Explaining High Rates of US Gun Violence

Solution Preview

Dear Student,
Hello and thank you for using Brainmass.I hope you will find this solution helpful. I decided to pack as much details as I can. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
OTA 105878/Xenia Jones

-------------------------------

Gun Violence: An Opinion

To pinpoint the root of gun violence in any society demands a look into the social stresses and problems created by deviance, criminality, poverty, social gap and the emergence or pre eminence of social groups and sub or counter cultures that promulgate or allow the use of force and violence to forward ideas to achieve goals and needs or at the very basic - survival. In the United States, Gun violence is the involved in majority of homicide cases as well as suicides. Ours is a nation that was born out of an Independence War. Our forefathers and their forefathers knew violence, in the ancient days, man lived in a dog eat dog world - the mightiest ruled. Now we live in a world of civilized nations ruled by government, elected or appointed, governed by constitutions. Are we that different from our very ancient counterparts? I guess we as human beings still resort to violence, to military 'actions with the difference in the weapons we use to inflict hurt, pain and suffering upon our enemies and as a collective, a people, we claim to use violence only as a last resort, that necessary show of force to 'maintain' our way of life when it is threatened. Since WW2, the United States has come to have the most powerful military in the world with air, land and sea supremacy, our weapons having evolved from swords to accurate rifles and guns in varied sizes designed and made more lethal by the latest technological advancement in weaponry. Our vehicles of war too have gone a long way from that of the chariot - we have submarines, carriers the size of cities and fighter planes with billion dollar price tags. As the movies, media and counterculture of marginalized youth, disenchanted citizens and criminal elements look to ownership of guns and similar weaponry to 'protect' themselves and 'enforce' their will upon others, ordinary citizens look to owning said weapons as well in a bid to 'protect' themselves from the deviants they believe are 'capable and always on the lookout' to take advantage of those they see they can overpower.

Statistics: America

Gun violence has become a main concern since the early 80's when the rise of inner city gangs took over the power and vacuum left by ...