Small
Steps on Gun Control
What do guns do?
Submitted
to: Mr. Garrioch
By:
Sung Ji Yun
Student
ID: 111163
For:
English Composition
On:
Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
When
I was 11 years old, I flew to United States to get education and there I heard
one story that baffled me: a 15-year old boy being shot and killed by a police officer.
It can still be viewed on internet- an unarmed black young man leaping out of
the bushes, yelling profanities against two armed police officers. Honestly,
how dangerous can that be? How could they just point the gun at a juvenile and
pull the trigger, without hesitation? The most surprising part was that the
police officers didn’t get any punishment whatsoever, regarded as self-defense.
Mrs. Kim, a family friend, said it’s because they are white, and
they are police. Such things always matter.
That
is merely one example of many; there are millions and millions of cases which
people get killed by guns, especially 12-19 year old black males. Can you
imagine the slum streets of African-Americans, where guns and drugs are
everywhere, without anyone to lead you the right way? In a recent study by the
UN, it was found that firearms cause an average 60% of all homicides. Not only
that, some research shows an association between household firearm ownership
and gun suicide rates.
In the United States, firearms remain the most
common method of suicide, accounting for 52.1% of all suicides committed during 2005, according to the Debatabase
article.
April 16th, 2007, a
Virginia Tech University student Seung-hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 25
others in campus. It was the greatest gun-related massacre in United States,
which derived so much attention from the media, interest groups, and the
general public. There were all kinds of people fiercely talking about the
issue, calling for a stronger gun control. Did it change anything? No. The LA
Times editorial crew makes it clear. It went back to normal state all over
again. It is natural, of course- known as the ‘issue-attention cycle’- but for
this matter, the cycle should not be applied. This is a matter that is directly
related to the citizen’s everyday lives. It shouldn’t be just forgotten like
that. However, other matters, such as reelection of Congress or interests of
weapon companies are at stake. The policy makers don’t simply care about people’s
safety. This is where we, the citizens, come in- we should form a close issue
network, obliging the government to pass bill. Here is a quote from the LA
Times article, accusing Democrats for putting their political stability over
people’s safety and their beliefs.
Rather
than even try to communicate this, most Democrats would rather avoid the issue.
At least until the next Columbine[i]
or Virginia Tech.
So exactly why is gun so bad? For
one, the primary function of a gun is to kill. Unlike other weapons, gun
shooting is impossible to merely subdue the enemy. Handling a gun doesn’t even
need a handful of education- a slight press on the forefinger is sufficient. When
people panic, they tend to lose control over their mind and they might just
pull the trigger without considering the consequences. Some critics assert that
it is an abuse of power to remove the right the bear arms. They argue it is
necessary for the self-defense for law-abiding citizens. However, how can
shooting be a proper defense over burglary? First of all, burglary shouldn’t be
punished by violence. A proper self-defense is achieved by blocking the doors,
windows, setting up alarms… not by loading a gun. Also, it is said that Americans
own an estimated 270 million firearms – approximately 90 guns for every 100
people, according to the source “Gun Violence Statistics.” In a society of such
high rate, the burglar would suspect the existence of gun in the household, and
therefore bring a gun at his crime scene. In Korea, where almost no one is
allowed to possess a gun, it is highly unlikely.
People don’t feel the need to carry a gun where no one has it. It is my desire
that the same happens in U.S. as well.
Gun advocates denounce such
statistics as “myths” about gun control, but facts are facts, they cannot lie. Firearms were the third-leading cause of
injury-related deaths nationwide in 2009, following poisoning and motor vehicle
accidents. Many supporters of gun ownership deceive the readers by giving the
percentage by all deaths, which is less than 2%. However, we should exclude
natural deaths or deaths of an illness, surely. Guns were used in 11,493
homicides in the U.S. in 2009, comprising over 36% of all gun deaths, and over
68% of all homicides. Notably, firearms were used in nearly 45% of suicide
deaths among persons under age 25 in 2009. As
you can see, gun violence rate is especially high among the youth. Children and young adults (24 years of age and under)
constitute over 38% of all firearm deaths and non-fatal injuries. Also, Firearm
injuries are the cause of death of more than 18 children and young adults (24
years of age and under) each day in the U.S. As we can see, gun violation rate
is especially high among the youth.
Because young people are extremely vulnerable to their
environments, it is much easier for them to get involved in gun violence when
there is a gun in their household. In the article of ABC News Online, the
author says that it is impossible to establish a causal link between guns and
violence. We do need to count the other factors as well, as the author points
out, factors such as poverty, education, mental illness, alcohol and
unemployment. However, guns are mostly involved with crimes, especially fatal
ones. According to “Gun Violence Statistics,” in 2007, nearly 70% of all
murders nationwide were committed with a firearm. Total of 385,178 firearm
crimes were committed, including 11,512 murders, 190,514 robberies, and 183,153
aggravated assaults. That is a number that cannot be neglected, and even
if there are other causes of death, one cannot deny that the method of those
crimes was a shooting a gun.
There’s
one more thing that needs to be considered: the nation’s culture. Indeed, most
Koreans would get shocked when they hear about America’s gun culture, even the
fact that U.S. citizens can own guns. But that’s because we live in a society
where possessing a gun is abnormal. Not even all police officers carry guns. So
we don’t feel the need for guns. In United States, we can look back at the
history of that country.
The
‘Wild West’ mentality is still evident in the US psyche today.
This is a
quote from the first reference article. The author also points out that it is
illegal guns, not licensed ones, that is committed a crime with, and therefore
prohibiting guns cannot solve the problem. This sounds reasonable at a glimpse,
but if we think the other way, so many illegal guns are running around because
the government allows them. In case of Korea, where guns are strictly
forbidden, it is so hard to get a gun even illegally. It is the chronic problem,
which is also pointed out in the second article. There’s got to be more
loopholes where people are allowed to carry guns in streets!
All guns
cannot be eliminated at once, surely. That is why I used a same title as the
article “Small Steps on Gun Control.” We should try to fill in the loopholes first.
Currently, like ABC News says, it is impossible to know exactly the number of
guns and its owners because the U.S. government does not hold a registration.
They can do that first. We need not be impatient; it would mass up everything.
Still, for the sake of citizens’ safety, they should get to work immediately.
References
Sales, Leigh. “A Look inside America’s Gun Culture.” ABC News
Online, 17 April 2007
Los Angeles Times Editorial Crew. “Small Steps on Gun
Control.” LA Times, 17 June 2007.
Legal Community Against Violence. “Gun Violence Statistics.”
LCAV, 2012.
[i]
It is referring to the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, two students
killing 12 students and a teacher, wounding 24 others and finally killing
themselves.
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