Prevention Of Gun Violence
On a chilly winter morning in Newtown, Connecticut, parents are kissing their children goodbye as they send them off to school, anticipating seeing them later on that day. Little do they know that those kisses will be their final goodbyes because their children won’t be coming back home. On December 14, 2012, gun violence claimed the lives of 20 children in the Sandy Hook school shooting. This is just one example out of the thousands of gun related incidents that cost innocent people their lives each year. In order to prevent gun violence, we must create a culture of gun safety, and put into place sensible gun laws.
The absence of a gun safety culture enables individuals to access firearm with ease and carry out horrendous acts of violence. In 2017, the deadliest mass murder to ever occur in US history, took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. 546 people were injured, and 59 people were killed within the time span of 10 minutes that day. If the US were to conduct thorough background checks and establish laws that prevented guns from getting into the hands of individuals who have histories of brutality and are at an elevated risk of perpetrating gun violence, we could build a culture of gun safety and prevent the lives of innocent people being lost. However, the establishment of a culture of gun safety is not enough. Sensible gun laws play a considerable role in the prevention of gun violence.
When practical gun laws are not put in place, firearm gets into the hands of the wrong people. This increases the risk of dangerous weapons causing fatalities yearly. Recent studies show that “gun injuries are the leading cause of death among high school students.” (“Center of Violence Prevention”). “In 2018, 4,775 young people ages 10-24 were victims of homicide – an average of 13 per day.” (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia”). Every day, students feel unsafe going to school, and these statistics show us exactly why. The lack of sensible gun laws cause school shootings to occur and instill a sense of fear into students. We must diminish easy access to firearm by establishing pragmatic gun laws.
Establishing a culture of gun safety along with installing responsible gun laws are ways we can put a stop to gun violence. By doing so, we will be working towards precluding dangerous individuals from gaining access to these weapons and creating a safe haven for our communities. The dangerous of gun violence are real, and we’ve all sat around and watched them happen for too long. It’s time to take things seriously and work towards creating a safer tomorrow, not just for ourselves, but for society as a whole.
