GUN CULTURE IN AMERICA
"Mass Shooting" means four or more (excluding the perpetrator) shot at roughly the same time and location, regardless of the number of fatalities or the motive.
Firearms are widely used in the United States for self-defence, and even for recreational uses, such as target shooting thanks to the law-defended prevailing gun culture. The gun culture of the United States is considered unique among developed countries in terms of, firearms owned by civilians.
Just like every other debate in the world gun politics also have affirmative and negative teams:
- Conservative tends to advocate gun rights
- Often liberals support stricter gun control
Mass Shooting
The tragedy of mass shootings in American public places like schools, churches and streets capture the nation's and world’s attention from time to time. But these are part of the larger violence of mass killings – deaths by guns, knives, vehicles and other weapons.
"Mass Shooting" means four or more (excluding the perpetrator) shot at roughly the same time and location, regardless of the number of fatalities or the motive.
Several types of guns are responsible for mass shootings in the United States, including semi-automatic handguns, semi-automatic rifles, revolvers, and shotguns.
Statistics of Mass Shooting
A study conducted in 2016 by James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel concluded that "rather than assault weapons, semi-automatic handguns are the weapons of choice for most mass shooters." From the year 1966 to 2019, that means 5 decades; approximately 77% of mass shooters in the U.S. were those who legally obtained the firearm used in the attacks.
- By the end of 2019: 417 mass shooting
- By the end of 2020: 611 mass shooting
- By the end of 2021: 693 mass shooting
When stats of average mass shooting came with digits it described the following data
- By mid-May 2021: 10 mass shootings per week on average
- By mid-May 2022: 11 mass shootings per week on average
Reasons for Mass Shooting
1. High access to the gun
Higher accessibility and ownership of guns have been in the U.S. In the world, the US has the highest per-capita gun ownership with 120.5 firearms per 100 people, followed by Yemen with 52.8 firearms per 100 people.
A 2019 study published in The BMJ, the study found that States who have a more permissive gun law and greater gun ownership had higher rates of mass shootings. The study observed a growing divide emerging between restrictive and permissive states.
2. Mental health and suicidality
A panel of mental health and law enforcement experts has estimated that since the 1990s roughly one-third of acts of mass violence, were committed by people with a "Serious Mental Illness" (SMI).
In 2018, the FBI released a survey of 63 active shooter cases between 2000 and 2013,
- That while 62 per cent of active shooters showed symptoms of mental health disorders, those symptoms have been "transient manifestations of behaviours and moods, not be sufficient to warrant a formal diagnosis of mental illness"
- That only one-fourth of active shooters surveyed had a formal diagnosis of any mental health disorder
3. Sociocultural factors and perpetrator characteristics
Psychologists Jillian Peterson and James Densley co-founded The Violence Project, Their study suggests a commonality in almost all mass shooting perpetrators:
- Early childhood trauma and exposure to violence
- Reached an identifiable crisis point in the weeks or months leading to the shooting, many times linked to a specific grievance
- Many are being radicalised through the internet
- In 80% of school shootings obtaining weapons from family members, legally owned handguns were mostly with workplace shooters, and illegal firearms were mostly found with public shooters.
Since 2015 hate-motivated and fame-seeking mass shootings have increased. A database collected for the study of a mass shooting showed that mass shooters share a sense of entitlement and seek fall guy when they fail to achieve goals in life.
Way forward
In America, people are purchasing guns for personal security, hunting and sport. A survey concluded that 88 per cent of gun owners bought guns for self-defence.
The share of gun owners who kept firearms for hunting reduced from almost 60 per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent in 2019.
Owning guns was essential for their sense of freedom. Half of all gun owners believe the gun is important to their identity, while 25 per cent told its importance and another 25 per cent little important.
When gun culture is deep-rooted in residents of America, it is hard to oppose their idea to avoid guns, which is related to their mental satisfaction. Hence, the need is to improve the environment, experiences, and mental health of residents to avoid mass-shooting.
-BHAVNA GEED.
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