Gun Violence: The Rolling Snowball

   Americans have grown up with firearms; whether it's cowboys from the Wild West or Hollywood magic, we've all seen some sort of gun. This very fact is what makes America more dangerous than other countries. Procuring a gun has one step. Period. And since American culture will be torn without firearms, people don't want to give them up. Compare America to any other place in the world, and you'll find we live in a very dangerous place.

   For one, the first step in acquiring a gun isn't very secure. All it includes is going through a background check. Nobody knows if you'll go on a crazy massacre the next day just because of having a clean criminal record. Adam Peter Lanza, the person behind the Newton shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, had never committed any misconducts that would restrict him from legally buying a firearm. Many guns used in murders and the like were purchased legally.

   Also, since Americans can be sentimental to their guns (already, gun-related baby names are rising in popularity; see graph below), they don't want to see them go. After all, Americans supposedly have the right to bear arms. American citizens have the right to own firearms, as long as they aren't mentally impaired or have convicted a felony, etc.; many people don't want to give up their guns. They've followed the rules. Why should they give their precious back? This is stopping the government from moving forward; it may even lead to a national uprising. The fact is, the more guns there are in the States, the more criminals there will be. 
   Meanwhile, in Japan, the gun threat is practically zero. Compare that to America, who has more guns (and gun deaths) than any other place in the world.  Japan has 0.6 guns per 100 people and 0.6 gun deaths per 100,000, making it the most secure country, in terms of firearm-related deaths. Why shouldn't we? Japan has made it impossibly hard to obtain a firearm, whereas America may as well just plop it right into your lap. It's that easy. Giving their babies away will be much harder. As soon as the States get rid of the right to bear arms, or at least make them harder to procure, the world will suddenly be a much safer place. A huge blanket of a burden will be lifted, and all those crazy mass murders in the news will be erased from the future. The effect may even be immediate. My personal opinion is to urge the government to make it unbelievably hard for people that own guns to take care of them, just like maintaining a care. It may urge people to finally give them up; if you don't have the responsibility to take care of your firearm, you shouldn't have one.
   Enough people have been hurt by gun violence. The government doesn't give gun violence enough attention; they only take action after the school shooting or the terrorist attack or this and that massacre has occurred. By then it's too late, and after a few days or so, we're tired of it and move back to debating about Obamacare.
   In the end, America will fare much better without the constant threat of guns. Since the beginning of American history, people have painted on a very violent canvas. As time rolled on, people have added bullets and blood and warfare. Now, that canvas is shredded, tainted and completely messed up. The US government should just throw that part of history away and start fresh by starting a whole new painting, a painting of more of the happier times. Gun violence should reach an all-time low, and with that, an all-time high in tranquility.

                                       People really love their guns, as shown above...


                                       As shown in 2008, firearms take up more than half of the homicide pie  chart; it almost reached seventy percent.