Cause Of Gun Violence

Cause and Effect Essay
The United States has the 26th highest rate of gun violence in the world (Washington Post, 2012). It accounted for 70 percent of all homicides and less than 10 percent of all nonfatal violent crimes from 1993 to 2011 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2013). So how will the United States overcome the battle to end gun violence? The United States Government, worried parents and various anti-gun groups have always scrutinized how to fix the problem. What causes violent acts to be committed with a gun? In order to find out the basics of why these crimes happen, criminal justice experts must understand the indicators that may lead up to these wretched acts of violence. A decline in parenting and family values, poverty,
Poverty is always one of the key factors in violent acts of crime. Consider Detroit. Once a thriving city from the automotive industry, it now holds one of the nation’s highest crime rates (Forbes, 2013). Poverty brings drug dealing and gangs. People use guns in impecunious areas, for protection from other gang members, and/or drug dealers. Drug dealers see the poverty-stricken towns or cities as a favorable place to sell their drugs because they prey upon those they may view as being unprotected. In turn, those who live in these areas may feel the need to be armed. As mentioned above, both parents are not always able to stay together, resulting in one of them possibly moving to a lower income neighborhood where gangs are prevalent. One expert believes that there is a fix to end gun violence in theses underdeveloped areas, stating, “If America’s leaders would invest in proven pathways out of poverty, we could radically diminish violence in America. If America spent as much money offering opportunities to every 16 to 26 year old as we spending locking them up for minor offenses that further cut them off from a positive future, we could end poverty in a generation or two” (Dorothy Stoneman 2012). Poverty is and always has been one of the leading causes of gun violence, but ultimately it is the drive of the parents to make sure that their kids have what they need in life rather than a gang member or drug dealer
Not only does mental illness apply to soldiers return home from war, but also to kids and adults who may have suffered some type of traumatic even during their lives. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza went into a Newtown, Connecticut school and killed twenty children and six adults (NY Daily News, 2013). The motive for his actions was unknown, but one thing is certain, he suffered from a mental illness (CNN, 2013). The high cost of the tragic events caused by mental illness make many Americans feel unsecure along with other reasons for gun violence. Many are being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other illnesses rather than mental illness as they should be. Moreover, it is the responsibility of those that interact with the mentally to get them to a doctor for the medical attention they need to get better.
Factors that contribute to gun violence are a lack of good parental support channel, drugs, poverty and mental illness. Policymakers must seek a solution to resolve problems of gun violence in America. While making laws to protect the citizens of the United States, they must be sure not to infringe on the right to keep and bear