Essays on Gun Violence

Everybody wishes to live in a safe and peaceful place. However, nowadays that wish is not completely fulfilled due to gun violence. Gun violence is a huge problem that worries the whole population. Gun violence is one of the main causes of death in the world. This issue is not new. Throughout history, we have seen many effects of gun violence such as war, suicides, and school shootings. Every year the news shows new victims of this epidemic. “In excess of 33,000 individuals die in firearms-related incidents every year in the United States, representing the same number of as engine vehicle accidents. This is concerning both in total terms and in correlation, to other developed nations, all of which have lower rates of weapon violence.” (Luca, Malhotra, and Poliquin 1). Gun violence happens everywhere. It can happen at public and private places, schools, and even in personal residences. Citizens feel helpless to change this social problem. Some of them make protests on the street hoping the government does something to stop the violence. If the government doesn’t take appropriate actions against gun violence, this problem will never stop. Gun violence is a serious problem that needs to be solved immediately. There are several measures the government can take to reduce gun violence such as stricter control in the requirement of a background check for firearms purchases, prohibition of the use of semi-automatic weapons by civilians, and stricter control about the possession of illegal weapons.

First, one measure the government can take to reduce gun violence is stricter control in the requirement of a background check for firearms purchases. The Background Check System is a system that determines whether a person is qualified to buy guns. A stricter background check for the purchases of guns is very important to reduce gun violence. An exhaustive background check avoids that people with mental illness or those with a criminal background can have access to a gun. In addition, is very important that in the database of the background system are included all those people ineligible to purchase a gun. A failure in the records of the system could be harmful since a disqualified person could have a gun in his hands and put at risk people’s lives. John R. Lott Jr claims that “legislators perceive that mistakes in the criminal record system give lawbreakers a chance to get guns. Everybody saw when a disturbed man executed 26 individuals at a congregation in Texas in November. Likewise, in 2012, the executioner was been sentenced for aggressive behavior”. For this reason, is very important to check people’s background records before selling them guns. Firearms should be out of the hands of domestic abusers, people with mental illness, and criminals. This would be achieved without gaps in the database of the Background Check System. With that being said, stricter control in the Background Check System is one measure the government can take to reduce gun violence.

Second, another measure the government can take to decrease gun violence is the prohibition of the use of semi-automatic weapons by civilians. The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States says: 'A managed militia, being important to the safety of an independent State, the right of the general population to keep and carry weapons, shall not be violated”. It is understanding that carrying weapons is important for a people's security, especially in the dangerous society we live in. However, semi-automatic weapons are not a big need for civils to saved. People can use regular guns to protect their lives. Semi-automatic weapons should only be used for the military population. Furthermore, semi-automatic weapons are built to kill several people in seconds. Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan in “Let's learn from Australia: Semi-automatic weapons ban work” states that, “semi-automatic guns would have been illicit under a weapon ban that Congress let lapse over ten years ago. Society requires a prohibition on these firearms, which are weapons of mass devastation built to kill a lot of people in just seconds”. It’s necessary to bring the law about assault guns back. If that law had still been valid, maybe some people’s lives could have been saved. Those guns should only be used for military purposes such as wars. Many people’s lives would continue at risk if a not qualified person gets these guns. A mass shooting is a terrible effect of these types of guns. Therefore, the ban on civil people using semi-automatic weapons is another measure the government can take to decrease gun violence.

Third, stricter control about the possession of illegal weapons is another measure the government can take to decrease gun violence. Carrying illegal weapons is one of the problems that generate the most violence and insecurity, since being used to commit high-impact crimes, which endangers society in general. Therefore, stronger control in the gun market is essential to fight this problem. For instance, in his article “Inside Corso the Black Market for Guns”, Frank Miller says that “a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state prison prisoners convicted of firearms-related crimes determined that 79 percent of them bought their firearms from “street/illegal sources” or “family and friends.” These “illicit sources” included the robbery of guns, black market purchases of stolen guns and straw purchases”. It’ is crucial an exhaustive investigation into the black market purchases of guns to stop people from getting illegal guns. Those people have who sell illegal guns must be caught and punished according to law. In addition, regular inspections at guns show to verify if their sales are legal is an important action the government could take to have better control of the illegal use of guns. In this way, it would be most difficult for people to get illegal weapons. For instance, when people face a lot of limitations of getting and selling illegal guns usually they give up trying to get them. All this considered, an action the government could take to reduce gun violence is stricter control in the possession of illegal firearms.

There are several measures the government can take to reduce gun violence such as stricter control in the requirement of a background check for firearms purchases, the prohibition of the use of semi-automatic weapons by civilians, and stricter control about possession of illegal weapons. Gun violence is a huge problem that worries everyone in society. In the last few years, innocent people have died as victims of gun crime. Stricter gun control would be a step ahead to decrease mass shootings. There is no doubt the government’s authorities have taken precautions to overcome gun violence. However, they need to create stricter gun control politics to get better results in the decline of this epidemic. Gun violence is not an easy problem to eliminate, but these measures can help to reduce it.