America Is the Country With the Highest Rate of Gun Violence

Why does it seem to be that America has such high rates of mass shootings? Some argue that it is because violence is such a large aspect of our society. Others say it is because of the lack of care going into gun control. Some say the issue is due to poor, unforgiving, mental health care. The mentally ill go unnoticed without proper help. Many suggest that our gun violence statistics are so high, simply due to the physical number of guns in our country (Americans own 42% of the worlds guns) when America only makes up 4.

4% of the globe. (Pew Research Center in 2017).

The United States Congressional Research Service defines “Mass Shooting” as a crime involving four or more victims. When looking at the demographics, it would be a mistake to look at the statistics per county, or state, due to the fact that there is such a small data pool. Although the United States only makes up about 5.1 percent of the world, 31 percent of all mass shootings occur within its borders.

Mass shootings may seem like a more recent development, but they are a sensation that have been steadily hitting Americans since the late 60s. More recently the media have just pushed social uproar. Although this social uproar will hopefully be someday be a positive influence, it seems the media could be a potential reason for the upcoming “trend” of mass shootings. In an individual with an unstable mind, hearing intricate facts about a shooters, strategy, may be seen as suggestive to an unstable mind.

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For this reason, instead of publicizing every minute aspect of the shooters scheme to the public, the media should be keeping specifics limited as possible. This action could avoid engaging the mentally unstable as seeing it as a game or competition.

Shootings by Country

Something to take note of is that although there seems to be a fairly even trend of mass shootings, there are a few outlier years such. 1999 where 44 people were killed in the Columbine massacre, 2017 Las Vegas shooting where 58 were killed, or the Parkland shooting with 17 killed. A trend that is more clearly increasing is the number of victims rather than the number of shooters. We can conclude that ethnicity plays no role in the likelihood of shooters, no matter what politicians or the media says about Muslims, because these statistics match the demographics of the United States very closely.

Statistics

An average of 4 guns is taken to mass shootings. 167 of mass shooters’ weapons were obtained legally and 50 were obtained illegally (Bonnie Berkowitz, 2018 pg. 3) All but 3 of 167 Mass shooters were men. The vast majority were ages 20-49. 73 of them died at the scene.(Bonnie Berkowitz, 2018 pg 2) Twenty-seven percent of the mass shootings occurred in workplaces, and 1 in 8 took place at schools. Others in religious, military, retail, restaurants or other locations. California has had more mass shootings than any other state. (Bonnie Berkowitz, 2018, pg. 4) There are 21 more mass shootings in the summer than in the winter. Gun Control Laws & Mass Shootings.

There isn’t a strong correlation between gun control laws and mass shootings, as they are doing throughout the country, and the states with the highest rate of mass shootings are likely due to population. According to Adam Lankford Coalition to stop gun violence, there is no specific coalition for stopping mass shootings. Still, many organizations spring up to help the victims and their families.

There is no conclusive answer as to why this is such prominent problem in our country, but because of the many recent instances of devastating events, the country is in a state of outrage. Efforts continue to make gun violence and gun control a pressing matter. Protests nationwide have occurred in an attempt to somehow ensure that something is being done towards minimizing these unnecessary tragic, casualties.