Guns in America

After the latest massacre here in America, I feel it is time for yet another piece on my feelings. Yes, this time it was not in a synagogue, like my first article about this controversial topic, but I cannot help but think that perhaps Private First Class Glendon Oakley could still feel like a normal soldier, instead of being praised as a hero just for doing his job and what he was trained for. It is hard not to say that Oakley isn't a hero, he is, but he did what I would hope any kind human being would do. He protected innocent lives, children, the future of our world, the ones who we hope can make this world better.

But why is there so much gun violence in America? How bad is it across the world? And above all is it because of violent video games? The truth of the matter is, I don't think it is because of video games. Here is why.

Look at this bar graph. In 2019 so far, Japan has the highest revenue for video games. There are hundreds, thousands of video games out there that have some kind of violence in them. There's Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Mass Effect, the popular newest game Fortnite, and so many more. Even the Harry Potter video games have violence in them. There are apps where there is violence in them, arcade games, movies, television shows, literally countless sources of violence in fictional use. Yet if we look at this graph, America has less video game revenue than Japan and yet it has the highest violent gun deaths than any other country located on this graph.

So, does modern day pop culture really play a role in the violence seen today in America? Let's start by looking at yet a second gun chart posted shortly after the El Paso and Dayton shootings.

One of the reasons our percentage of violent shootings is so high has to do with the amount of civilians who own firearms and how many firearms each civilian owns. I have so many feelings about this. I am an American. I am proud to be an American and I do not wish to take away guns. I do believe in our second amendment, the right to bear arms. However, when our founding fathers wrote them, they could not have imagined that guns would become so technologically advanced.

I want the gun laws to just become updated with the technology. I would like to see background checks, finger print technology per gun, psychological and comprehensive exams to make sure that one is stable enough to own a gun, simple things that we have the ability to do in today's era. Yes, I know such things won't stop guns from coming in through the black market, and people often change as time goes on so someone who is stable today may be unstable tomorrow, but perhaps it would make guns safer, perhaps less shootings would happen, especially among children.

However, violence is an unfortunate part of human nature. Most of us are able to control it. Yes, we play violent video games, and for someone like me, I use it as a safe outlet to keep myself sane. Killing fictional monsters helps to relieve stress and anger. I do understand that some may see it as something leading to violent tendencies and to be honest, there is nothing I can say to prove that I am not. I am honest to say that I am a normal girl who values life. I would never wish to bring harm to anyone for life, all life, even the life of cowards who attack innocent people out of fear, anger, hatred, or whatever other emotions they have, is precious. No one deserves to die senselessly.

If I am to be honest, I believe much of American gun violence is actually related to our own country's history. In our 243 years of existence as The United States we have spent 210 years in war and that is not even including the time we spent in wars before we became a country.

When we first came to this country we fought for a place to live against the Indians. That is a war we would fight for many many years. Then comes The French and Indian War. We sided with the British to break the treaty between the French and the Cherokee and fought in heroic battles. That war ended in 1763. The ending The French and Indian War, which was a part of The Seven Years War made the British Monarchy weak financially.

Instead of taxing their citizens on the British Isles they increased taxes in the America and brought soldiers, stirring tensions with the American Colonists. The next moment of violence I have deemed notable for the purpose of this argument is the Boston Massacre. Like many of today's mass shootings, it started out of fear and hatred. The British fired into a crowd out of fear and self defense as colonists hated them and provoked the violence. Upon being found innocent, American tensions with England only increased. This continued well into 1775 when the start of the American Revolutionary war broke out. This lasted until 1783.

During this time was also the Cherokee-American Wars. Then the Northwest Indian War, Shays' Rebellion, Whiskey Rebellion, Quasi-War, First Barbary War, 1811 German Coast Uprising, Tecumseh's War, War of 1812, Creek War, Second Barbary War, First Seminole War, Texas-Indian Wars, Arikara War, Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations of the United States, Winnebago War, First Sumatran Expedition, Black Hawk War, Second Seminole War, Second Sumatran Expedition, Aroostook War, Ivory Coast Expedition, Mexican-American War, Cayuse War, Apache Wars, Puget Sound War, First Fiji Expedition, Rouge River Wars, Third Seminole War, and there are still eight more wars before we even reach the American Civil War. From the American Civil War to World War I there would be another 37 confrontations. From World War I to World War II two additional wars. Then would come the Korean War, four additional conflicts, then the Vietnam War. From the Vietnam War to today's standards we would have another 32 wars, conflicts, and confrontations including the War in Afghanistan.

We haven't even talked about the history of the Mafia and gang violence in America, especially during times like Prohibition. We have glorified death in our papers from murders like Lizzie Borden, Ted Bundy, H.H. Holmes, The Zodiac Killer, The Boston Strangler, and so many more. It is our own history that inspires the violence here in America, not video games, not television, not movies. We as human beings, we, our human nature raging out of control is what has started this uncontrollable gun violence in America.