Gun control is one of the most hotly debated topics today. There are several reasons why it is needed today. According to the Department of Justice, between 1994 and 2014 background checks have blocked 3 million gun sales to prohibited people. Imagine how much death rates would plummet if we locked down on gun control, and think of all the lives that could be saved by this simple institution.I am fighting for revision of the Second Amendment for several reasons, some of which are accidents, death and violence, and crime rates. Guns cause numerous accidents each year, and anyone can be a victim. According to the Injury Prevention and Control, between 1999 and 2013, 9,983 unintentional deaths have occurred because of gun accidents. This demonstrates that each year a great number of people die as a result of a this. In addition, The US General Accounting Office stated that by enacting gun control laws such as mandatory safety features would reduce the number of accidental deaths, and estimated that 100% of deaths per year in which a child under 6 years old shoots and kills him/herself or another child could be prevented by automatic child-proof safety locks. This shows that by taking simple safety precautions, the number of deaths can be decreased by a great number! Deaths and violence is a growing problem in our country. The FBI discovered that in 2013, 1,962 people died from a gun in arguments over matters such as money. This illustrates that presence of a gun makes a conflict more likely to become violent and that by locking down on gun control, fewer deaths will occur every year. CDC Data and Statistics proved that gun control will lead to fewer suicides because between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,237 firearm suicides in the United States. A 2014 study published by the International Review of Law and Economics, when the numbers of gun ownership went down in the United States, the overall suicide rates went down as well. This is just one of the many reasons why most guns should be prohibited. More evidence from Michael Planty and Jennifer Truman from Bureau of Justice Statistics illustrates guns are rarely used in self-defense. The facts are: of the 29,618,300 violent crimes committed between 2007 and 2011, 0.79% of victims protected themselves with the use of a firearm. If you are really trying to protect yourself and your family, in the event of an emergency when you need the use of a firearm, you would have to have multiple firearms in the house to reach one when you need it. Furthermore, you would need to have the firearm in a place that is not hard reach. This means that you are more likely to have accidental deaths to really have the use of a firearm for self-defense. Crime rates are becoming an increasing problem. According to research done by ProCon, the presence of more guns can actually serve as a stimulus to burglary and theft. By omitting the presence of guns, crime rates will go down which is beneficial to the safety our county. We need gun control for several other reasons, as demonstrated by the American Journal of Public Health, the presence of a gun in a domestic violence increases the risk of a woman being killed five times. Imagine if gun control was put into action, and think of all the lives that would be saved. The National Crime Victimization Survey found that 467,321 persons were victims of a crime committed with a firearm in 2011. As well, seven children and teens are killed a day by a gun in the United States. One child is worth all the guns in the world. We clearly need gun control for reasons such as accidents, death and violence, and crime rates. We did not fight for a free country just to be victims of gun violence. “The life of a single human being is worth a million times more than all the property of the richest man on Earth.” – Che Guevara Note: We also published a Special Feature on the blog of other submissions related to Gun Violence. Check them out here.
Young Bloggers
Special Feature: Kids React to Gun Violence
Sometimes at Stone Soup we receive several submissions that have to do with the same topic. Over the past weeks, we’ve received several related to gun violence, most notably school shootings and police brutality. In light of the shooting in Santa Fe, Texas today, Friday, May 18, 2018, we’ve decided to publish a selection of these sadly relevant pieces online. Drawing by William Drewes, 13 There is a lockdown on October 23, 2015. by Aidan McClure, 7 Lullaby by Rebecca Beaver, 13 Seventeen Graves by Kate Kuan, 11 Plus, a reminder to read our March blog piece, 5 Ways Children Can Make a Difference by Lucy Regnier Kline There is a lockdown on October 23, 2015. by Aidan McClure, 7 It was very scary! We had to hide in the coatroom for an hour and a half. Everybody was freaking out except for me, you know, because I am writing this. The police needed to give us an emergency early dismissal but not the good kind. Some people hid under their desks. We didn’t get to have lunch at school. The people who are working on the track left early. Mrs. Fitzgerald turned on Johnny Appleseed. Someone named Madison is writing about this to remember. I said I wasn’t afraid. Well now I am. Hu hu hu hu. That’s me breathing loud. I do that when I’m scared. I’m pretty sure everybody is terrified, even our fish is terrified. I will never forget this day. They’ll probably make my mom leave early too. I can’t wait until I get home and by the way I am still hu hu hu huing. They are starting to call the buses now thankfully. Some people think that they are going to die. Back to top Lullaby by Rebecca Beaver, 13 This little boy Shot dead- 17 Got into an “altercation” His killer claimed self defense And got away free Florida 2012 That’s where it went down This little boy Hood pulled up Iced tea in hand Skittle in back pocket A figure, observing from inside a van Zimmerman— I’m not even sure he was a man Called the police Said he was afraid Of the little boy Was ordered “Stay put. Keep away.” Wait. Soon the world would know their fate He didn’t Slowly slithered out of his van Stalked the little boy’s way Stared In his eyes So bright, so full of life Suddenly, the “man” Reached for his gun—the bullets… BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. Tore through him Dressed in red— Alone, the little boy died Hood pulled up Bright eyes dull Light; gone No one seems to care He’s gone, his killer free He becomes a symbol Of injustice Gun violence Police brutality But when all is said And all is done He was just a little boy Loved by a mother Who doesn’t want a symbol She wants her son Here, safe, alive She wishes with all her heart She had been able to tell him she loves him Say goodbye And sing her son Her poor, sweet baby A lullaby. Back to top Seventeen Graves by Kate Kuan, 11 A terrible loss on Valentine’s day Students and teachers dead in the fray How did so many lives end this way Because no one saw the signs He aspired to murder and told others so Through an Instagram profile that showed he was a foe But no one noticed and no one would know No one saw the signs Cruz was nineteen, and passed a background check Nobody knew he would take a trek To a school where his expulsion was put into effect Nobody saw the signs Seventeen gravestones ringed with wreaths Because bullets were shot from their metal sheathes Each grave for a person who no longer breathes Because no one saw the signs Back to top
Be Aware of Global Warming
Land-ocean temperature index, 1880 to present, with base period 1951-1980. Courtesy NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies – http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/ When you hear the word “Monster,” what do you think of? You might imagine a red, slimy creature with razor-like teeth, or an enormous shadowy figure lurking around. But some monsters are not like the ones you would typically think of. Global warming is one such monster that is really threatening life as we know it today. Global warming, also called climate change, is a slow process in which the Earth is slowly getting hotter and hotter as the years go by. According to the article “Global Warming 101,” 15 of the 16 hottest years in the 134-year record kept by NASA have occurred after the year 2000. I never even knew about global warming and what was slowly happening to our planet until my dad suggested for me to research this topic. Global warming is caused by something called the greenhouse effect. In this effect, carbon dioxide and other gases such as water vapor, methane, and nitrous oxide are collected in the atmosphere. These gases are called “greenhouse gases”, and they trap heat in our atmosphere. This effect has always been happening to the Earth to keep it warm. However, it is now getting faster as more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. What made me angry was that humans are causing global warming. We burn tremendous amounts of coal, oil, and natural gases every day. We drive millions of cars, trucks, trains, buses, and other vehicles that release carbon dioxide. Trees actually convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, but we cut them down, releasing more carbon dioxide. All these processes (and more) of emitting greenhouse gases add up and warm our climate faster. After finding out how global warming happened, I wanted to know how it affected our planet. Unfortunately, pretty much everything I found out was a consequence for us on Earth. These are only a fraction of the many problems global warming has caused: The drought in California, 2015 “…has been intensified from 15 to 20 percent because of global warming…” There are also stronger hurricanes, heat waves, monsoons, and blizzards. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf was the largest sheet of ice in the Arctic, but after being around for 3000 years, it started to crack in 2002. It then split in 2002 and started breaking into smaller pieces. Many Arctic animals are now starving because of their unstable, melting habitat. The coral reef—an ecosystem home to all of these species: fish, jellyfish, crabs, octopuses, sea snakes, clams, anemones, turtles, and algae—is very sensitive to higher ocean temperatures. When the ocean temperatures rise because of global warming, the reefs will die and cause other species that rely on them to die as well. I was shocked at how our planet having higher temperatures by only about 1.8°F (1°C) could affect so many things in such a bad way! This made very sad, and to be honest a little scared. I wondered what would happen to Earth many years from now if global warming kept getting stronger and stronger. My findings about the effects of global warming encouraged me to research ways humans can help stop global warming from “devouring” our planet. What I found was that we should strive to use less energy, such as taking shorter showers, using less light and electricity, and riding bikes or walking when we can instead of driving cars. There were also many more things I learned in this article about what we can all do to stop global warming. Remember, if everyone does one small action a day, we can fight the monster known as global warming.
