Amending Gun Laws in America
Analysis of Amending Gun Laws in America
Written By: Merri C. Eder
Intro to American Government
Instructor: Curtis Ankeny
April 26, 2013
Analysis of Amending Gun Laws in America Amending gun laws, more specifically background checks and gun registration laws, is perhaps one of the most widespread debates currently occurring in America. The United States experiences tragic levels of gun violence, claiming over 30,000 lives annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1. For every one person who dies from a gunshot wound, two others are wounded. Every year, approximately 100,000 people are victims of gun violence in America2. In addition to those who are killed or injured, there are countless others whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their loved ones. Gun violence touches every branch of our society in which we live. Gun violence increases the probability of deaths in incidents of domestic violence, raises the chances of fatalities by those who intend to injure others and also among those who attempt suicide, places children and young people at risk, and disproportionately affects communities of color. Mass shooting tragedies like the school shootings at Sandy Hook, at Virginia Tech in April 2007 and Northern Illinois University in February 2008 – or the 1993 office shooting in San Francisco that led to the formation of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – receive strong, widespread media attention across the globe. However, gun deaths and injuries in the U.S. usually occur quietly, without national press coverage, every day. The fallout from the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has been widespread and relentless: marches and protests, fiery advertisements, celebrity endorsements, contentious congressional and state hearings, proposed federal and state legislation and a tough, new gun control law in New York State. But whether the shooting
Written By: Merri C. Eder
Intro to American Government
Instructor: Curtis Ankeny
April 26, 2013
Analysis of Amending Gun Laws in America Amending gun laws, more specifically background checks and gun registration laws, is perhaps one of the most widespread debates currently occurring in America. The United States experiences tragic levels of gun violence, claiming over 30,000 lives annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1. For every one person who dies from a gunshot wound, two others are wounded. Every year, approximately 100,000 people are victims of gun violence in America2. In addition to those who are killed or injured, there are countless others whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their loved ones. Gun violence touches every branch of our society in which we live. Gun violence increases the probability of deaths in incidents of domestic violence, raises the chances of fatalities by those who intend to injure others and also among those who attempt suicide, places children and young people at risk, and disproportionately affects communities of color. Mass shooting tragedies like the school shootings at Sandy Hook, at Virginia Tech in April 2007 and Northern Illinois University in February 2008 – or the 1993 office shooting in San Francisco that led to the formation of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – receive strong, widespread media attention across the globe. However, gun deaths and injuries in the U.S. usually occur quietly, without national press coverage, every day. The fallout from the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has been widespread and relentless: marches and protests, fiery advertisements, celebrity endorsements, contentious congressional and state hearings, proposed federal and state legislation and a tough, new gun control law in New York State. But whether the shooting
References: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Online Source, can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/ Talk Radio News Service, Gun Control Activists Rally Against NRA-Backed Lobbyists, April 25, 2013, Online source, can be found at: http://www.talkradionews.com/us/2013/04/25/anti-gun-activists-march-on-nra-lobbyists.html#.UX3bVqLviSo Jost, Kenneth, Gun Rights Debates, October 31, 2008, Online Source, can be found at: http://library.cqpress.com.columbus.libproxy.ivytech.edu.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2008103100&type=hitlist&num=0 Mantel, Barbara, Gun Control, March 8, 2013, Online Source, can be found at: http://library.cqpress.com.columbus.libproxy.ivytech.edu.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2013030800&type=hitlist&num=1 Jost, Kenneth, Gun Control Standoff, December 19, 1997, Online Source, can be found at: http://library.cqpress.com.columbus.libproxy.ivytech.edu.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1997121900&type=hitlist&num=3