Justin Pham

Dr. Sinha

EGL

3/30/19

Gun Violence

Intro to Gun Violence

To understand the history of gun violence, this paper will analyze what the

problem of gun violence in America is facing. Gun violence has occurred throughout

America’s history and has always been a problem to achieve a solution. School

shootings, murder, and thousands of acts of violence are committed variously. Violence

in our country today is escalating because we do not have stricter gun laws. Whether

citizens should have the right to own guns is a controversial issue in the United States.

This gave activists to enforce stricter gun laws or abolishing the second amendment

altogether. The second amendment states, "the right of the people to keep and bear

Arms." the phrase "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms" creates an individual

constitutional right for citizens of the United States. To understand the "individual right

theory," the Constitution restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearm possession

without implicating a constitutional right. As of 2019, the current gun laws vary by state

to require stricter policies. For example, California has raised the minimum age to buy

rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21 (exceptions for members of law enforcement, the

military, or those who have a hunting license). Anyone convicted of certain domestic
violence charges after January 1 will face a lifetime ban on gun ownership, as would

anyone committed to a mental institution twice in one year. In addition, the Trump

administration announced in October 2018 that machine guns to encompass bump

stocks, effectively making the devices illegal to take effect in March (CBS Silverstein).

It is the violence committed with the use of a gun (firearm or small gun). It describes the

results of all incidents of death, injury or threat in an unlawful way of intentionally or

accidentally. With more lives being affected on a regular basis, more concerns arise as

to how people can live safe lives when guns are being used in increasing numbers.

Significance:

In America, gun violence has shaped the lives of people who have witnessed it or

lives in fear of the next shooting. More than 36,000 people are killed by guns in the U.S.

every year, making it a leading cause of death in the country. States with weaker gun

laws have more gun-related suicide attempts, which are associated with higher

mortality. The Dickey Amendment, created in 1996 by Congress, is well-known

legislation that was to inform public health issues with the support of the National Rifle

Association (NRA) later on. The National Rifle Association is a non-profit organization

that advocates for gun rights since 1871. The Dickey amendment prevented the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using funds "to advocate or promote

gun control." It didn't ban federally-funded gun research, which allowed researchers to

study the epidemic of gun violence.

Why is it important:

The right as an American to own a firearm has always been a part of our history.

However, occurring events have affected if the second amendment whether or not holds

any significance in our society for the future. The problem isn’t guns but the people who

carry them.

When did gun violence start:

Gun-related crimes peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since that time,

the United States has made steady improvement in reducing gun-related violence. Gun-

related homicides have declined by 33 percent since 1993, including a 35-percent drop

in handgun homicides. Shootings in the US have caused people to analyze background

checks, even more, which concerned the society to worry about their safety and buy a

gun to protect themselves.

Research Questions:

1.) What is the history around gun laws in America?

2.) What are the causes and effects of gun violence?

3.) What can we do to prevent it?

History & Causes

In the article, “TIME” talks about how that gun laws of the current and the past

have affected one another by influencing this nation’s gun policies. For example, 1934

the National Firearms Act was established - part of President Franklin Delano

Roosevelt’s “New Deal for Crime “- was meant to curtail “gangland crimes of that era,

1938 the Federal Firearms Act - required gun manufacturers, importers, and dealers to

obtain a federal firearms license, 1968 the Gun Control Act - banned importing guns

that have “no sporting purpose,” imposed age restrictions for the purchase of handguns

and imposed to have stricter licensing and regulation on the firearms industry, 1986 the

Firearm Owner Protection Act - enacted protections for gun owners - prohibiting a

national registry of dealer records, limiting ATF inspections to once per year,1993 the

Brady Violence Prevention Act - requires that background checks be completed before

a gun is purchased from a licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer and established

the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, 1994 the Violent Crime

Control and Law Enforcement Act - known as the assault weapons ban , 2003 the Tiahrt

Amendment - prohibited the ATF from publicly releasing data showing where criminals

purchased their firearms and stipulated that only law enforcement officers or

prosecutors could access such information, and the 2005 Protection of Lawful

Commerce in Arms Act - to prevent gun manufacturers from being named in federal or

state civil suits by those who were victims of crimes involving guns made by that

company. The future for gun laws are banning bump stocks, background checks, age

limit rise, semi-automatic weapons ban, arming teachers, and in California proposing
Proposition 63 which is a waiting period, a written test, and other restrictions to ensure

that only selected people are able to own the weapon.

These federal laws set a standard in order to make them effective, but several

states have also passed various types of gun laws. These laws determine which

weapons are legal to own, and also set requirements on sales, background checks,

storage, open and concealed carry permits and sentencing of gun-related crimes.

However, the NRA (National Rifle Association) perspective on gun laws is it focuses on

promoting public safety, training in the safe and efficient handling of small arms, hunter

safety, and shooting sport promotion. The NRA has persuaded heavily against all forms

of gun control and concluded they should make the country safer with guns.

Gun regulations remain a specific issue in the U.S. Throughout history, there have been

several laws and Supreme Court cases that have changed the Second Amendment.

These are the current gun laws that have on gun violence that influence the country’s

federal gun policy.

Effects of Gun Violence

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Uniform Crime Report data for 1997

show that these trends are continuing, with murder and robbery totals declining by 7

percent over the previous year and the total of all violent crimes declining by 3 percent

Nonetheless, gun violence remains a serious national problem. background checks

have gone up after mass shootings, the idea being that shootings cause people to worry

about their safety and buy a gun to protect themselves. In the article, “US gun violence:

the story in graphics” states “after many shootings, the focus immediately shifts toward
restricting the use of semiautomatic rifles. But statistics show that most murders in the

United States are not a part of mass shootings, and handguns are the most common

weapon” (CNN).

Stats and Facts:

Gun Violence touches every part of our society. It increases the probability of

deaths in incidents of domestic violence and raise the likelihood of fatalities by those

who intend to injure others and affecting communities of any kind. The United States

experiences epidemic levels of gun violence. Therefore, here are countless others

whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their lives ones.

According to the article “U.S. Gun Violence ”by Simon and Sanchez, provides several

data of gun violence in the US that have been caused by homicides involving guns.

CNN states “ The intense public focus on mass shootings and other killings belies a

larger trend: The homicide rate has fallen sharply in the United States. The homicide

rates for 2013 and 2014 were the lowest in more than 50 years. Firearms are used in

roughly 7 in 10 killings, the FBI says...Of the more than 400,000 people who died as a

result of gun violence from 2001 to 2013, about three in five were from suicide. Just

under two in five -- or about 156,000 people -- died of homicide”(Sanchez and Simon).

As a result, the data provides evidence that gun violence is a problem in the US and

that homicides are a major part of any catastrophe. Therefore, gun violence has

become stricter in enforcing regulations and rules to permit using them for mass

shootings and the trends are increasing in events and the people that are affected by it.

To reduce gun violence in our society, we must fully understand how gun

violence has been in the US since the 20th century. There has been regulations and
checks that certain people need to acquire before buying a gun. As a result, with

community and prevention programs, it will provide a sense of sustainability in order to

decrease the amount of shootings and the use of gun violence. Guns violence in

America does not show the lives of firearm claims to the people, data and or records are

not shown for the public, and that the NRA provides misinformation to the society. The

majority of these situations are involved with individuals who use guns to cause violence

and catastrophes with various motives and or are criminals. The laws have little impact

on people who tend to buy guns illegally and are easily accessible. Therefore, if people

were to look on what the statistics actually show the trend of gun violence, then people

would become more aware that it affects people in many ways.

Conclusion:

Gun violence has problems on different levels involving with communities, politically,

and socially. Every community or society has been affected by the reckless use of

firearms in suicides and homicides. Through examining interpretations of the second

amendment Through examining the history of the Second Amendment and several

other laws, assessing the relationship between these two perspectives have changed

the way people look at gun violence or guns in general. The nature of un-related crimes

make prevention impossible, but it does not mean that policies or regulations that are

not enforced enough should be ignored. Guns affects everyone in some way, no matter

if it can be used as self-defense or using guns for catastrophic events such as mass

shootings. As a result, the goal for gun violence is to find a final ground to where
reducing gun violence and offering programs or benefits to help those who have been

affected is beneficial to the society where people feel safe and secure.

Works Cited

Simon, M., & Sanchez, R. (2015, December 04). U.S. gun violence: The story in graphics.

Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/04/us/gun-violence-

graphics/index.html

Research. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/research/

Rate, M. (2018, March 22). NRA Explains Its Position On Dickey Amendment, Gun Violence

Research. Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://bearingarms.com/micah-r/2018/03/22/nra-

reiterates-its-position-on-dickey-amendment-gun-violence-research/
Silverstein, J. (2019, January 02). What are the new gun laws in 2019? Retrieved April 29, 2019,

from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-are-the-new-gun-laws-in-2019/

Research. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/research/