Shootings, violence, warfare are commonplace in this modern world of ours. More so than I, and many fellow humans, would like. These facets of humans and society are a given now, but they still have extreme ramifications on our populations. Obviously, numbers of casualties climb, reports on mass shootings grow more common, bombings across war-torn lands continue. These are outlandish events in their own right, but their frequency has diminished that significance. It is significant that people are fighting for their own or fighting to end others' lives day after day. Our global society exudes violence day in and day out.
What's to be done?
There are many, many
underlying causes to the tides of violence that come in every day. However, in
the past years, crime rates have actually been decreasing (National Review report). Violent crime in the US hit a peak
in the 1990s, but has been steadily falling since then. This may be surprising,
just like it is to many "Americans polled believe crime is up". This
is likely due to media influence and general culture surrounding violence. So
what is really going on with violence in America? Unfortunately, I can't really
answer. Perhaps, we can attribute lower rates to better policing and lower
growth rates across America. And perhaps we can attribute the crime craze with
societal changes and perceptions.
Most recently, gun control
has become a hot topic again in the House of Representatives. Democrats staged
an over 24-hour sit-in to bring attention to gun control following the shooting
in Orlando (end of sit-in). Several gun control bills had come up in
the House and failed to pass. Speaker Paul Ryan said he would not revisit the
bills "that would bar suspected terrorists on no-fly lists from buying
guns and impose universal background checks". Whether the Democratic
sit-in was more publicity than sincerity is still up for debate. Still, in the
end it highlights the fact that government (some members of it) seeks to
involve itself in matters of violence and gun control. Even if this recent
story continues developing or fades away, the high-profile issue of 'violence
and gun control', be it over-dramatized or not, still remains in the public
eye.
1) "Careful with the Panic: Violent Crime and
Gun Crime Are Both Dropping". "Nov. 30,
2015. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/427758/careful-panic-violent-crime-and-gun-crime-are-both-dropping-charles-c-w-cooke
2) "Democrats End
Gun Control Sit-In After More Than 24 Hours on House Floor". June 23, 2016. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/democrats-end-gun-control-sit-after-more-24-hours-house-n597741
My classmate Zac Quinn wrote a fair piece titled "The Violence and The Guns". This piece highlights that there is some 'treading water' in the government, especially lately, concerning gun regulation and gun violence.
ReplyDeleteQuinn straight up says there is violence, it is a day-to-day reality for some, the media numbs us to it with the exaggerated stories and our government is not making much movement towards standard gun laws and public safety; "these are outlandish events (the extreme violence) in their own right, but their frequency has diminished that significance. It is significant that people are fighting for their own or fighting to end others' lives day after day. Our global society exudes violence day in and day out."
Its true, it is super significant that the right to life, quality of life, or someone else's life is in jeopardy or in need of defense or even offense.
In discussion of most recent gun laws being discussed due to the Orlando Shooting, its true a lot of splashes are being made but whether or not those splashes are turning into forward movement its hard to tell. The government seems to be just treading water at this point. It is understandably difficult to create stricter gun laws without making the 2nd-Amendment Worshippers uncomfortable/afraid, the non-armed feel more chill, and make it close to impossible for wackos to gear up and attempt a massacre. There has to be some common ground and its going to be rocky and scary for a while but that is just how the government works and its on purpose. There will always be violence if there are weapons. There will always be weapons if there are humans. There will always be humans where there is unnecessary violence. Its a circle and the government has to be able to create enough roadblocks to block those that act on violence, filter those that want to opportunity to defend themselves, and protect those that want nothing to do with guns.
I live by a creedo of sorts; do what you want, just don't do it on me. As long as it does not harm others then it is of no concern to me. Yes there is a loose definition of what "harm" means as well as "on me" means. It means you do your thing, I'll do mine and we can not do each others' things and be ok with it. The vast majority of people live by a version of this creedo along the lines of "do what you want but if I see it and it makes me feel weird then be prepared to hear and feel all about it". This is when the access to guns is a bad idea.
I felt like Quinn shares a similar view of "holy s*** why isn't something being done to create some sort of control over violence in society?". Why isn't the media helping more rather than just reporting the violence and then going right into something else?
Creating laws for the lowest common denominator is a arduous task but it can be done. It just takes time and its a sad reality that in that time lives are lost and lives are in danger.