Causesof American Gun Violence
Causesof American Gun Violence
InAmerica, the cases of gun violence are increasing on a daily basis,and the incidences are taking place in different environments. Thegovernment is making efforts to curb this terrifying situation fromconsuming the life of most innocent Americans. But before thegovernment thinks of taking any remedial actions, it is worthinvestigating and understanding the causes of gun violence in Americaso that the steps taken could address the primary reasons that makeAmericans get involved in such cases. There are numerous causes ofgun violence however, the chief ones should be given first priority.Basedon the above underpinning evidence, it is justifiable to state thatthe chief causes of gun violence, in America, include the influenceof pop culture (especially the violent videos and games) as well asthe ease of accessibility of the guns to the citizens.
Oneof the significant causes of gun violence is the video games.According to the report given by Zoe, after he analyzed the datareleased by the American Psychological Association between the years2005 and 2013, he found out that the violent video games havesignificantly contributed to the current gun violence in the country.The report indicated that the frequent viewers of the violent videogames had an increased aggressive behavior. This led to the decreasein their pre-social behavior accelerating their aggressionsensitivity. The collection of responses that results from thecontinued viewing of the violent movies increases the aggressivenessof the viewers towards exhibit violent behaviors. Zoe says that thereis an adamant connection between watching the violent movies in theshort-run but declines to acknowledge any possible long-term effects.One of the high school students who carried out a massacre in theyear 1999 used a gun that he named after a famous actor in one of thecomputer games (Kleinman, 2015.paragraph 4).
Accordingto the report given by the PoliceOne.com, one of the top reasons togun violence is the pop culture influence. The culture influence hasits roots in the violent movies and video games that most childrenand youths watch. Although the violent videos and games have asignificant contribution towards gun violence, the ways children arebrought up also contribute towards gun violence. Parents have afundamental responsibility to ensure that their children grow upknowing what love entails because it is one of the human virtues.Parents should do their best to show children love and educate themon how to love everyone who they interact with in their day to daylives. If parents perform this duty accordingly, their children willnot be victims of the gun violence despite the influence that theymay receive from the violent videos and games. This explains why thedecline in parenting and family values has a direct contributiontowards the influence of violent videos and games on the children. Ifparents teach their children on the importance of life and care thatshould be taken to safeguard people around them. Failure of suchparenting will result to unnecessary gun violence based on what thechildren see in the movies and games. They will not realize the valueof life but will have a reason to pull their triggers and shootanyone close to them with or without reasons (PoliceOne.com, 2016.Paragraph 3).
Thesecond fundamental reason that causes gun violence is the ease ofaccessibility of the guns among the Americans. In his article, Cohenargues that the mental status of a gun owner has been linked to theincreased cases of mass shootings in the US. He does not support thisidea because America is not the only country where there are peoplewith mental illness. He identifies that America is the single countrywhere people with or without any mental disorder have easieraccessibility to guns. His blame is that people quickly access theweapons wherever they need them for reasons better known to them. Ifthe policy of the acquisition of the firearms is made strict andlengthy process involved, the cases are likely to reduce from thecurrent level. The mental status of the gun owners should beadequately screened to avoid imposing blame on the mentally unstableindividuals concerning the cases of gun violence (Cohen, 2015.Paragraph 6).
Kaplanand Shabad identify the loopholes that exist when people want toprocure the arms. They identify that there are several sources fromwhich people buy guns including the Internet and the privateindividuals who sell these guns during the weapon shows. Individualswho purchase the guns are not subjected to the background checksystem, where they should be screened to know their mental conditionand also find out their criminal records. People access the armsquickly, and the Congress has done its best to put the strategies inplace that will ensure that the check system is strengthened thoughthe Senate has not considered the bills. If these background systemsare employed the process of acquisition of the guns will make mostpeople who need them give up. The systems should be imposed not onlyon the buyers but also on the dealers who sell such guns in highnumbers (Kaplan and Shabad, 2015. Paragraph 5).
Althoughthe mental illness is blamed on the causes of gun violence, someauthors have a different view concerning this issue. The EditorialBoard of the Ney Yolk Times does not see the reason to impose blameon the mentally ill people since in most gun violence cases reportedthe mind status of an individual is not a factor to consider.According to the epidemiological estimates, solving the cases ofmental illness may only reduce the gun violence cases by only fourpercent. The board feels that some legal transformations could bemade to ensure that people who are mentally ill do not have access tothe firearms. The states should make an effort to give the federalgovernment records of the people with mental illness. The federalgovernment will then send the documents to the National InstantCriminal Background Check System so that individuals who have themental diseases and those who have carried out gun violence crimeswill fail during the background check. This is a measure that willensure that there is strictness in the acquisition of the firearms(Editorial Board, 2015. Paragraph 8).
Thegun violence killings that took place in Kalamazoo and the Oregoncommunity college made the editorial team of The Washington Postreview the causes of gun violence. The board attributed thesekillings to one reason- ease at which the guns are available to theusers (Editorial Board, 2016. Paragraph 8). The board identified thatthere are no strict rules towards the acquisition of the firearms. Ifthere were a system in place to know who owns the guns and theirmental status, the gun violence cases might reduce. The boardadvocated for adequate background checks to minimize the cases ofviolence.
Toconclude, the primary causes of the gun violence include theinfluence of the pop culture and the easy of accessibility of thefirearms. The pop culture issue can be solved by proper parental carewhereas the ease at which the arms are available can be solvedthrough background checks to assess those who want to buy the guns.
References
Cohen,M.A. (2015). America,the Land of Gun Violence- the Boston Globe,Retrieved from bostonglobe_com.pdf on May 8, 2016.
EditorialBoard. (2016). GunViolence in America is out of Control,Retrieved from washingtonpost_com.pdf on May 8, 2016.
EditorialBoard. (2015). Don’tBlame Mental Illness for Gun Violence,Retrieved from nytimes_com_(1).pdf on May 8, 2016.
Kaplan,R & Shabad, R. (2015). AfterSan Bernardino Shooting, 5 Ways the U.S could Reduce Gun Violence-CBSNews,Retrieved from cbsnews_com.pdf May 8, 2016.
Kleinman,Z. (2015). DoVideo Games make People Violent?-BBC News,Retrieved from bbc_com.pdf on May 8, 2016.
PoliceOne.com.(2016). P1Gun Control Survey: Top 10 Reasons for Gun Violence,Retrieved fromhttps://www.policeone.com/Gun-Legislation-Law-Enforcement/articles/6253478-P1-Gun-Control-Survey-Top-10-reasons-for-gun-violence/on May 8, 2016.