Diamond Wisemon
Mandi Sena
English 1102
26 June 2020
Blog Post 2: Gun Violence
Introduction: Weapons are a problem in our country, any kind of weapon is a problem. Citizens will pick up any kind of weapon to defend themselves to hurt the other citizen. When citizens use weapons on each other either someone has major injuries or someone is dead. Weapons shouldn’t exist as citizens to take another citizen's life. All weapons should be banned and it's taking a toll in our country because it's spreading fear. Fear spreads everyday because these harmful weapons exist.
Assault rifles are a major contributor to fear and should be banned. Assault rifles are a shoulder-fired weapon that allows the shooter to shoot between two. Semi-automatic allows the shooter to pull the trigger for each shot. Fully automatic is when the shooter holds the trigger and the gun continuously fires or three-shot burst modes. Those assault rifles are only made for military purposes but citizens are able to purchase those assault rifles. Some citizens sue those assault rifles as sporting guns. In view of Mark Gius, author of “The impact of state and federal assault weapons bans on public mass shootings”, “ Using a Poisson effect model and data for the period 1982 to 2011, it was found that both state and federal assault weapons bans have statistically significant and negative effects on mass shooting fatalities but that only the federal assault weapons ban had a negative effect on mass shooting injuries” (Gius 2). Assault rifles have a negative effect on mass shootings, but it's not just about mass shootings. It's about how assault rifles are someone 's cause of death because the shooter killed them with their assault rifle.
According to Christopher S. Koper, “In April of 1998, the Clinton administration broadened the range of the AW ban by prohibiting importation of an additional 58 foreign semi automatic rifles that were still legal under the 1994 law but that can accept LCMs made for military assault rifles like the AK-47 (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1998)” (Koper 5). The Clinton administration prohibited importation of 58 foregin semi automatic rifles; it was still legal under the 1994 law. LCMs made for military assault rifles like the AK-47 which shouldn't have been made if they already have the original assault rifle. Assault rifles shouldn’t exist because in this country we already have other weapons. Also the military has other weapons too. Assault rifles are very harmful; the semi automatic allows you to pull the trigger for each shot. Fully automatic on an assault rifle is a very harmful way to kill someone. Holding the tigger while shots are getting fired continuously trying to kill another citizen. Some shots the shooter might miss, but having the assault rifle on Fully automatic holding the trigger while the shots fire continuously that person is most likely to die.
Police brutality is a contributor to fear because everyday on the news you see cops killing citizens. When these citizens get pulled over their hands are already up because they don't know what that cop will do. It is when a police officer uses excessive force against a subject. In many cases policemen are using deadly force on a subject. According to Robert E. Worden, author of The “Causes” Of Police Brutality Theory and Evidence On Police Use Of Force “ One prominent sociological approach to understanding the behavior of police officers is based on the premise that police behavior is influenced by the social dynamics of police- citizen encounters.” (Worden 2). However the citizens actions are how the police respond in their behavior. Police are likely to pull out their guns because of how the citizens respond to them. According to Andrew Rasodo Shaw, author of Our Duty in light of the Law’s Irrelevance: Police Brutality and Civilian Recordings “ In the 1960s, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense sent armed and uniformed citizens patrols through the ghettos of Oakland, California” (Shaw 1). These brazen young men, belts of bullets across their chest and shotguns in their hand, marched to end the brutal abuse of the poor and minorities by the Oakland police” (Shaw 2). The Black Panther Party put an end to the police abuse in Oakland California in the 1960s, but it didn’t stop police brutality in today's society.
Citizens with mental illness tend to feel left out sometimes. People with serious mental illness always get picked on by other people that don't have any type of serious mental illness. According to Colleen L. Barry, author of News Media Framing of Serious Mental Illness and Gun Violence in the United States, 1997-2012 “ Across the study period, most news coverage occurred in the wake of mass shootings, and “dangerous people” with SMI were more likely than “dangerous weapons” to be mentioned as a cause of gun violence” (Barry 3). Some serious mental illness people are being framed for gun violence, but some mental illness people are actually abusing a gun. Serious mental illness people with ADHD have guns and they shouldn’t because some of them don’t take the medicine. In view of Elizabeth McGinty “ On the other side, the National Rifle Association, which arguably wields far greater influence over national firearms policy than public opinion does, laid the blame for mass shootings on unrelated mental illness rather than unregulated guns and proposed the creation of a national database of persons with mental illness” (McGinty 23). Most mental illnesses are being blamed for gun violence it's not all of the people that have a mental illness that have a gun. I believe it's the people who don't have a mental illness that do it and not the people with mental illness. I believe they put it as the mental illness people are also included with gun violence too. Not all mental illness people will take their behavior to use a gun on another citizen.
Reducing guns isn’t reducing gun violence. Guns should be taken away all together because reducing them will cause even more gun violence. According to Sarah M. Shalf, author of The Legal Context of School Violence: The Effectiveness of Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Efforts to Reduce Gun Violence in Schools ``A variety of legal measures have been debated and proposed. These include: the enactment of tougher gun control laws and more vigorous federal and local enforcement of existing gun control laws; the enactment of laws imposing civil or criminal liability on parents for their children’s violent behavior; the establishment of specialized courts and prosecution strategies for handling juveniles who are charged with weapons offenses; stricter enforcement of school disciplinary codes; reform of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to make it easier to expel students for weapons violations; and greater use of alternative schools as placements for students who are charged with weapons violations'' (Shalf 2). If there were already gun control laws we all as citizens are supposed to go by and we don’t go by them. Then enforcing tougher gun control laws will not work because gun violence still will go on. When there were no guns back then gun violence never came about. In view of Angela Devan “The suggested strategy for the reduction of violence is to collaboratively address the problem, based on an intervention system focused on prevention, rehabilitation, and development” (Devan 1). I agree with Angela Devan, but if we’re going to address the problem we have to do actions about the problem so that the problem won't continuously happen.
Conclusion: Guns across the country shouldn’t exist whether its a handgun, assault rifle, AK-47 etc. We all as citizens aren’t responsible with a gun because at any given moment when we have a gun we can kill someone. Even though it's not the guns that's killing the citizens it actually is, but it's also the people that's killing people. The guns are killing us because that's the easiest weapon that can most likely kill us. Assault rifles most definitely shouldn’t be allowed because that's all the chances to kill someone. People are hurt, scared, and afraid to walk outside today because of gun violence. When officers use deadly force with a gun it causes extreme fear throughout the nation. Guns contribute fear in every nation. Why should we have guns when we have other weapons ? Any type of gun can easily kill anyone. Being the fact that these guns came about crime rates went up. The News, T.Vs, Magazines, and Newspaper spread fear about guns and showing pictures of them. Guns equal to fear and all weapons should be banned.
Works Cited
Gius, M. (2014, August 01). The impact of state and federal assault weapons bans on public mass shootings. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2014.939367
https://phibetaiota.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2004-NIJ-Assault-Weapons-Ban-Report.pdf
Wodern, R. E. (n.d.). The "Causes" of Police Brutality Theory and Evidence On Police Use Of Force. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en
Gius, M. (2014, August 01). The impact of state and federal assault weapons bans on public mass shootings. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504851.2014.939367
Shaw, A. R. (2012). Our Duty in Light of the Law's Irrelevance: Police Brutality and Civilian Recordings. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fgeojpovlp20
Redding, R., & Shalf, S. (2002, December 16). The Legal Context of School Violence: The Effectiveness of Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Efforts to Reduce Gun Violence in Schools. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9930.00115
Devan, A. (2015, July 07). A Ground-Up Model for Gun Violence Reduction: A Community-Based Public Health Approach. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15433714.2014.997090