Across all political stances and backgrounds, an overwhelming majority of Americans want gun laws passed to protect children from school shooters and prevent the all-time high gun violence that has occurred in the U.S. for the last few years.
Attempts to Pass Universal Background Check
Since the increase in school shootings and events of mass gun violence in churches, malls, food markets, and more, people of diverse backgrounds and political affiliations all agree there should be more restrictive gun laws put into place in order to prevent these events and acts of violence from happening. However, until 2021 no adjustments or restrictions had been made for the ability of people with violent backgrounds or having threatened to hurt people to acquire guns. They may have even acted on impulsive desires to commit violence to themselves or others. While the passing of H.R.1446 has put some restrictions on waiting time to obtain a gun from 3 business days to 10 business days, there is very little done to make stricter and better enforcement of universal background checks in regard to violence and other serious concerns.
In 2022 alone, 20,138 people died from gun violence (along with 40,000 suicides by gun use) and over 600 mass shootings. The number of deaths and suicides from guns has been the highest in decades, and makes the U.S. ranked #1 in mass shootings and deaths from mass gun violence. People, including politicians, have spoken out across social media platforms expressing the national demand for stricter gun laws because anyone as young as 18 years old in America can access a semi-automated or automated weapon that can kill dozens of people in the span of a minute. This has caused many impulsive and imitative acts of violence committed against innocent children in schools, primarily committed by young white males.
The Signs and Warnings
In a majority of cases regarding mass shooters, it is found that 56% of shooters exhibited warning signs before committing the shootings, and over 60% of gun violence occurs domestically, aka in private. Especially in popular cases of school shootings, we discover that the people behind the crimes often made elaborate plans and had many opportunities to be stopped by concerned friends and family, authorities, or by stricter laws that would ensure they didn’t obtain a weapon. In order to prevent such violence from occurring, we not only need more protective laws to prevent people with intent to commit acts of violence and with a violent history from obtaining a dangerous weapon, but also need to take the necessary steps as members of our communities to look for the signs and help someone from committing such violence against themselves and/or others.
Conclusion
We often distance ourselves from tragic and difficult topics like this because it is hard to address and is uncomfortable to think our communities and/or children could be the next victim of gun violence. As this occurs more often, we get used to seeing it happen. We need to stay diligent and not normalize mass shootings and gun violence, if you or a loved one notice someone who is discussing, even in a joking manner, committing acts of gun violence or mass shooting, glorifying mass shooters and gun violence, isolating and idealizing committing an act of violence with a gun, and other concerning behaviors, please address them and do whatever you can either as their loved one, a classmate, a parent, or a teacher to address the problem at hand; encourage them to seek help and keep an eye on them for any purchases of weapons or accessory to weapons. Gun violence and mass shootings can happen to anyone, including in our own communities, so make sure to look out for your loved ones and stay safe Mustangs.
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