Photo by Jonathan Moore, Ink on Paper
With 100 bullets and one inconceivable action, 20 first graders and six adults were brutally shot and killed in Newtown, Conn., at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The aftermath of such an unfathomable tragedy continues to spark debate in this country about violence in society, mental health care and most prominently, gun control. Citizens across the country, from small towns such as Newtown to big cities like Detroit, where gun violence is nothing new, have renewed their calls that the government step up and act.
Vice President Joseph Biden has presented to President Obama plans on how to curb gun violence in America, including the reinstatement of a ban on assault weapons now being considered by Congress as a major component of tougher gun policy.
While it is apparent that gun violence is out of control in this country, few agree on what the best solution is to change this. One thing is certain, however: Things must change. In Chicago, an American has a higher chance of being killed than if they were in Afghanistan. According to the Huffington Post, 228 Chicago residents were killed in 2012, while the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan during the same period was 144.
Detroit, ranked by Forbes in 2012 as the ‘Most Dangerous City in America,’ is plagued by gang violence and homicides, ranking second in the nation after New Orleans for murders.
To ignore the issue of gun violence in America or shrug it off as a routine manifestation or uncomplimentary side-effect of the Second Amendment is irresponsible and shameful- we must demand better from our elected officials. While the tragedy at Sandy Hook will be remembered by the parents of those who lost children as the worst day of their lives, perhaps, years from now, we will see it as a tipping point in modern American history … the day that Americans realized that their nation had become an armed battleground.
The federal government can take simple steps to tighten up its gun policy, and while reduced access to guns may not directly equal less gun violence, it’s a start. There also needs to be a ban on private ownership of military style assault rifles. There is no good reason a private citizen needs such a siniter weapon for personal protection.
The Bushmaster AR-15, the rifle used to kill the victims at Sandy Hook, fires a staggering 800 bullets per minute. The time has come for the renewal of the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which was included in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The fact that these automatic instruments of murder can get into citizens’ hands, law abiding or not, is nonsensical and serves no purpose other than profit to gun manufacturers from rifle collectors and aficionados.
Although gun rights advocates such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) are determined to erase the connection between gun ownership and gun violence, the facts speak for themselves.
In 2011, The Atlantic senior editor and economist Richard Florida, in trying to discover a link between gun violence and socio-economic influences, found that states with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths. Stricter gun laws will not remedy what is happening with guns in America, but it is certainly a positive prescription.
While America demands action, we also need responsibility, and pushing a farce of a bill through Congress simply to appease frightful parents is as equally imprudent as doing nothing at all. Leaders from both sides of the aisle should agree to such simple and common sense policy moves but must remember to think thoroughly about their actions before jumping to rash positions.
As the country re-analyzes the role guns play in American culture and find common ground on ways to reduce gun violence (not eliminate, because crimes involving firearms will happen, regardless), such as banning assault weapons, it may also be helpful to have another conversation in this country; one that asks the bigger question, “Why is this so normal to us?” A generation of young Americans has grown up in a post-Columbine world, desensitized to gun violence and rather accepting of it.
While America fusses and fights about how to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of potential murderers, there needs to be more Nightline specials and PBS investigations exploring the reasons behind America’s violent culture.
Some argue that America has a gun problem; some diffract attention from firearms and argue that America has a gang problem.
In reality, what cannot be dispute
The aftermath of such an unfathomable tragedy continues to spark debate in this country about violence in society, mental health care and most prominently, gun control. Citizens across the country, from small towns such as Newtown to big cities like Detroit, where gun violence is nothing new, have renewed their calls that the government step up and act.
Vice President Joseph Biden has presented to President Obama plans on how to curb gun violence in America, including the reinstatement of a ban on assault weapons now being considered by Congress as a major component of tougher gun policy.
While it is apparent that gun violence is out of control in this country, few agree on what the best solution is to change this. One thing is certain, however: Things must change. In Chicago, an American has a higher chance of being killed than if they were in Afghanistan. According to the Huffington Post, 228 Chicago residents were killed in 2012, while the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan during the same period was 144.
Detroit, ranked by Forbes in 2012 as the ‘Most Dangerous City in America,’ is plagued by gang violence and homicides, ranking second in the nation after New Orleans for murders.
To ignore the issue of gun violence in America or shrug it off as a routine manifestation or uncomplimentary side-effect of the Second Amendment is irresponsible and shameful- we must demand better from our elected officials. While the tragedy at Sandy Hook will be remembered by the parents of those who lost children as the worst day of their lives, perhaps, years from now, we will see it as a tipping point in modern American history … the day that Americans realized that their nation had become an armed battleground.
The federal government can take simple steps to tighten up its gun policy, and while reduced access to guns may not directly equal less gun violence, it’s a start. There also needs to be a ban on private ownership of military style assault rifles. There is no good reason a private citizen needs such a siniter weapon for personal protection.
The Bushmaster AR-15, the rifle used to kill the victims at Sandy Hook, fires a staggering 800 bullets per minute. The time has come for the renewal of the expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which was included in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The fact that these automatic instruments of murder can get into citizens’ hands, law abiding or not, is nonsensical and serves no purpose other than profit to gun manufacturers from rifle collectors and aficionados.
Although gun rights advocates such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) are determined to erase the connection between gun ownership and gun violence, the facts speak for themselves.
In 2011, The Atlantic senior editor and economist Richard Florida, in trying to discover a link between gun violence and socio-economic influences, found that states with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths. Stricter gun laws will not remedy what is happening with guns in America, but it is certainly a positive prescription.
While America demands action, we also need responsibility, and pushing a farce of a bill through Congress simply to appease frightful parents is as equally imprudent as doing nothing at all. Leaders from both sides of the aisle should agree to such simple and common sense policy moves but must remember to think thoroughly about their actions before jumping to rash positions.
As the country re-analyzes the role guns play in American culture and find common ground on ways to reduce gun violence (not eliminate, because crimes involving firearms will happen, regardless), such as banning assault weapons, it may also be helpful to have another conversation in this country; one that asks the bigger question, “Why is this so normal to us?” A generation of young Americans has grown up in a post-Columbine world, desensitized to gun violence and rather accepting of it.
While America fusses and fights about how to get guns off the streets and out of the hands of potential murderers, there needs to be more Nightline specials and PBS investigations exploring the reasons behind America’s violent culture.
Some argue that America has a gun problem; some diffract attention from firearms and argue that America has a gang problem.
In reality, what cannot be dispute
