Gun Control In The United States Essay

Gun Control in the United States The United States has the most guns per capita in the world at 88.8 guns per 100 people, or 270,000,000 total guns (“Gun” par. 1). Today in the United States, gun control is becoming more and more of a controversial topic. The fact that we have so many guns in our country is quite alarming, especially when you consider the amount of accidents and mass shootings that have happened in the past years. Between 1982 and 2012 there were 62 mass shootings in the United States (par. 21), and five in Wisconsin alone since 2004 (Gregory par. 3). An alarming example of an accident that happened in the home is: in Vinton, Indiana, a 14-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed when she was “hanging out” with her boyfriend and his friends. Similarly, in Norfolk, …show more content…
Mass shootings are defined as shooting and killing four or more people in a public place within a short amount of time. In most cases the shooter is a caucasian male or multiple caucasian males killing for personal rather than political reasons (Orcutt p.1). Lawmakers and the public are attempting to spread the word about how to prevent these shootings, but it is hard to pick apart each instance of mass murder and make a generalization. Anthony Gregory, the author of Gun Control and the Security Illusion and expert on gun control in the United States, comments that, “senseless acts of mass violence can never be explained in a way sufficient enough to stop the next attack” (Gregory par. 3). The only way to prevent people from committing these unthinkable acts is to take away their ability to access weapons easily. The American Journal of Public Health released a statement saying, “legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long lasting increased risk of violent death” (“Gun” par. 11). By strengthening laws and deepening background checks the deaths of possible victims could be prevented in the