Gun Control and Mass Shootings in America Gun violence is an unquestionable issue in America, with the United States ranking as one of the worst with both homicides and suicides using guns. That being said, we outnumber Mexico in gun related deaths and among first-world countries we rank far above others in the number of gun deaths, such as England and Australia. Consequently, we live in one of the only first world countries that does not have extensive gun laws and restrictions to gun access. Aside from the countless homicides and suicides by firearm in this country, one particular issue within this predicament is mass shootings, with the most recent mass shooting occurring on February 14th, 2018 at a high school in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed. Although, it may seem like an easy fix to just implement gun control laws into our society to eliminate gun violence, but it is important to note that Americans own nearly half of all firearms globally, which is roughly 325 million guns; when …show more content…
This particular gun can be customized to kill even more efficiently with bump-fire stocks, which are completely legal (2018). The accessibility and popularity of this gun has made it the weapon of choice for many. This type of weapon has no place on the streets and neighborhoods of American people, which is why a ban on semiautomatic weapons and bump-fire stocks would prevent such lethal shootings, like the Orlando nightclub shooting where 50 people were killed or the Las Vegas shooting where 58 people were killed on the streets (The Washington Post, 2018). Many will say that a gun is a gun or that mass killings could be done with a knife, however, allowing anyone to buy a semiautomatic weapon and customize it to shoot at fast as an automatic gun that is used to fight in war combat is certainly not