Gun Violence Research Paper
Gun violence is any act committed by the use of a firearm that causes bodily injury or fatality. Gun violence in the United States has become increasingly evident and has led to mass tragedy nationwide, affecting all walks of life. It has had a devastating effect on communities throughout the country and has resulted in numerous injuries and deaths. Within the past decade, there have been more than “100,000 people killed as a result of gun violence” in America, and millions more have been victims of robbery, assault, or other crimes involving a gun (“FACT”). Within this same timeframe, hundreds of thousands of people within United States borders committed suicide with a gun or suffered from other gun inflicted injuries (“FACT”). Additionally,
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The word safe has many different definitions when in the context of firearms. Many republicans believe that the country will not be safe until citizens can freely defend themselves, their families, and their homes through the use of weapons, if necessary. In contrast, many democrats believe that the nation will not be safe until guns are taken out of the hands of all individuals, with the exception of police and federal agents. Since Obama is democratic, his views of safety relate closely to the average democratic view, however his plans in his executive action are far from unconstitutional. The White House claims that in an effort to make the nation safer, Obama’s executive order calls for a limitation on the size of magazines (“FACTS”). In not so distant history, this limitation on the size of magazines could have prevented the deaths of numerous individuals. Adam Lanza, the man who committed the acts of violence against Sandy Hook Elementary School was armed with two pistols and a Bushmaster .223 caliber AR-15 assault rifle (“The Promise”). He loaded—and reloaded— the firearms with “ten 30-round high-capacity magazines and twenty 20-round magazines,” and these 700 rounds were enough to kill everyone in the school” (“The Promise”). It was only during the brief moments in which he was changing magazines that several children were able to escape. If Lanza had been limited to standard 10-round magazines, he would have had to reload 16 times instead of six, thus providing more time for the children to escape, resulting in less unnecessary deaths. With this one tragedy, it is evident that Obama’s plan to reduce the size of magazines is beneficial and can lead to less fatalities, which in return makes the nation safer
The word safe has many different definitions when in the context of firearms. Many republicans believe that the country will not be safe until citizens can freely defend themselves, their families, and their homes through the use of weapons, if necessary. In contrast, many democrats believe that the nation will not be safe until guns are taken out of the hands of all individuals, with the exception of police and federal agents. Since Obama is democratic, his views of safety relate closely to the average democratic view, however his plans in his executive action are far from unconstitutional. The White House claims that in an effort to make the nation safer, Obama’s executive order calls for a limitation on the size of magazines (“FACTS”). In not so distant history, this limitation on the size of magazines could have prevented the deaths of numerous individuals. Adam Lanza, the man who committed the acts of violence against Sandy Hook Elementary School was armed with two pistols and a Bushmaster .223 caliber AR-15 assault rifle (“The Promise”). He loaded—and reloaded— the firearms with “ten 30-round high-capacity magazines and twenty 20-round magazines,” and these 700 rounds were enough to kill everyone in the school” (“The Promise”). It was only during the brief moments in which he was changing magazines that several children were able to escape. If Lanza had been limited to standard 10-round magazines, he would have had to reload 16 times instead of six, thus providing more time for the children to escape, resulting in less unnecessary deaths. With this one tragedy, it is evident that Obama’s plan to reduce the size of magazines is beneficial and can lead to less fatalities, which in return makes the nation safer