, the law prohibits gun possession by a person adjudicated as mentally defective by a court or other authority. Most people with a serious mental illness never receive such adjudication, and those who do can petition courts to have it reversed. Many mass shootings have been carried out by people who were recognized by those around them as being deeply disturbed, yet were able to own guns legally.
    • a. Nobody should have to worry about going to school or sending their child to school to receive an education and think that someone around them is carrying a firearm3. In some states, if you have a carry permit, you have the ability to carry a firearm onto public school grounds
• C. Although there are two opinions to everything, I would think the vast majority of people in the United States would agree to strengthen our gun laws when it comes to school shootings because this would save innocent lives.

III. Main Point #3: The second solution I found on how to minimize the number of school shootings across the nation would be to improve school security.

• 1. As Nicole Saidi said in the article “10 Ways to put brakes on mass shootings in Schools” in 2012, “We should have stricter security in schools, no matter how nice and safe an area seems to be.”
  • a. Sometimes we can lose track of the idea that no matter where you live, no matter if it city or urban school, or how nice it is, a school shooting can happen anywhere
• 2. As Paul Dughi said in the article “How can schools increase security to prevent mass shootings?” in 2019, there are several ways and ideas to make schools safer from shootings, for example, lockdown drills and active shooter exercises, increased awareness, increased police and security presence, visible security cameras, and metal detectors.
  • a. Although there is no ligament evidence that proves that these ideas will decrease school shootings, it is worth the try if it had the potential to save lives.

School Shooting: Informative Speech

The Rise of School Shootings

A. Intended audience and the topic’s importance

The intended audience for the topic is parents and the board of governors should since they are responsible for policy and decision-making in the schools. Many schools do not have regulations guiding them on how to deal with gun violence in schools.

B. Presentation

1. Introduction

Attention-getting opening: It is without a doubt that names like NIU, and Columbine among others are still fresh in our minds. It is apparent that these names will forever be embedded not only in our minds but also in our hearts. Undoubtedly, the screams of the children and the rambling bangs from the guns will never be erased from our memories.

A thesis statement: Due to the rampant increase and ease in accessibility of guns in America, an increase in school shootings has also been tremendously experienced. Therefore, it is the responsibility of each and every individual to educate and protect the students from this engulfing menace. Gun safety courses should therefore be introduced in schools, as well as, educating and arming the qualified teacher so as to improve protection.

Preview of the main points of the presentation: It is imperative to be aware of the increase in gun purchases thus the increase in the number of shootings and injuries that have taken place in the U.S. Therefore, numerous ways of eliminating and decreasing the vice should be established. Teachers should be trained on handling firearms, friendly ways of disarming individuals, and also arming qualified teachers to properly protect the students. Additionally, students should be educated from an early age on gun safety and awareness.

2. Supporting evidence) for the main points

i. Increased gun Purchases in America

According to research done by Statista Research Department, despite other developing nations setting up policies to deal with gun control issues, the U.S. is lagging behind. Nearly 48% of Americans live or lived in a household with firearms. Apparently, the guns have not only been purchased by parents alone, but also students are taking part in the purchase process. In Chicago, more than one hundred and forty students carry firearms to school.

With the current trends and increase in the level of school shootings since 2000, it is crucial to come up with policies that will make gun purchases less accessible and only qualified individuals can be given a chance to own guns. This brings us to the next issue of how to protect ourselves, the children, teachers, and learning institutions at large.

ii. Training and Arming School Teachers

It is obvious that teachers are the first individuals to respond to any form of crisis or danger that face the students. Therefore, training and arming teachers can quicken response time when any form of attack is done. After the first shot is made, a teacher should be trained to handle the situation first and responsibly. Any response to a school shooting needs proper planning and strategizing since there are many lives in danger. According to Gramlich and Schaeffer (2019), the average response time for an active school shooting is around 12 minutes. Any form of response by the police force takes an average of 18 minutes. This is a lot of time for response when students are in danger.

People and the government are not supporting the idea of arming teachers. Therefore the administration should be armed in order to provide the utmost security. This will not only lower the stress instilled in the teachers but also make sure there is enough security.

Arming teachers should only be taken as the last result in combating school shootings. However, there are other ways that can be utilized in preventing the menace in the schools.

iii. Due to the increased levels of gun purchases, school shootings are on the rise.

Therefore, the local communities, as well as, schools are educating people on how o deal with the issue. Courses on gun handling, safety, and dangers should be introduced early in schools. This way, students will be aware of the kind of precautions they should take in case of a shootout. Law enforcement agencies should also take time to go and train students and teachers on issues regarding gun safety. Additionally, parents at home should also make sure they are communicating to the students the different ways to handle issues in regard to firearms.

iv. Conclusion

News about dead children should be unheard-of. Irrefutably, gun purchase and accessibility as been on the rise and it is extremely difficult to curb the issue of mass shootings at learning institutions. The community is responsible for the lives of every individual and that includes the students. Therefore, gun safety and control should be considered as one of the major issues necessary to curb the menace. Laws and regulating regarding the purchase, carrying, and use of guns should be implemented. Licensing should be done after proper evaluation of the homesteads to avoid such cases in the future.

The record of U.S. school shootings from https://www.ecori.org/public-safety/2019/9/7/us-school-shootings-just-the-facts

References

1. Warburton, R. (2019). U.S. School Shootings: Just the Facts. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.ecori.org/public-safety/2019/9/7/us-school-shootings-just-the-facts
2. Gramlich, J., & Schaeffer, K. (2019). 7 Facts about Guns in the U.S. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/22/facts-about-guns-in-united-states/
3. Statista. (2020). Firearms in the U.S. –Statistics & facts. Retrieved March 10, 2020, https://www.statista.com/topics/1287/firearms-in-the-us/

We Need to Stop School Shooting: Persuasive Speech

The Santa Clarita school shooting is one of the many school shootings that has devastatingly impacted lives in the United States this year alone.

The Santa Clarita school shooting is another nightmare that became a reality. A student attending a California high school named Nathaniel Berhaw killed and injured some of his classmates. Gracie Muehlberger who was fifteen years old and fourteen- year old Dominic Blackwell were murdered by Nathaniel Berhaw. Three other students were transported to the hospital due to injuries. Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Berhaw committed suicide once he was discovered. Since there was no actual motive present it is interpreted that Nathaniel Berhaw suffered from mental health issues. As one of the many school shootings this year, it still did not fail to traumatize any less. I came across this story as it was broadcasted on the news. It was described as another fatal school shooting.

Since school shootings have been frequent and unexpected, schools should take the necessary precautions to protect the safety of their students. Schools have to enforce drills, plans, and regular check-ups on the mental health of each student attending. For example, the California school and Nathaniel Berhaw’s parents were unaware of his mental health of him. He murdered two students younger than him, and he committed suicide right after. This is an indication of unseen mental health issues. More than two hundred- thirty thousand adolescents have experienced gun violence since 1999’s massacre at Columbia High. We need to inform students, check up on students, and take every precaution necessary to prevent this from happening anymore. If not there is fear for the future for all generations.

Santa Clarita school shooting is one of the seventy estimated school shootings this year alone. In these incidents over four- hundred were wounded and over two- hundred were killed. There were the Manassas High School, Douglass High School, Robert E. Lee, Prescott, and the Stem School Highlands Ranch school shootings this year alone. Educators who risked their lives to protect their students or dozens of grieving parents who have to bury their teenage children, should not have to worry if each goodbye is the last one. Students should be spending their days engaged in assignments and school activities, not in regular school shooting drills. School shootings have become inevitable. Families and students should be assured that school is a haven preparing them for the future. Guns are now the third-leading cause of death for children in the United States. Every year, guns kill 1,300 United States children. How can this be acceptable? School shootings also affect the Church, because church leaders have to bear witness to the fatalities of God’s children. Churches are also another target for mass shootings. Church leaders have to pray for students and families after these school shootings.

This event at Santa Clarita only clarifies the intensity of school shootings. I attend school every day, fearing the worst. Based upon review students, and staff that witness school shootings are most likely to suffer from traumatic stress symptoms. School shootings affect mental health even more than before. I now have general concerns for my safety wherever I go. I should be able to attend my school without having to worry about school shootings happening. I should not have to worry if the last goodbye I say to my parents is my last goodbye to them in general. They should not have to constantly keep tabs on my safety, by using apps like “Life 360”. Instead, they should be able to trust that their child is in good hands. As students, parents, educators, and education advisers we must take action.

To protect the safety of future generations we must take action immediately. Schools should enforce drills and tests and regularly check up on the mental health of all students. These strategies can reduce the toll of these tragic events. More than two- hundred thirty thousand students have experienced gun violence in their lives.

School shootings need to end. This is our future, our country, and our lives at stake, we need to put an end to this immediately.

Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting: Analytical Essay

An Insight on the Worst American School Massacres A school shooting takes place when a school or place of education is invaded, leaving many casualties (people who are injured or killed). When having a discussion about some of the most tragic school massacres in United States history, people’s minds typically drift to Columbine High School and Virginia Polytechnic and State University every time; however, Columbine isn’t the most horrific anymore. Columbine High School is in the top five worst school massacres to happen in the United States, but it falls short of making the top three. Critics may argue that Columbine High School set the stage for the other horrendous massacres that have happened in the United States in the last few decades. “Each year in the US more than 2,700 children and teens are shot and killed-and 14,000 more are shot and injured-according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” (March For Our Lives, 20). Undoubtedly, the Virginia Tech massacre had the most casualties with Sandy Hook Elementary School following closely in suit and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shortly after. All three of the murderers who took part in these massacres had a history of mental health problems or were actually diagnosed with mental illness. The worst school tragedies in United States history are the murders at Virginia Tech, the Sandy Hook massacre, and the unfortunate events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Virginia Tech is potentially the worst school shooting in United States history, killing 32 people in total and one suicide. Typically, shooters are examined for mental illness to better understand if there is a correlating cause in their mentality to commit a heinous crime. All over the nation, people are aware of the deadly massacre that happened at Virginia Tech, but no one is quite sure why other than mental illness.

Seung-Hui Cho opened fire on Virginia Tech’s campus on April 16, 2007. Early one spring morning, Cho began his rampage at a residential building by killing a female resident and a residential advisor (Tikkanen, 1). Cho had a history of mental illness; he had several consultations at the universities counseling center, and he was later sent to spend a short time at the psychiatric hospital because his roommate feared that he was suicidal (Tikkanen, 1). According to Tikkanen, Cho had also bought a fair amount of guns, weapons, and ammunition shortly before he began his rampage (2). Weapons that are dealt to people that are unfit to handle should never be given out because they can only lead to disaster.

After killing two people near the residence building, Cho entered the classroom building and chained the doors shut behind him so that people would not be able to flee (Virginia Tech Shooting, 1). A lot of people argue that the rampage began when he entered the classroom building. Cho went into the classrooms and fired at anyone in his range, instantly killing many and leaving numerous people injured. After Cho opened fire in one of the classroom buildings, he then proceeded to commit suicide (Virginia Tech Shooting, 1). It was found in the investigation that Cho did not target anyone but that his motifs were because of the “wealthy brats” (Virginia Tech Shooting, 2). According to Virginia Tech Shooting, the letter also noted Columbine High School’s killers, and it was assumed that Cho was following in their footsteps (2). After the attack, the nation was left in mourning, especially in the area of Southwest Virginia, which was hit the hardest. Virginia Tech now holds an annual candlelight vigil and a marathon. Overall, Southwest Virginia and the area of Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech’s campus lies, is forever changed due to the horrific hate crime that was committed that day. Therefore, Virginia Tech was placed as the worst school massacre of all time due to its number of victims, the killer’s crucial motifs, and the overall intensity and fear of the situation.

About five years after tragedy struck the Virginia Tech campus, another school tragedy struck the United States in a small elementary school, named Sandy Hook when Adam Lanza opened fire in the building. The nation was hurt the most by this shooting and put in a state of sadness because Lanza did not just murder adults in cold blood, but he also demonically took the lives of small children that had barely gotten a chance at life. During the early hours of the morning before the shooting happened, Lanza struck and killed his mother with one of his guns, ultimately killing her. A couple of months before the massacre took place, Lanza reportedly had a falling out with one of his friends, which could have helped him along the path to completing khaos (Katersky, 3). According to Katersky, Lanza was never formally diagnosed with any form of depression, but he talked to some of his friends about mental illness, and depression; he even shared his interest in mass murders and serial killers (2). In addition to his parents getting a divorce when he was nearly eight years old, Lanza’s downhill slope into mental illness began when he was about eleven years old and entering the eighth grade (Katersky, 3). It is unknown if Lanza’s parents were aware of his unusual mental state, but his teachers and the faculty of his school building seemed to take notice. Lanza’s former teachers had reported that he would write and draw assignments that were so gruesome and violent that they repeatedly tried to alert the principal and authorities of the behavior that was portrayed in his work (Katersky, 4).

Lanza had two semi-automatic pistols, an AR-15, and a shotgun, all of which his mother bought for him (Ray, 3). Lanza shot through a plate of glass to gain access into Sandy Hook Elementary (Sandy Hook School Shooting, 1). After entering the building, Lanza met with and killed the school principal and psychologist while the secretary and nurse waited inside the office to make phone calls; Lanza killed twenty-six children and adults during his 5-minute rampage before setting himself up in a corner and pulling the trigger, ultimately killing himself 10 minutes after first entering the building (Ray, 1 ).

After killing a few adults in the hallways, Adam started to walk toward the first-grade classrooms, where he had once sat. Three rooms that were side-by-side belonged to Kaitlin Roig, Victoria Soto, and Lauren Rousseau. He had first walked by Kaitlin Roig’s classroom, but he kept walking because she had a black sheet over the window, which made it look like no one was there, from the last drill that they had done (Lysiak, 96). Teacher Kaitlin Roig saved her children by piling herself and them in her tiny first-grade classroom bathroom; there wasn’t much room at all, so she had to hold some students and make some sit on the toilet and sink (Lysiak, 96). He then continued the rampage onto another classroom. One of the first-grade teachers, Lauren Rousseau, was shot immediately as Lanza entered her classroom because she was still trying to get her children into lockdown (Lysiak, 99).

According to Lysiak:

“He then pointed his Bushmaster and began firing indiscriminately into the group of helpless children, striking special education teacher Rachel Marie D’Avino, killing Catherine Hubbard, Ana Maquez-Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Josephine Gay, Noah Pozner, Jack Pinto, Chase Kowalski, Madeline Hsu, Jessica Rekos, Daniel Barden, Charlotte Bacon, Benjamin Wheeler, Emilie Parker, and Caroline Previdi” (99).

He next entered Victoria Soto’s classroom, where the children stood against the far wall, and he fired his gun at Soto; after killing the young teacher, he started firing at six and seven-year-olds who were trying to flee the classroom (Lysiak, 108-109).

Finally, one of the most recent school massacres that seemed to emphasize gun restrictions the most is Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, leaving fourteen students and three teachers dead. Yet again, the nation had been swept and left in a state of despair and utter chaos. Nikolas Cruz opened fire on the high school in the afternoon after getting out of an Uber with a duffle bag carrying his previously bought AR-15; it was not the only gun that he carried at the time (Teen Gunman Kills 17, 1). After about two minutes into his rampage, he had already killed 11 people and left several injured (Teen Gunman Kills 17, 2).

Although an intruder with a gun usually sparks panic and terror in people, it didn’t spark a lot of terror in people this day because most of the students had no idea what was going on and were completely incognizant. A fire alarm had gone off around the time Cruz entered the building, so some of the teenagers were outside and didn’t hear the gunshot (Cullen, 25). As the shooting was taking place, many of the students were clueless about what was going on and had to find out through social media and texting from their friends who knew (Cullen, 25). Unfortunately, some of the students took videos to send to their friends to alert them, and numerous videos surfaced on social media-some obtaining images of the bodies of those who had fallen to Cruz. The day after Cruz opened fire on the high school, a candlelight vigil was held in Parkland, Florida in remembrance of the 17 lives that were lost the day before (March For Our Lives, 23).

Instead of committing suicide after his mass murder, Nikolas wore clothes to help him blend in as he made his way through the crowd and to a Walmart, being spotted after leaving Walmart (Teen Gunman Kills 17, 2). The high school’s resource officer was arrested a little over half a year later on the count of neglect by retreating from the campus while the mass murder was taking place; the resource officer had been outside when the shooting was happening and knew right away what was taking place, so he fled the scene out of fear and left the school helpless (Teen Gunman Kills 17, 3). After Nikolas Cruz killed helpless teenagers in their own high school, some of the survivors held a rally called, “March For Our Lives” (March For Our Lives, 20). Thus, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was placed on the list of school massacres, and it was so brutal that it made its way into the top three worst school massacres in United States history.

There are several hundreds of people that think that the massacres had a positive outcome on the country because of how they changed people’s views; on the contrary, it certainly did not have a positive outcome, and it was not an uplifting event. This event was a horrendous tragedy that should never happen to a school or any country. They all had many casualties and left many families, friends, and even the nation in mourning for a long period of time. Some people disagree that these massacres caused too much despair because they believe that they positively impacted people’s views on gun restrictions. After these tragedies shook the nation, many gun restriction protests and laws became continuously sought out for the better of the country.

Although it did form many opposing views on gun rights, guns do not kill people; people kill people. In addition to more gun restrictions, others believe that it was better in the sense of allowing more security measures throughout the country. To take more precautions, school resource officers were enforced everywhere, cameras were put in place, and doors were locked and equipped with a camera and buzzer to only allow certain people to enter the buildings. Greater security measures were a positive action, however, they had more of a negative effect due to the simple fact that there should have been greater security without the massacres taking place; the massacres should not have been the only motive for the country’s added desire for more security.

Therefore, the worst school tragedies in United States history are the murders at Virginia Tech, the Sandy Hook massacre, and the unfortunate events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Thus, schools and organizations should never have to face brutality like this. Over these top three worst school shootings of all time, there were 75 lives lost and two suicides. Nothing can compare to the horrible circumstances that have happened to these schools in history. This type of situation should never occur or happen again. School massacres could possibly continue to happen in the future, leaving many casualties and families left in despair; it could bestow a greater amount of terror on school children into the future. If people do not understand the importance of school massacres, they could possibly keep happening, leaving the country in an unlighted, disastrous state. Overall, the wickedness that stuck these schools across the nation certainly arranges them as three of the worst events to have happened to schools, and it should never happen again to any person or organization across the globe.

Gun Violence in the United States: Challenges and Prospects for a Safer Future

Evolution of US Gangs: Historical Roots and Impact

To have hope for a better future, people need to feel safe and not have to worry about violence with every decision that they make. As time goes on, it seems like the United States has become more and more violent. Gun violence has always been an issue since the creation of guns and the signing of the Second Amendment. Ever since American citizens have been able to get their hands on guns, they have used them not just to protect themselves but to cause harm to others.

It becomes extremely dangerous when people from any background can join. Because of the ability of virtually anyone in the U.S. to own a gun, cops have to be trained and armed as well. Although cops are specially trained, they are still human, and that could cause problems such as civilians getting shot or people believing that, in some instances, cops are forced to defend themselves in an unjustified way. Police officer’s jobs are to help people, but they are not always there to help, especially if a disastrous situation occurs unexpectedly. Since the historic Columbine Shooting happened, many more school shootings have taken place in the United States. Because of incidents like this, it is understandable why many people may be afraid for themselves and others’ safety and provide little hope for a better future.

In 1791 the founding fathers wrote the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution; these Amendments were known as the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment is commonly known as the right to bear Arms. To bear arms means to carry a firearm; in the constitution, this Amendment reads that “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 way that this Amendment was worded created controversy over what the founding fathers intended when writing it.

Some believe that since they wrote “the right to keep and bear Arms,” it makes it so that American citizens have an individual right to carry and own firearms. Others believe that since they wrote “a well-regulated militia,” firearms should only be used for self-defense. Gun laws depend on state regulations, meaning that owning a gun can be very difficult, depending on where you live. In states like New Jersey, it is very difficult of people to own a gun, but if you’re in a state such as Vermont, someone could carry a gun as young as sixteen. Gun laws are changing all the time because it is such a controversial topic that a lot of people disagree.

Gang violence and behavior are a lot more diverse and old than many people may think. Street gangs in the United States can be recorded back all the way to the American Revolution, when the classic stereotype of gangs doing anti-authority acts first happened. As time went on, gangs flourished across the United States in mainly Urban areas like Philadelphia and Chicago. In the early 19 hundreds, the Italian Mafia ran the United States by running a network of organized crime. In this time period, nearly all crimes committed by the Mafia were violent crimes. Following the Great Depression, gangs became more relevant in American societies. In the 1990s, crime statistics showed that gangs were responsible for a large percentage of homicides in the United States.

Trayvon Martin to Columbine: Impactful Tragedies

Following the turn of the 21st century, the United States Government estimated the percentage of races, genders, and ages that were affiliated with gangs in the United States. “Nearly half of all gang members in the country were Hispanic, about one-third were African American, about one-eighth were white, and about one-twentieth were Asian… fewer than one-tenth of gang members are female, though some surveys suggested that females account for more than one-fourth of gang membership. Few gangs, however, are female-dominated… About two-fifths of gang members are under the age of 17, and almost nine-tenths are under 25.” Gangs mostly consist of minorities, men, and young adults or teenagers. Because of how the United States deep roots in Gang violence and how Gangs managed to stay relevant in the modern United States, it does not show hope for a brighter future,

Police brutality has become a widely talked about subject in the United States in recent history. Since the death of Trayvon Martin, A 17-year-old boy from Sanford, Florida, who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, controversy arose in the United States and sparked the black lives matter movement. After Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman in an act of claimed self-defense, an organization that goes by the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) was created. This party sought to raise awareness in defense of Trayvon Martin. The NBPP even threatened Zimmerman; on March 24th, 2012, some members of the party offered “a $10,000 reward for the ‘capture’ of George Zimmerman.”

The NBPP showed extreme hatred towards Zimmerman. One month after Trayvon Martin was killed, rallies started taking place across the entire country. The rallies continued after the Zimmerman case but eventually turned into riots. Following multiple cases of Police Officers unnecessarily shooting black people, the black lives matter movement became more and more severe. These riots made Police Officers fear for their own safety, thus creating the Police Lives Matter movement. With no signs of these movements slowing down and controversy still in effect today, it seems as though the future does not look much better.

The Columbine shooting will go down as one of the most infamous mass shootings in United States history. On April 20th, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot up their high school, killing 13 people in total; 12 of them being fellow students and one of them being a teacher. There originally were multiple conclusions as to why they did it, such as them being fed up with being bullied or that there was no true motive. It was later believed that the reason they did it was both “reassuring and more troubling” than what was actually believed.

Eric and Dylan were planning on doing this for a year before they went through with it. They even had bigger plans to “terrorize the entire nation by attacking a symbol of American life.” Their targets were directed at the students and teachers of the school, but they were not motivated by rage against them. “The killers, in fact, laughed at petty school shooters. They bragged about dwarfing the carnage of the Oklahoma City bombing and originally scheduled their bloody performance for its anniversary.”

Tragic Motives and Escalating School Shootings

To them, shooting up Columbine High School was merely just a stepping stone to something larger. The two shooters were different from each other and did not share exactly the same motives that the other did. Dylan was depressed and suicidal, as well as having management issues, which helped explains why he wanted to do this. Eric was seen as a nice, charming, and polite boy. But what they did not see is that inside he was cold and calculating, even homicidal. Their descriptions show how different they truly are different.

“Klebold was hurting inside while Harris wanted to hurt people.” With two different reasons for their motives, it was hard to determine exactly what they wanted to accomplish. With Dylan showing signs of someone who is depressed and suicidal and Eric showing signs that he was a psychopath and was homicidal, it points out the fact that mental illness can affect many different people other than the person suffering from it. The fact that people with mental illnesses could have access to guns really shows that there is a real threat to gun violence.

Eric and Dylan wanted to achieve infamy on a global scale as the world’s greatest mass murderers but instead got the title of the worst school shooting in United States history. The Columbine shooting caused a spark of school shootings across the nation. Previous to the Columbine shooting, school shootings were virtually unheard of in the United States, but in the nearly 20 years that have followed the shooting, over 270 school shootings of any kind have taken place since the Columbine shooting. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza killed 20 first graders and six employees at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Before that, he killed his mother in their home, and then after the school shooting, killing himself. Adam Lanza got the gun he used in the shooting from his mother.

The gun used in the shooting was legally owned by Adam Lanza’s mother. Because this shooting happened so suddenly and Adam Lanza had acted alone, the police could not find a motive for the shooting. Nearly a year after the shooting, a report came out claiming that Adam Lanza had “significant mental health issues that affected his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others.” Although Adam Lanza suffered from mental health issues, the professionals that worked with him could not predict his future behavior. “The Sandy Hook shooting was, at the time, the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States after the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech”. Following the Columbine shooting, school shootings have become more common as time goes on, giving people little hope that America is helping to put a stop to gun violence.

Challenges Amidst Changing Laws and Society

As time goes on, gun laws have been adjusted to try and help put a stop to gun violence in the United States. When the founding fathers wrote the Bill of Rights, they stated that the right to bear Arms was to help build a well-regulated militia. This means that the point of people being able to own guns was to defend themselves in a case where they would be fighting in a war and that the use of guns would be very much supervised. In the 20th century, organized crime was at its peak due to the mafia being in control of a lot of businesses, corporations, and politics. But since then, the amount of Government corrupted by organized crime has drastically gone down. The people also have a big say in what goes on in our Government thanks to the organizations made to advocate for different people. The black minority now has a greater voice than they once did since the black lives matter movement.

With all the changes in Government, there are also a lot of changes in society. The Columbine shooting that happened in 1999 allowed people to open their eyes so that they could see the dangers that have actually been there the whole time. The Columbine shooting was the first serious school shooting to happen in the United States, but that does not mean that the possibility for it to happen was not there long before the incident took place.

Because of the school shootings, school districts are more prepared in case a situation like that does end up happening. A lot of schools now have more security and alarms, as well as ALICE Training drills so that students can be more prepared to know what to do in case of a situation like a Columbine or sandy hook. Even with all the changes happening within the Government and our society, it does not change the fact that gun violence is just as, if not an even worse, problem than it was in our past history.

With all the violence caused by guns in the United States, it is obvious that America is not bringing hope for a better and safer future. Only the founding fathers can know what they truly meant when writing the Second Amendment, but no matter how they interpreted it, people will always find a way to use guns in a violent and harmful way. Violent gang activity has always been relevant throughout the history of the United States. Gangs have taken many forms in American history, but as time goes on, street gangs are becoming more and more diverse. Young kids and teenagers are being dragged into gangs, making it difficult for people to even feel safe around kids. Since the Trayvon Martin shooting and the multiple accounts of police unnecessarily shooting black people, the problems between the black lives matter movement, and the police force have created even more violence than there originally was.

Even if school shootings before Columbine could have existed and the shooting allowed us to see the threat that’s always been there, the Columbine shooting gave future shooters ideas and is what sparked the increasing amounts of school shootings in the United States. With the increasing amount of protection, schools are getting to prevent tragedies like the Columbine shooting from happening, school shootings are still happening and are happening more and more commonly. It is estimated that one school per week has some sort of gun violence happening. Shooters are finding ways around the protections and are becoming more and more creative. If people are afraid for their own lives on a day-to-day basis because of gun violence, it is apparent that America is not providing people with hope for a better future.

References:

1. Cottrol, R. J., & Diamond, R. (2001). The Second Amendment: Toward an Afro-Americanist Reconsideration. Georgia Law Review, 25(2), 465-582.
2. Sante, L. (1992). Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press.
4. Langman, P. (2009). School Shooters: Understanding High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
5. DeFilippis, E., Hughes, D., & DePino, C. (2016). Extreme Risk Protection Orders: A Guide for Policymakers and Advocates. Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins University.

Addressing Gun Violence Through Comprehensive Gun Control Measures

Debating Gun Control for a Safer Society

There are many reasons why guns hold so much weight in our world and why they are such a big deal, “what kind of guns should be available for sale to the public?” “who should be allowed to buy them?” “where can they be carried?”. These questions create the debate about gun control, which causes many articles to be formed on just this one topic. Gun control has been around since the 20th century; this has always been a hot topic and a major issue.

Guns tend to cause a lot of problems, for example, crimes, suicides, and more. The power of a gun is limitless; as people worldwide continue to stock guns, many others are at risk of beings harmed. Although guns are necessary to protect yourself, the gun control law helps decrease violence, suicides, and all types of other accidents. However, the government should be in charge of who can receive a gun and what type of gun is distributed to the people. Most of the time, people who decide to harm others or themselves with a gun have mantel issues and are at more risk of harming more people.

Many people think that gun control is just deciding who should or shouldn’t be allowed to carry or have a gun. That’s not the case; Gun control is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Gun control is something that has been around for a while now. Just giving anyone the possession of a gun could cause many people’s lives to be endangered. In fact, it already has; many school shootings have already happened just this year. The one that grabbed most people’s attention was the shooting in Parkland, Florida, which was one of the worse ones we had this year.

That grabbed many people’s attention because of the way it happened and the way it ended with seventeen people dying and fourteen others being wounded badly (CNN). According to many articles on the Parkland shooting, the shooter himself was mentally disturbed, and many people who choose to harm others or their selves with a gun are most of the time mentally disturbed. School shootings are just one of the reasons why issuing a gun to just anyone isn’t a great idea. Guns can cause someone to harm themself, even taking their own life away with the very thing that causes a high death rate just in a year, a gun. Parkland, Florida is just one city that had a major shooting; there are many more, and some have this problem on a daily.

Chicago’s Crisis: Escalating Gun Violence

Another city with high crime rates that includes gun violence is Chicago. Chicago has consistently had more total killings than any other U.S. city. Twenty-seven people were killed just at the beginning of August of this year (Stef W, Kight, Michael Sykes). Most of their shootings, or, as some would say, “shootouts,” are gang-related. Twelve of the poor neighborhoods are accounted for fifty percent of Chicago’s shootings, often being attributed to gang activity, according to a study by Northwestern University. Gun violence is everywhere, but there are a few cities that have it the most, and it is decreasing our population every day. A neighborhood on the Westside of Chicago called “Austin” had 215 shootings in the first seven months of the year. Things like that happening on repeat every day can cause lots of people to be harmed and to feel unsafe in the very place they call home. Gun violence is something that must cease, if it continues to happen, many more people will die or be harmed, and many families will go through the pain of losing a relative.

Many families in Chicago have lost many of their family members due to gun violence; either someone Murdered them, or they took they’re on life, or they got hit with a stray bullet. Chicago isn’t a safe place for anyone and is not for little kids to just be roaming around by their selves. You shouldn’t have to walk around your hometown looking over your shoulder to make sure nothing is happening or to make sure nobody is trying to walk up to you with a gun; that isn’t what you should have to live.

Gun violence must come to an end, or many people will continue to die, and many families will continue to feel the hurt and pain of losing a loved one. Chicago families have it most rough, having to worry if they are going to live to see another day or if the children go out and play will they make it back safe and sound. A mom in Chicago lost four of her children due to gun violence (Melissa McEwan). All her children died from either someone murdering them on purpose or a stray bullet. Gun violence must stop! This is not ok and shouldn’t be tolerated at all. The government plays a role in this and should find a way how to stop this or at least slow it down to the point where it is not happening as much.

Ending Gun Violence: Collaborative Action Needed

The government should be able to reduce gun violence in America so people won’t get harmed or even attempt to harm themselves in any way, type, or form. Some ways they could make that happen is by maybe reducing firearm access to youth and individuals who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Mental health people are most of the time the ones to commit suicide or murder someone using a gun. Another way the government could reduce gun violence is by making the sentencing for committing these crimes longer. This idea could possibly work because no one wants to go to jail for a long period of time, let alone at all. The government could do a lot of things to reduce gun violence, but they aren’t doing enough. Maybe if they increased the price of the guns, that could possibly also help. Gun violence must come to an end.

To conclude, gun control has impacted the world in many ways. Guns impacted schools and all over the world. Guns were supposed to be used for protection now people take advantage of them. We all need to come together to stop gun violence for good. If we can come together to stop gun violence, there will be less harm. We need to help with gun violence because it’s putting people at risk. Innocent people are getting hurt, we can come together once in for all.

References:

1. John Ashman, 12/29/2012, https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.mic.com/articles/amp/21387/gun-control-laws-10-better-ways-the-government-can-reduce-violence
2. Stef . kight, Michael Sykes, 8/14, https://www.axios.com/chicago-gun-violence-murder-rate-statistics-4addeeec-d8d8-4ce7-a26b-81d428c14836.html
3. John McCall, 2/14/18, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna848101
4. Melissa McEwan, 1/29/13, https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/29/shirley-chambers-gun-violence-deaths

Navigating Gun Violence and Gun Control Policies: A Closer Look at Texas

Tragic Incidents Spur Calls for Stricter Control

Gun control is a very controversial topic these days. Throughout the years, gun violence has increased dramatically, leading up to serval firearm deaths and injuries and causing danger in Texas. In Texas, the gun law only requires an individual to be at least 18 years old to purchase a rifle, shotgun, ammunition, or any type of firearm. There have been many different perspectives regarding gun control and whether the Texas government should take action or not.

There are many different viewpoints of citizens surrounding this topic. Many oppose that the Governor should ban guns completely. Meaning no teenager or adult should have the right to own a gun. In addition, other individuals disagree that the Governor should make stricter rules on owning a gun. Some citizens argue that removing guns violates the 2nd Amendment of our rights and won’t be able to protect ourselves in case of a kidnapper, thief, or intruder. 2nd Amendment allows any citizen unconnected with service in a militia to be able to use that gun for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense.

On the other hand, many gun control activists want to improve stricter requirements for purchasing guns, and more strict laws will improve the gun violence problem. Some believe the removal of gun purchasing from citizens will keep our state safer because police officers should be the only ones to carry guns. Many believe love and kindness are all the world needs to function, not including guns. Either side has a strong opinion on why or why not oppose gun control.

Gun violence has caused many horrific events in Texas in the year 2018. Therefore, gun violence caused many events, such as Santa Fe High School shooting on a Friday morning which resulted in 10 individuals killed and another 13 wounded. This tragedy occurred on May 18, 2018, when the shooter was Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student. Dimitrios admitted he didn’t shoot any of the people he liked or had problems with, except he shot the ones he disliked.

This an example of how firearms should not be used; just because you don’t like anyone doesn’t approve of anyone shooting that individual. It was very easy for this student, who was a minor, to get a gun in his hands even though he was 17 years old because his father was the one who owned the gun. The father did not secure his firearms in a safe place where a minor or anyone could steal them, which shows an example of how a gun owner did not show responsibility for owning a gun. This shooting became the second-deadliest school shooting in the United States this year. Thanks to the first responders, they were able to get every student to safety.

Another example is San Antonio First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, which occurred on November 5, 2017. An intruder opened fire during a church service and killed and injured many individuals. The gunman was identified as a 26-year-old named Devin Patrick Kelle. Devin killed 26 people and injured 20 others. A 26-year-old male didn’t have the right mentality to even own a gun and was not a very mature man at all. Also, on July 11, 2018, a very common situation in Houston in which a drive-by mass shooting led to 4 or more victims being injured.

The group that opened fire was not captured, which meant the individuals were on the loose. Many drive-by shootings occur around neighborhoods or parks where families and children are usually an easier target. Drive-by shootings are so common in Houston that many civilians would report it to the police, and later on, the police wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because there’s no evidence. All these three main events with different types of situations could have been prevented if there had been stricter gun control. Anyone owning a gun or purchasing a firearm should have a more detailed long process, whether the individual is approved to get a hold of a gun.

Governor Abbott’s Gun Control Measures

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is 60 years of age, has served since 2015. Greg Abbot agrees he should have more control over guns. Texas Governor’s future plans on gun control are limiting who can buy and keep guns through narrow ways meaning longer processes and stricter background checks. Gregg Abbott from the republican party will not take guns out because he truly does defend the 2nd amendment rights but will make an effort to keep guns out of people’s hands who may pose a risk to those around them. He also made a campus law in which only 21-year-old individuals can carry a gun or any weapon if it is concealed and the owner has a license. Furthermore, he wants to establish during campus hours more cops making sure everyone is safe and armed marshals.

Also, the Texas governor will make sure criminals will be put behind bars and not even have a hold of a gun in the first place. Governor has said he will do anything in his power, but without violating the freedom to bear arms. He agrees our schools should be a safe environment in which parents should not worry about their kids’ safety, such as passing the Governor’s school and firearm safety action plan, which this document offers more than 40 specific recommendations on ways to make our schools and communities safer. The plan includes more than 120 million dollars in funding strategies to help schools implement this solution immediately with no cost to the school. Wherever we are, we should not be afraid of any mass shootings to occur nor scared to step foot outside our homes.

Balancing Gun Control and Responsibility

In my perspective, guns aren’t the problem of violence. It is the person who has a hold of it. Gun control must be in action; if not now, then when? I agree Texas Governor should not ban guns because it’s for our safety to protect ourselves, instead of enforcing more gun laws in Texas. All the citizens should work as a team in order to address this issue of violence. More mandatory training for those who own a gun means the required training should include recurring education to renew permits, with a graduated licensing process at least as stringent as for driver’s licenses. Have secure storage to keep a gun. We can all make a difference on the subject of gun control if we start this change to decrease gun deaths.

References:

1. Crime Prevention Research Center. (2021). “Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2021.” Crime Prevention Research Center.
2. Lott, J. R. (2019). “More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws.” University of Chicago Press.
3. Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2019). “2018 Crime in the United States: Expanded Homicide Data.” Federal Bureau of Investigation.
4. State of Texas. (2021). “Gun Laws: Restrictions, Regulation, and Ownership by State.” FindLaw.
5. Jacobson, L. (2019). “How Texas Gun Laws Compare to Other States.” Texas Tribune.
6. Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
7. Duwe, G. (2007). “The Patterns and Prevalence of Mass Murder in Twentieth-Century America.” Justice Quarterly, 24(2), 175-201.
8. Rizzini, J. I. (2020). “School Shootings and Youth Gun Carrying: Descriptive and Causal Inferences.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, 54, 101363.
9. Everytown for Gun Safety. (2021). “Gun Violence in America: 2021 Analysis.” Everytown Research.
10. Texas Department of Public Safety. (2023). “Texas Governor’s School and Firearm Safety Action Plan.” Texas Department of Public Safety.