Mark Salib

Prof. Anna Voisard

ENG 11000

May 11, 2022

 

Gun control is not the answer

 

Guns have been a part of this country since its establishment, however in the recent decades’ guns have been under fire for every major mass shooting incident. If a school shooting were to happen without a doubt all the fingers will be pointed at guns to blame for the incident, the news and media would scream to get rid of guns, politician would be quick to put out gun control laws. However, this is just putting more fuel on fire instead of putting it out. Guns are only a tool just like any other tool that can be used for good or bad, you can’t blame spoons because they make people overweight, in realty it’s the person holding the spoon that’s causing the issue, or blaming the pencil for falling the student, the same is true for guns so why are they being entirely blamed for the issue. The truth is there are far more important factors that drive these incidents in the first place that are not getting enough attention, which is why the issue hasn’t been improving. Things like neglect, mental disorders, emotional instability are more important driving focuses for these events that should be consider than have all the focus targeted at banning and eliminating all guns to resolve the issue because this approach has done more harm than good.

 

One of the major overlooked issues that is the cause of this problem is bullying. Bullying has always existed however in the recent years it has evolved to a more aggressive form which is cyberbullying. With the rise of smart phones and electronic devices it become easier for bullies to do their work and target their victims without having to be face to face with them. Cyberbullying involves the bullies sending negative message, posting harmful information about the victim or a sensitive secret, exposing the victim’s personal information. All of this is done to make the victim frightened, humiliated and sometimes even hopeless in their own situation. What makes cyberbullying especially dangerous is that it’s often done anonymously, which means that the perpetrators can attack and do their damage without being detected or must revile their identity. Another dangerous aspect of cyberbullying is that it has a lasting impact. Reported in “Cyber Bully: Bullying in a Digital Age, David Knight, a high school student who found that a web page of negative, sexual accusations and negative descriptions about him had reached as far as Thailand, painfully describes, “Anyone with a computer can see it…. It doesn’t go away when you come home from school. It makes me feel even more trapped” (Suzann). This shows how much damage cyberbullying can cause; almost everyone has a device cable of connecting to the internet which means the humiliation the victim receives isn’t just between the bully and the victim like the old way of bulling however now it’s out there for everyone to see, which makes it more dangerous as there is no escape for the victim no matter where they go. To add to the issue most victims of cyberbullying try to hide it and refuse to talk about it to anyone. “According to surveys, only 35% of cyberbullied teens and 51% of preteens told parents” (Suzanne). victims often don’t tell an adult or a guardian out of fear of being blamed for the situation, or have it grown worse than what it already is, which leaves the victim to be isolated and more often than not it leads the victim to resort to violence as a way to express their emotion, sometimes the violence can be done to self, but violence is done to others. One of the most common ways that victim’s resort to is mass shooting, particularly school shootings. Most school shooting were done by victims of bulling at some point or another which highlights how important bulling is when it comes to school shooting. As an effective way to combat school shooting bulling is certainly something that needs more attention. “Amazingly, no matter how many events are screaming in our faces, PEOPLE WHO COMMIT HORRIFIC ACTS FEEL LIKE VICTIMS” (Izzy). These shooters don’t do their attacks for no reason or to be bullies but they do it because they are the victims and have no other way of expressing their feeling, so they commit these acts of violence to be heard.

 

Another important factor that is contributing to the incidents is violence. In the world we live in today we are constantly surrounded by violence whether on TV programs, movies, the news, or the modern form of entertainment, which is video games, violence seems to be part of our daily life. It is without a doubt today’s video games have grown more to be focused on violence and volente behavior. Such acts have a great impact on the developing brains of children, which could cause a child to commit violent acts such as school shootings because of violence that they become accustomed to it from engaging in videogames or watching content that contain or encourages it. when children experience and become exposed to violence whether in the form of witnessing it or being a victim, they become more susceptible to depression, anxiety and anger which are all common in mass shooters. “Six months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a survey of more than 8,000 New York City students in grades four through 12 showed that nearly 30 percent of children reported symptoms of anxiety or depression” (Flannery). When a child is exposed to such horrific events, their levels of anxiety are dramatically increased, and the child could experience post-traumatic stress disorder which could cause the child to act in ways that they wouldn’t otherwise do or intend on doing. With video games this effect is also true since all their exposed to in most video games is violence, they player main goal is to do such. This sometimes becomes problematic as the player can carry these violent acts outside of the game and into the real world. With the popular video game serious call of duty, the player is put into the perspective of a shooter in first person point of view to which they experience the world of the game through the sights of the gun that’s always there aimed at characters or other players with the goal of most of these games. to accumulate as many kills as possible or complete the objective which requires the player to kill characters in the game. “He dons the persona of soldiers in the three armies, and often spends multiple hours gunning down Nazis in cold blood with weaponry from the era. In more recent iterations of the game, the enthusiast becomes a CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] agent, a Special Forces fighter, or a black op. In these, he engages in shoot-outs around the world during the Cold War” (Drinka). These games when put into the hands of young children and those who are susceptible to act in violent ways could impact the player to carry out the video game into real life since long expose to such events makes the individual less sensitive to it, thinking its normal to do so. “Exposure to violence could have other long-term impacts as well. Studies have shown how children can get desensitized to violence” (Flannery). Being desensitized to violence leads the child to believe that the only way to deal with an issue is by resorting to violence and that violence is an acceptable behavior, any form of violence when seen repeatedly makes the child accustomed to it from a young age “Thousands have fallen victim to assaults, stab wounds and gunshots—all of which our children act out daily in video games that grow more violent all the time” (Moten). with the lack sensitization as the child grows up it becomes harder for them to differentiate between right and wrong as they have gotten used to seeing these things. However, some believe that this is not likely to be true. They may say that there is no link between video games and violence “decades of research have failed to find such a link” according to the The Associated Press. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth most school shooters were linked to have played these types of games prior to their attack. “What does it mean to say that there is no connection? Virtually every single one of the pasty psychos who have shot their classmates and teachers in the last two decades has played such games” (Walther). In another example where video games were a contributing factor for the negative action of these individuals. “I recall one of them telling me that, before he started playing the games, he would have never gotten into a stolen car, a step which led to stealing cars later and eventually to violent carjackings—just like in the game. Then one youth I will never forget said that playing the games put him “in a zone” to do what he had to do to survive. This young man would later be killed, and after his death several murders would be attributed to him” (Moten). This example isn’t as severe as some of the other mass shooters, but it highlights how dangers video games could be in swaying the young minds of children and influencing them to commit crimes or do acts of violence. In this particular case the player had become the killer in the real world and his action cost him his life later on after being involved in many murders.

 

Mental health is one of the most overlooked issues when it comes to mass shootings, “1 in 4 children and teens has a mental health issue at some point, but less than 25 percent get treatment” (Price). it’s a scary number that only quarter of those who have a mental health issue possibly got treatment. Mental health problems are caused for different reason, but they still remain the concern for mass shooting for instance, in the Newtown school shooting, the shooter had become so indulged in video games that he forgot about the real world. “For a time, he may have been home schooled, a way of life that only isolated him further from his peers. Not surprisingly, once high school ended, he became even more socially withdrawn” (Drinka). The shooter turned to video games to connect with the world since he wasn’t able to do so in the real world, suffering from a cognitive condition only made it worse for him, “His brother has reported that he suffered from either autism or Asperger’s syndrome” (Drinka). Being isolated and only having video games to connect with influenced him greatly and in this case, it was a negative impact, since all that is present in video games is violence and its different forms, the shooter slowly processed violence as normal and it was his way of expressing himself. It was reported that the shooter was always locked away in his mom’s basement away from everyone with his video games, which harmed his mental health. Chronic expose to violence can affect different parts of the brain that are responsible for maintaining different functions. For instance, “adolescents, the front part of their brains is the last to develop and mature. This part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex, and it is responsible for processing information, impulse control and reasoning. Adolescents exposed to violent video games experience a decrease in activity in their prefrontal cortex, leaving them more vulnerable to having difficulty with problem-solving and controlling their emotions” (Flannery). Not only do they experience the negative side effects like anger, depression, anxiety but they are also at risk of having an underdeveloped brain due to the lack of activation of the frontal cortex which is a crucial part of the brain responsible for the interpretation and control of emotion, which could lead the person to act impulsively.

 

with all that being said gun control is one of the least effective methods to be used to combat mass shooting or violent crime. In many countries where guns have been banned there is high crime rate and the opposite is true for countries with less gun restriction. In Israel for example their gun control laws are not strict, and their crime is low, however in a country like Mexico where crime is high and gun control laws are strict shows no positive effect of gun control in term of stopping or limiting crime. In fact, some can argue that without these laws the crime rate would go down significantly. “In 11 state prisons across the USA found that 34% had been scared off, wounded or captured by an armed victim of their crime.” “40% of felons made a decision not to commit a crime because they feared the potential victim had a gun.” (Root). These findings suggest that there is a strong connection between guns and the safety of the people who own them with a little less than half of felons deciding not to commit an act of violence due to the victim potentially carrying a firearm is a critical finding, it provides the important suggestion that instead of putting a ban on gun to reduce crime instead however, guns should be more accusable to law abiding citizens along with training, since it is shown to be far more effective at lowering crime. In many instances guns were used to save lives and prevent crime. “A retired military law enforcement officer acted quickly to defend himself and his family against a home invasion, drawing his handgun from his bedside table and chasing the intruder out of the house. After running, the suspect broke into another home and attempted to sexually assault a woman before being arrested by police, who the first homeowner had called” (Swearer and Lucas) with the presence of a gun the first homeowner was able to safely defend this family, with the second person who was unfortunately the victim of a such an inhuman crime would’ve been able to defend herself provided she had access to a firearm. Guns are not the issue it’s the illegal guns that’s the cause of the problem, with everything that’s illegal there is still a way to get it, the most famous example is drugs, drugs are illegal, but they are redry available and can be obtained. Gun control only works by taking legal guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens and leaving illegal guns in the hands or criminals

Just as highlighted by this cartoon after gun control the criminal has his gun while the law-abiding citizen doesn’t have his guns, also you can see that the criminal in the second image the criminal is looking at the low abiding citizens with bad intuitions since the law-abiding citizen doesn’t have any self-protection making the criminal at an advantage, while also making it easier for the criminal to commit the crime with little to no resistance.

 

Overall to conclude the issue of mass shooting and school shootings have increased in numbers and aggression and with most fingerers being pointed to guns as the main the issue that is supposedly contributing to these horrible acts is only making the problem worse since it only puts all the blame on the minor aspect of the issue and leaves the major contributing factors without a solution. Most of these perpetrators only do their acts to be heard and have people. Therefore, more attention should be paid to people’s emotions and feeling to better understand them and prevent these violent acts. More attention should be paid to things like mental health and well-being, bullying and exposure to violence to effectively combat the issue while firearms may be used to inflict awful violent attacks, and it should be noted that everything should be done to ensure that those who present risk to harm themselves or others are disarmed long before they commit such crimes and. However, the large majority of law-abiding gun owners will never use their guns for illegal purposes. As stated, the words of a father who had to draw his firearm to protect himself and his children “I don’t carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to neutralize threatening situations” (Swearer and Lucas) there is no intention for law abiding citizens to hurt someone, it’s only a measure to relay on in a moment’s notice to defend oneself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work cited

 

 

Drinka, George. “Violent Video Games Can Desensitize Players and Increase Aggression.” Violent Video Games, edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010926203/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=709ed797. Accessed 9 May 2022. Originally published as “Violent Video Games and Adam Lanza’s Inner World, Part 1 and Violent Video Games and Adam Lanza’s Inner World, Part 2,” Psychology Today, 7 Mar. 2013.

 

Flannery, Daniel J. “Here’s how witnessing violence harms children’s mental health.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EHOFED471150506/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=eaea4fa8. Accessed 9 May 2022. Originally published as “Here’s how witnessing violence harms children’s mental health,” The Conversation, 16 Feb. 2018.

 

Kalman, Izzy. “Bullying Contributes to School Shootings.” Juvenile Crime, edited by Louise I. Gerdes, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010149410/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=4c6c5818. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022. Originally published as “A Psychological Solution to Bullying: Tenth Anniversary of the Columbine Shooting,” Psychology Today, 7 May 2009.

 

Moten, Ron. “Video Games Are Responsible for Increased Youth Violence.” Has Child Behavior Worsened?, edited by Amy Francis, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010885209/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=7c36cf4d. Accessed 7 May 2022. Originally published as “Violence on the Screen, Violence in the Streets,” Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2012.

 

Root, Wayne Allyn. “Allowing Armed Citizens Reduces Gun Violence.” Gun Violence, edited

by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010223279/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=2d193865. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022. Originally published as “Guns Save Lives,”                                           Townhall, 23 Dec. 2012.

 

Swearer, Amy, and Lucas Drill. “Guns Saved These Americans From Assault and Robbery in

July.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints

link.gale.com/apps/doc/ARXXWN395321850/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=e4e2f594. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022. Originally published as “Guns Saved These

Americans From Assault and Robbery in July,” The Daily Signal, 7 Aug. 2019.

 

 

Price, Rita. “Addressing Mental Illness Can Reduce School Shootings.” School Safety, edited by Noah Berlatsky, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010981222/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=e7cf1a8a. Accessed 9 May 2022. Originally published as “School Shooters Typically Show Mental-Health Red Flags,” www.dispatch.com, 24 Dec. 2012.

 

Walther, Matthew. “Violent Video Games Can Carry Negative Side Effects.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/WBIZYA811034899/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=78aff664. Accessed 9 May 2022. Originally published as “Why can’t we all admit that violent video games are sick?” The Week, 9 Mar. 2018.