Do We Continue to Lose Loved Ones to Gun Violence?

 

John Minchillo:Mourners gather for a vigil at the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio.

 

    As gun control continues to be a controversial topic across the United States, research shows that gun control and stricter gun legislations are the key to reducing gun Violence. There are only 22 States in the U.S with background check laws beyond federal laws, however, there are 25 states that issues permits or licenses that exempt certain holders from federal background checks at the point of sale.

     The H.R 5717 Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2020 proposes the restriction on the manufacture, sale, transfer, or purchase of ghost guns (guns without serial numbers) and also raises the legal age of gun ownership from 18 to 21. It importantly establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties, requiring law enforcement to be notified when fire-arm related background checks are denied and requires federally licensed gun deals to submit and annually certify compliance with a security plan to detect and deter firearm theft. 

    If the current 117^th United States Congress does not approve to re-establish the H.R 5717 act we will only see the numbers of gun violence cases continue to rise. Gun violence and homicides will continue to reach epidemic proportions.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention approximately 1,600 children die yearly from gun violence, and in recent years 82% of Suicides have been gun suicides by minors. Schools shooting are also on the rise across America and have become very common in the last decade.  Evidence significantly shows that Gun violence targets communities of color at disproportionate rates. With an average of 100 people dying per day America contains the weakest gun laws yet they have the most guns. By not supporting the H.R.5717 act, gun violence will continue to take more lives and effect millions of families.

Refrerences:

H.R.5717. Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2020. (2020). Congres.gov

Giffords Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence.(2020)https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-violence-statistics/#national-anchor.

Kristin M. Holland, et al., “Characteristics of School-Associated Youth Homicides — United States, 1994–2018,” CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 68, no. 3 (2019): 53–60.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Web-Based Injury Statistics Query System (WISQARS), “Fatal Injury Reports,” last accessed Mar. 20, 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars. Figures represent an average of the five years of most recently available data: 2014 to 2018.