Gun Control Vs Cultural Reform

Gun Control vs. Cultural Reform Whether liberal or conservative, everybody can agree that the violence in the United States, thanks to firearms, must come to an end. In light of recent mass shootings and the overall murder and crime rates involving firearms, the debate over whether or not the laws pertaining to guns need enhanced or amended has been on the front page of newspapers, websites, and a main topic of discussion in our own government. The thing is, knee-jerk reactions from both sides of the political spectrum have plagued our minds and law makers, turning any chance of compromise into for-or-against mindset debates. With the right knowledge and correct path of correction, we all can make the United States a better nation together,

Mexico has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had 11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per 100,000 people) compared to the United States that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per 100,000 people). (procon.org). In Mexico, they have only one gun store from which civilians can buy firearms. Mexico's lone gun store is on a secure military base where customers must present a valid ID, go through a metal detector, and turn over cell phones and cameras to guards. Then, if they actually want to buy a gun, customers have to show proof of honest income, provide references, pass a criminal background check, prove any military duties were completed with honor, and be fingerprinted and photographed. If allowed to purchase a gun, the customer may buy only one gun (choosing from only .38 caliber pistols or lower) and one box of bullets. (Procon.org). Some might argue saying that the United States and Mexico differ greatly in almost all aspects, and while they do, they still share a border. With the amount of crime and illegal substances, being drugs or weapons or even people, it would be naive to think that criminals in the United States wouldn’t get supplies like firearms from

In 1987, a lone gunman armed with two semi automatic rifles and a handgun went on a six-hour shooting spree roughly seventy miles west of London, killing more than a dozen people and then himself in what became known as the Hungerford Massacre. With the event fresh on everybody’s mind, Britain introduced the Firearms Act, expanding the list of banned weapons including semi automatic rifles and set forth new and increased registration requirements for other types of weapons (council on foreign relations). Anti-gun debaters always like to compare the United States to countries like Britain and say how much their gun related crime has decreased and how they haven’t had any mass shootings of comparison to recent ones in the States. The fact of the matter is that at least 36 people have been fatally stabbed - and 62 overall killed - in London since the beginning of the year. Met Police records show 37, 443 recorded knife offences and 6,694 recorded gun offences across the UK in the year up to September 2017. The level of stabbings and knife related incidents have skyrockets in recent years. London actually has a higher murder rate than New York City, now. (the sun). Again, only the naive would think that if a gun ban was the answer to gun violence, that all crime and homicides would decrease. Obviously that is not