Collective Response from Gun Control

The controversy surrounding firearm rights and gun control has continued to be a
significant topic due to the continued mass shooting in Australia and the United States. In the
year 2016, there was 383 recorded incidents of mass shootings in the United States as well as a
drop to 275 in the year 2017 (Aborn R, 2012) . Guns have always been part of US society since
the inception and arrival of first European settlers. The firearms have been frequently used for
violent crimes such as mishaps and suicides or accidental discharges. In the wake of the most
recent and America’s largest mass shooting, the reigniting of many right based social movements
has ignited the advancement of firearm control discussion (Hertz, 2012) . Angered by the
persistent political inaction which followed the scenes of past mass shootings, the advocates of
gun control believe this movement may be a major catalyst to reinvigorate the growing political
debate towards influencing change in America.
The recent mass shootings in concerts and schools have led to the discussion of firearm
control in city councils, Congress, scientific journals, political science studies, society and
media. Guns are an actually indispensable part of American culture although the occupants
believe the fire arms are the real root of evil in America. Presently these guns and weapons apply
to mass shooting and criminal activities, but by impacting the laws on gun handling, there is the
tendency of the increased rate of violent crimes with an increase in permitted gun ownership in
circulation. A person’s risk of being killed is mainly raised by ownership of firearms and by
keeping the guns out of hand reduces the vicious wrongdoings (Jones, 2015) . The main
responsibility of citizens, social movements and law enforcer’s especially with the youths is to
contribute to the decline of the viciousness caused by guns and weapons in America.

COLLECTIVE RESPONSE FROM GUN CONTROL 3
The US has such an unprecedented number of privately owned firearms in the world with
estimates of 120.5 guns owned by civilian per 100 citizens (Aborn R, 2012) . The US has about
six times gun related and homicide rate as compared to Canada and seven times compared to
Sweden and finally 16 times compared to Germany (O’Brien, 2013) . The second-ranked nation
with a high number of civilian-owned guns is Yemen which is finally a quasi-failed nation
mainly torn by the civil war. These factors demonstrate the American growing and unique gun
culture depicting a strong correlation between gun violence and gun ownership. The same guns
are however concentrated among the minorities who such loud critics of gun control are. Guns
are not, however, the sole contributor to gun violence but it encompasses urbanization, poverty
and alcohol consumption; however, the high levels of firearm ownership is the largest
contributor to gun violence.
Following the continued incidences of mass shootings, gun control becomes a major
issue surrounding political aspects of united states coupled with other violence related incidences
such as racial profiling by the law enforcers and immigration issues. There is a need for such
proper regulation, especially from firearm manufacturers. They should be in the forefront
championing for safety issues and producing guns which are child proof in order to mitigate on
various accidental shootings (Lopez, 2018) . The gun-related violence and mass shooting have
been linked to the ease of acquisition of firearms within the country. Nonetheless, there has also
been gross negligence especially from the part of federal and state agencies towards
implementation of existing gun laws.
While comparing the crime and violence rates in the US to other developed high-income
countries such as Japan and Canada, its apparent that their crimes are quite low due to strict gun
monitoring (Jones, 2015) . For instance in Canada, the introduction of the firearm legislation bill

COLLECTIVE RESPONSE FROM GUN CONTROL 4
foresaw the guns being registered while outlawed key types. They even went ahead and
developed a bill which gives guidelines on the use, storage and raised the jail and sentence term
for gun-related offences. The initiative led to a decreased number of homicide cases across
Canada. This also indicates that the gun legislation and control would possibly lead to a
reduction in firearm-related violence across states (Smith, 2004) . There is a need for national
authorities to implement strict and existing gun and firearm control laws while formulating such
additional legislation which would pos