In light of the recent events in Orlando, our nation is yet again faced with the question of prevention of gun violence in the future. Orlando is most definitely not an isolated incident, in the past ten years, 301,797 Americans have been killed due to gun related violence according to The Trace.
Some events other than Orlando include Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, UCLA, and Tuscon. Every day the percentage of gun violence is significantly increasing. In result, innocent children and families are being killed.
There have been many opinions circulating regarding gun violence, and according to DC resident, Laura Catalani, legislations should be put in place to alleviate tensions. Catalani says the government has made, “attempts, but no movements have been put forth.”
Although, legislation is harder to see in the making, the physical use of guns is easier to recognize and she believes it needs, “to be harder to get guns,” because too much violence is present in Catalani’s opinion. American citizens such as Catalani fear a future of violence and believe it needs to stop before the practice rubs off on our children. It’s all “part of the puzzle for gun violence,” said Catalani.
Even students, such as Lily Cervantes have an opinion on gun control. Cervantes believes gun violence is one of the most common issues in the United States today. She believes that while “gun violence is terrible, it is inevitable and is hard to avoid completely.” She thinks there should be more security when it comes to guns and more precautions to avoid future shootings.
In the relation of mental illness to gun violence she believes that “mental illness, depending on what you have, makes you more aggressive and in the strong mind set.” Cervantes as well as others gun advocates believe that gun violence is something that we should handle with care in looking towards our future. Although Cervantes believes gun violence is becoming very common, she is hopeful that it can be avoided through stricter background checks and more control overall.
from Think Progress
American citizens, such as Viviane Wade, local DC server and hostess feel the affects of this ever-increasing issue. Wade said she feels completely uncomfortable carrying a gun, and expressed this opinion by stating that she “wouldn’t even want to touch a gun,” let alone own one. She believes that many times those who do carry guns draw trouble to themselves.
Wade would like to see some changes in policy that can decrease the amount of unfit people carrying guns–one of the greatest issues our government is still trying to tackle. One suggestion that she did have to move towards a safer future was to reinforce the age requirement to purchase a gun; a rule that many sadly ignore. She did however remark that there is “no age limit on mental illness” and added that overall background checks need to become stricter.
Statistics show that the total number of firearms bought in each state is less than the amount of murders that occur in that same year. California being the highest in number of murders totaling 1,745 has 1,224 firearms according to the FBI link. Hawaii has the least murders with only 9 in one year and 6 firearms. These facts prove that in some states gun violence is more prevalent than others, but is still a daily problem everywhere in the United States.
According to The Trace on an average day, 36 Americans are killed due to gun violence which supports the fact that gun violence is an obvious issue that needs to be focused on and studied more. In total about 12,253 (including Guam and the Virgin Islands) were killed in gun related crimes in 2013 and that number seems to be rising with 12,942 in 2015.
There has been debate on whether or not there needs to more legislation or just higher prices for guns in general to make it harder to get them. But, to understand why people even have and use guns, it’s important to know the two pro-gun and anti-gun sides.
52% of Americans supporting the anti-gun side want more gun laws, while 14% of Americans supporting the pro-gun side want laws to be less strict according to a recent Gallup Poll. The reason for this divide, according to Psychology Today, boils down to these three main reasons: people are brought up using guns, using a gun is simply fun and empowering (for example in video games), and can make you feel safe.
So should people be allowed to own guns for safety as long as it’s legal, or should there be more legislation to abolish illegal guns? From a psychologist’s perspective, having guns at home leads to more deaths than actual protection against crime.
In a 2014 Gallup Poll 63% of people believe owning a gun at home makes them safer. According to a 1999 study those individuals who believed they felt safer were mainly young, male individuals who had no children. While protection is vital, and something Americans feel they need now more than ever, it’s having a negative impact on the younger generations.
In recent years, several studies have been conducted in order to determine what makes up the mentality of a gun-owner. Researchers found that several factors make up this mentality such as political views, social culture, racism, lack of self-confidence and impulsivity.
Social gun culture was found to be one of the leading pressures to purchase and carry a gun. In a 2015 study done by Bindu Kaleson at Cornell University, it was found that the average American gun owner was typically white, high income, and over 55 years of age. Questions raised in this study that were relating to social gun culture included things like, would the individual’s family or social circle think less of them for not owning a gun or does their social life include activities with guns.
Another typical attribute of a male American gun owner was described as a “crisis of confidence”. What this means is that men who feel significant pressure to be hyper masculine are again more likely to own and carry a gun in order to feel a sense of security. Those who are angry, impulsive, or risk taking may also be more inclined to own a firearm. According to Huffington Post, all humans are somewhat aggressive in their natural state and the possession of a gun can bring out this not so deeply buried characteristic.
Lastly, those with racial resentment are more likely to oppose gun reform. In a 2013 study by Walter Forrest, Michael Daly, Kerry O’Brien, and Dermot Lynott found that “sociocultural factors such as fear of black violence may be associated with gun ownership, and with opposition to gun controls.” This theory has been supported in several other studies as well. Although many of those who own guns don’t use them in a violent way, studies such as these may help lead us to much needed answers in the future.
Overall, gun violence is a major problem in the United States today, and something that we should all be working to improve. Opinions differ on the issue but ultimately changes need to be made starting with the agreement of appropriate gun ownership, and whether legislation should be more prevalent. But, in order to have an agreement, the psychology behind the violence needs to be understood, and taken into account when making these decisions.