Firearm Death and Its Causes

Firearm Death and Its Causes

Mark Jacobs

Instructor Cherry

2 May 2016

1. Introduction

        The United States is currently facing an epidemic of frequent shootings and mass murders. Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, there have been 54 mass murders in the United States. What’s more alarming than the number of instances is the rate at which they’re growing; each year sees more mass shootings than the previous. Amidst the discussion on mental health, domestic security, and policing, gun control is the central topic. Since the gruesome shootings in Aurora and Newtown, politicians and activists of all cultures and parties have called for the elimination of assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and sometimes the complete eradication of all firearms in the hands of Americans. Especially in a pivotal election year, many people are discussing how to move forward with gun safety and the culture of gun violence in America. While everyone can agree that too many people are being killed by gun violence, there is a massive divide between those who advocate for different corrective measures.

        While the debate on what to do about guns seems like common sense, it is much more complicated than what it seems on the surface. Critics of firearms claim the solution to the violence issue is to take away the right to bear arms and conduct a widespread collection of most or all firearms in the nation. However, while it is a daunting task, it is also very unlikely to effectively eliminate or reduce deaths from firearms. Similar to the war on drugs that was launched in the early 1970’s, a war on firearms will create a thriving illegal firearm trade, increase the amount of incarcerated Americans, and reduce citizens’ ability to protect themselves from criminals. Proponents of gun rights aim to create a society in which people, not guns, are to blame for the violence which is perpetuated through the use of firearms, create awareness of how to responsibly own a firearm, and bring awareness to mental health issues. To do so, gun violence must be analyzed in a multifaceted fashion. The American Psychological Association writes, “There is no single profile that can reliably predict who will use a gun in a violent act. Instead, gun violence is associated with a confluence of individual, family, school, peer, community, and sociocultural risk factors that interact over time during childhood and adolescence” (Cornell 2013). Due to the complicated nature of solving gun murders and violence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the many factors of murders by firearms. Once the causes are analyzed and determined, policy makers can implement the most effective deterrents of homicides and eliminate the root causes of violence. This paper contains the methodology to measure the causes and variables related to murders by all categories of firearms.