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Gun control in school shootings essay
School violence and gun control
Gun control in school shootings essay
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As school shootings have recently started to emerge as an essential component of American culture, many people have been looking for possible solutions. We thought Columbine would be a rare incident, but school shootings have dramatically spiked in the past 10 years. According to A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013, an average of 6.4 shooting incidents occurred annually. In the last 7 years of the study, that average increased to 16.4 incidents annually. Out of the 160 incidents total, 39 happened in educational environments that yielded 117 individuals killed and 120 wounded (2013). No one wants to think that a tragedy like this could happen to them, but we’ve reached a point where it could happen …show more content…
The editorial staff of the Eagle Eye explains that automatic firearms are already restricted for military use only, so it makes no sense for accessories like bump stocks to be in circulation. An AR-15 coupled with high capacity magazines and a bump stock is now a military grade weapon, not something that should be in the hands of everyday citizens for self-defense or hunting. These types of accessories make school shootings too quick and easy. In the Parkland shooting, the shooter managed to kill 17 people and inflict 17 casualties in under 10 minutes because he used high capacity magazines (Our manifesto to fix America's gun laws 2018). In the Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in American history, the shooter claimed 58 lives and injured 851 people. This was all made possible from the killer’s use of a bump stock combined with high capacity magazines. As explained by Nick Wing, banning high capacity magazines would slow down shooters. They would have to reload more often, limiting the number of victims in between rounds and leaving a greater chance for error. This allows more time for first responders to act and leaves the shooter vulnerable to victims evacuating or fighting back (Banning High-Capacity Magazines Should Absolutely Be A Winnable Issue 2018). It might seem like a small change, but it would save a noticeable amount of
...gun provided a convenient way for crime; people could get any dangerous weapons to endanger the safety of others. In the article, “At Least 9,900 People Have Died From Guns In The U.S. Since The Newtown Shooting: Slate”, Dominique Mosbergen pointed out that the number of mass shooting kept growing because of the lax gun control system. For example, 20 year old, Adam Lanza took several legal guns and went to Sandy Hook Elementary School after killing his mother. Besides that, he only spent five minutes to murder 20 children and six adult members of staff (Mosbergen). This school shooting in the United States completely shocked the whole world. At this point, many people had focused on the regulatory issues of guns. Mosbergen stated, “As the nation mourned in the wake of that unthinkable tragedy, many citizens and lawmakers raised their voices to demand” (Mosbergen).
First off, “In 1984, the assailant who massacred 21 at a McDonald's in San Ysidro, California, unleashed more than 200 rounds. School and workplace shootings in Stockton, California, and San Francisco in the late '80s and early '90s also involved large magazines, with an estimated 100 shots fired in each case. In 1997, a gunman in Orange, California, fired nearly 150 shots, wielding an AK-47 with a 30-round magazine three years after a federal law banned such assault weapons.” ("A Killing Machine"). This means that after assault rifles were banned, they and high-capacity magazines are being used in mass shootings which is increasing the death and injury rate. The death rate rose because the rifles are rapid-fire weapons that shoot faster with a larger magazine. Also, “Seven states have some restrictions on high-capacity magazines; a new state law passed in New York limits magazines to no more than seven rounds.” ("A Killing Machine"). For this reason some states have banned high-capacity and one has a limitation on bullets. High-capacity magazines are banned unless you have owned one before January 1st, 2000. Mass shootings that have involved high-capacity magazines have made the death rate and injury rate
On a sunny spring day in April 1999, a suburban school named Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado found itself under attack by two of its own students. (http://www.knowgangs.com) In less than fifteen minutes of the first lunch period on that Tuesday, two armed students killed thirteen and wounded twenty-one fellow classmates before they turned the guns on themselves - the most devastating school shooting in U.S. history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only school shooting; about thirty-five students die every year from school shootings. This generation comes from violence, hatred, and ignorance- the three principal factors that cause school shootings.
The history of school shootings has shown an increase in mass school shooting. The very first known school shooting in the United States occurred on July 26, 1764 in present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania. As part of the Pontiac's Rebellion, four Lenape Native Americans entered the school house and started shooting, killing the schoolmaster Enoch Brown and about nine students. Only two students survived the massacre (“History”). Since the 1700s the United States society has changed in many ways. Schools have become more than just one room school houses and each grade has its own teacher. Furthermore, the problem of school shootings has not decreased but rather increased over the years. On the one hand, reports from the Centers for Disease Control showed that in general school violence decreased from 1992 to 200...
School shootings seemed like a new phenomenon, but they occurred for the majority of American history. The first school shooting occurred On July 26, 1764, when a Lenape Indian shot and killed nine children and the school master of the Greencastle, Pennsylvania school (Galvin): as noted in Appendix A. Since 1764, the number of school shootings rose exponentially. In the 1990’s, eighty-six school shootings occurred and between 2000 and 2014, 110 shootings transpired since 2000 (Killam,2008). The development of semiautomatic weapons lead to an increase in deaths. A study conducted in 1990 found through the years of 1986 to 1990; 71 people died, 201 wounded, and 242 people held hostage by school shooters(Galvin). While the area a school serves as one factor in the number of violent acts committed per year, school shootings have not been connected to this. The schools in Chicago dealt with more violent acts, but Sandy Hook Elementary, a small city school had relatively few violent acts committed by students.
As us Americans we are actually making the stereotype of we always carry guns around sound true to the rest of the world considering that, we are the “31% percent of all public mass shootings which at least four people are killed.” (TheWeek.com) But under a broader definition USA counted 346 mass shootings including shooting deaths of four or more victims in a 17- year period. The worst part about this information is this year we already have recorded 249 mass shootings in about 7 months close to the same amount USA counted over 17 years! This is a problem that must be solve for the safety in this country but also prevent more mass shooting from happening. “According to a Mother Jones study: Only 23 percent have been treated for mental illness.” ( Gallagher )
It is a sad time in American history when one can easily recount recent school shootings in their own area. This ease stems from a sharp increase in the number of firearms brought into elementary and middle schools across the country, with an intense focus on the issue beginning after the shooting of 20 children from Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Most school shooters are male, white, and often upper middle class. They are also more, often than not, under some type of mental stress that is causing them to create this type of violence in our communities. In fact, many school shooters are never suspected of doing any harm to their peers and teachers until it is much too late.
Miah, who was once a light to her family and friends, is now sad, timid, and too traumatized to sleep (Neus). An appalling tragedy. Students and teachers shouldn’t have to go through such gruesome experiences, but they do, all of the time: “There have been 394 school shootings since 1999” (Cox). While some people believe that stricter gun control laws would infringe upon their Second Amendment rights, guns are too easily accessible to school shooters; therefore, the U.S. government should put these stricter laws into place: raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21-years-old, make the background checks stricter, require safe storage of weapons in homes, and ban the commercial selling of assault rifles. If those laws had been in place, 35 mass shootings that resulted in 446 deaths could’ve been prevented.
School shootings have gone up in tremendous numbers since the Columbine mass shooting in 1999. This unfortunately opened a door to cause malicious copycats to react such crimes that still happen to this year. There have been 200 shootings at school in the last past decade. School shootings have an impact on how we go to school everyday without knowing there is a possibility of being attacked because of a heinous crime. One of America’s most deadly social problem is school shootings because it can create mental problems for students, they occur because of bullying, and can lead to unemployment.
School shootings are the leading death by a fire arm in the United States. What motivates these people to want to kill others? Acts of violence at schools is not a new thing. School shootings date back to the 18th century. However, school shootings are growing more common in this day in age. What motivates these people to want to kill others? With social networks more and more people are being bullied, which results in more kids snapping and shooting up their school. Bullying isn’t the only reason for school shooting, now smart kids are snapping under the pressure of unrealistic standards set for them by their honors teachers. In high school teens get the choice to take honors classes, or regular classes. The biggest difference in these classes
School shootings have altered American history greatly over the past two decades. From 1997 to 2007, there have been more than 40 school shootings, resulting in over 70 deaths and many more injuries. School shoot-outs have been increasing in number dramatically in the past 20 years. There are no boundaries as to how old the child would be, or how many people they may kill or injure. At Mount Morris Township, Michigan, on February 29th, 2000, there was a 6 year old boy who shot and killed another 6 year old girl at the Buell Elementary School with a .32 caliber pistol. And although many shootings have occurred at High Schools or Middle Schools, having more guns on those campuses would not be a good environment for children to grow up in. However, on a college campus, the pupils attending are not children anymore; the age range is from 17 to mid 20’s. Therefore they understand the consequences associated to the use of weapons and have gained more maturity. In April 16th, 2007, at Blacksburg, Virginia, there was a shooting rampage enacted by Sung-Hui Cho (23 years, from Centreville, VA) who fired over 170 rounds, killing 32 victims, before taking his own life at the Virginia Tech campus. Colleges and Universities would be a much safer place, for student and teacher, if guns were permitted on campus for self-defense purposes.
Although most security measures passively make schools safer, it is not nearly enough to prevent an individual who intends on creating mass violence from completing his or her task. State representatives, national organizations, school staff, and parents need to come together to figure out the most reliable ways to prevent an active shooter situation from occurring in their schools. One solution that has been active is many schools have partnered with local law enforcement agencies to provide a police officers to patrol school grounds....
Public mass shootings have increased at an alarming rate over the past three decades and have become a growing concern for the people of the United States. It has appeared that approximately every few months, media outlets report incidences of tragedy involving a sole gunman targeting groups of people with the intent to harm or extinguish life due to various motives. Recent research data indicated that over 80 public mass shootings have occurred in the United States since 1983. Some of the more recent shootings to date are: Marysville-Pilchick High in October 2014; Santa Barbara, California in May 2014; Fort Hood, Texas U.S. Army base in April 2014; Washington Navy Yard in September 2013; Sandy Hook Elementary, Connecticut in December 2012;
America, standing in fear, waiting for another mass shooting to break out in front of their eyes. More than 3,000 American Citizens die from gun violence each year (USA Gun Violence Stat.). Sadly, a fraction of the lives lost are mostly due to school shootings. This year alone, 52 school shootings have occurred, leaving 30 dead and 53 injured (52 School Shootings). From the mass murder of Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University to the well known Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, it becomes clear how ordinary people turn into brutal killers. The causes of these horrible tragedies are the availability of guns, media, and mental illness.
In the United States there have been 142 school shootings since 2013. In Australia there has never been a school shooting. “A school shooting is a form of mass shooting involving a gun attack on an educational institution, such as a school or university”(Wikipedia). According to the United States Secret Service, a school shooting is where the school is purposely planned and selected as the location for the attack. A school shooting may occur between any individual, student, instructor, administrator and staff employed institution (Sinnamon, 2016). There is no one profile to describe a shooter but almost all attackers are students at the school. School shootings occur when anyone enters a campus and begins firing weapons such as a rifle, shotgun