For the last couple of weeks, gun
violence all across the united states has been an almost daily
occurrence. The Empire State shooting is yet another example of this
seemingly ceaseless spree killings. Following the attack (in which
all bystanders hit were shot by police and not the gunman), witnesses
and general public started to blame politicians. They then began to
blame the gun policy within New York City, which is the most
strictest in the nation.
To be blunt, gun law in New York City
in and of itself has been a useless tool to keep guns out of the
hands of unstable individuals. Our current laws did NOT make a
difference in either the Colorado shootings (a.k.a The Dark Knight
Rises shootings) or the empire state shootings. Both of these
individuals had obtained the guns legally, and neither had any signs
that would have disqualified them from obtaining them. Broader
federal legislation is needed to remedy this problem of gun violence,
but as it stands America can't come to a consensus on virtually
anything. Or perhaps, they are of a consensus, but that view is not
represented in the political discourse of the politicians. With the
even more incredible amount of money needed to actually become a
representative (at any level of government), how can any politician
truly have the best of those the claim to represent at heart? But
that is another topic for another time.
Honestly, with the amount of guns that
Americans own and are actively purchasing, I don't even think that
passing more stringent laws would be beneficial. As the numbers
currently stand, America is insanely inundated with guns. The United
States currently has the highest rate of gun ownership IN THE WORLD.
This includes both so called first world and third world nations, and
even higher than in Russia, Iran, China, etc. China is well over a
billion strong, and even they do not have a higher gun rate. Africa
is also a billion deep, and is also lacking when gun rate is compared
to the united states.
Each year 8 million new guns are
produced by manufacturers, and apparently Americans buy up at least
HALF OF ALL NEWLY PRODUCED GUNS. It pains me to say it but no amount
of legislation in the world will fix this problem of gun violence.
There needs to be discourse in the public realm amongst the American
citizenry as to why it is so incredibly gun crazy. Every single
nation on earth does not hold a candle to the overall rate and the
actual amount of guns owned by the United States.
Besides, just like in all the shootings
prior, any mention of regulation only spikes the amount of gun
purchases further. In the end, it seems Americans will probably wind
up killing herself.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/09/gun-ownership-infographic_n_1762059.html
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