Blog #17: Gun Issue

If I lived in America today, I feel that the government should be strongly enforcing laws regarding gun ownership in a more harsher manner. For one, the rate of gun ownership in the US is much higher than most comparable countries. About 42.8% of households in the states own firearms and when there are more guns, more casualties usually follow close behind. The death rate by firearms in the states was 10.2 per 100 000 people in 2009, as it is slowly going up. This is an easy problem to solve or aid, as long as the government is enforcing the laws they are placing down. If the government was more harsh with how they enforce their laws and the consequences that follow disobeying them, there would be less homes with illegal possession of firearms, lowering the casualty rate from firearms. While the strength of a states gun laws is just one factor in contributing to gun violence, there is a clear link to gun violence and gang related violence also. The gang violence in the US is also a lot higher than most comparable countries, resulting in more people feeling the need to own firearms to protect themselves, especially after the Connecticut shooting. If the government helped their country feel more protected as a whole, by enforcing other laws that can contribute to this feeling of security, there would be less need for people to buy firearms.