Mass Shootings

Current Events Paper
Richard Mumford
Soc/100
Tricia Hutchins
Firearms and society, what gives? Within just the last decade there has been multiple firearm related mass shootings. From Columbine to sandy hook they have been deadly and have taken all walks of life. From small children to old adults. There is no specific target, these are people with mental illnesses that we yet not understand. What I can tell you is that this is nothing new, mass killings go back to the early 1900’s in American culture even 1800’s in the American west. There were forty one mass shootings from 1900-1980 in America. Then a sharp rise between 1980 and the year 2000, there were seventy four mass shootings. From 2000 to 2014 thirty-two mass shooting incidents.
Gun Violence is actually on the decline, and not because of tough gun restrictions. In the year 2013 the US set a new record for gun sales. As activist shout for more regulation, the decline in gun violence continues to fall.
Not because of tougher gun laws. Historical data actually shows when tougher sanctions are placed on law abiding citizen’s gun crime skyrockets. We can look at cities like Chicago for example who have strict gun regulation. In the last 3 days one has been murdered and twenty six injured. In fact Chicago has the highest rate of gun violence in the United States averaging between 450-500 gun related deaths a year. Other large cities like New York and Los Angeles also have tough gun restrictions resulting in 250-350 gun related deaths a year. With other cities that have more lenient gun laws have lower homicide rates, take New Orleans for example with 193 deaths resulting from gun violence. You can clearly see that by unrestricting firearms for law abiding citizens gun crime rates actually drop. This brings me to the topic of gun violence stopped by a gun. There has been thousands of incidents that have been either completely stopped or stopped prematurely. As in the case of the Plymouth, MA shooting. On September 11th 2012 the suspect by the name of Allabough was asked to leave the bar. He was an air force veteran with some mental discretion’s. Allabough pulled a
semi-automatic pistol. He quickly shot two patrons fatally wounding one of them. When Allabough attempted to continue his killing spree Mark ktyor another bar patron pulled a concealed weapon. Mark Ktyor had a concealed weapons permit and responded by shooting Allabough several times subduing him and preventing more bloodshed. This is not the only instance, the shooting at Clackamas town center was stopped prematurely as well by a private gun owner carrying a concealed firearm. There are countless instances that go undetected in our media because it doesn’t follow popular belief. I am here to tell you as someone who has done the research and served my country for 10 years defending the constitution that the second amendment right is a must. Yes there should be some gun regulation in place obviously to make sure that prior criminal’s and people with diagnosed mental disorders do not have the necessary access to purchase a firearm. One of the bigger gun restriction I am all for is having classes that must be paid for by the purchaser to learn how to safely store and carry a firearm. Some of the larger mass shootings could have been prevented and most notably the school shootings. If we look at gun sales currently though and put them side by side with gun related crimes we would see that the violence is declining. When we see more restrictive gun laws we see crime go up. No matter which way you dice it up criminals normally have a means of getting firearms. It’s up to law abiding citizens to step up and do their part. You may think this sounds barbaric but look at the American west. People policed themselves when there was no Sherriff around, and the same holds true today. People who have concealed carry permits are stopping gun violence in America.
There have been numerous occasions where criminals are stopped in their tracks because of a fellow citizens doing his part to curb the problem. The more gun free we are the more at risk we are of allowing ourselves to be unprotected. I for one know the value of a firearm, say I go to Walmart with my son and I’m just shopping. When a crazed teen comes in opening fire on the store, seeing that I’m in Washington State which is an open carry state I can eliminate that threat and save countless life’s including my son. Say I am in a restrictive state like Illinois and I am not allowed to open carry, I have to run and hide just like everyone else. Which usually results in being wounded or being killed. There is absolutely no other way to protect yourself from a gun than from a gun. I want you to ask yourself which side of the argument you’re on now. People say guns are not safe and from a sociological perspective they are not. Why is this the case, I can tell you why because it has been feed to you in the media for years. Guns are bad, guns are violent, and most of all guns kill people. No they do not, it’s time to buck the sociology of gun belief. Guns save lives if you use them properly. Criminals
will always have them, and by limiting ourselves the capacity to carry. We are putting our generation at risk. The average response time for a police officer in the United States is 10 minutes Angie M. Tarighi 2014. Imagine what somebody can do with a pistol and 50 rounds of ammunition in 10 minutes. I know that some people are scared to carry or it will never happen to me, but let me tell you this. When it does happen and you lose a loved one or a family member you will say I wish I had a gun.
Citations
Tarighi, A. (2014, January 12). Average-Police-Response-Time. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
Kalinowski, B. (2012, September 11). Police: Bar patron shot Plymouth homicide suspect. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
Library, C. (2014, July 14). 27 deadliest mass shootings. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
Henriques, J. (2013, October 12). Mass Shootings in America: A Historical Review. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
Hatvigsen, M. (2013, April 8). 10 states with the most lenient gun laws | Deseret News. Retrieved August 13, 2014.