The perspectives of gun control from a conservative and liberal viewpoint

The issue of gun control has been a prominent debate in American politics. Twos sides have polar opposite opinions. Lets begin with the point of view of the liberals. The first and the most clear argument is that limiting guns will keep us safe. An increase in gun freedom will cause us to see a significant increase in the number of homicides and armed burglaries. The larger amount will increase the possibility of an illegal black market. The most common statistic is that the state with the loosest gun laws have the most number of gun related killings. These places are generally the heart of Republican support, such as Alabama which has a death rate 22.2 percent and 1,076 deaths from gun related violence. Similar statistics can be seen with other Republican states such as Alaska and Arizona. Alaska has a death rate of 24.4% from gun related violence. The disturbing part of this statistic is when you refer to the number of deaths that occured in the state not just from guns, but all types of deaths included. Arizona’s death rate from gun related violence is 15.1%, a slightly less percentage yet still concerning. The message from liberals is definitely impacting the opinions of Americans, as 53% believe the government needs to play a larger part in ensuring effective and stricter gun laws. 39,000 Americans also die from gun violence every year, with an average of 100 a day. Another staggering statistic would be the percentage of gun violence deaths the US accounts for when compared to the rest of the world. The US accounts for just 4% of the world population, but 35% of global firearm suicides. Americans are 25% times more likely to be killed by a gun related homicide than any other people in a wealthy, high income country. Switzerland, the country second to the US in gun related deaths, was still 6 times less in the number of deaths per 100k. There was an extremely minute difference between the rest of the other nations, some of which include the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. Gun deaths are also on the rise nationally. Although the number has stayed relatively constant from 2018, we saw an increase of close to 10,000 more gun deaths from the time of 2014 to 2018. Democrats criticize Republicans’ weak policies with respect to gun control, renouncing their inability to comprehend the growing risks which Americans are facing with guns. In 2017 alone, when Donald Trump took office, the country saw the highest level of gun related violence in the last 40 years, with 39,773 deaths that year alone. Gun violence also has a disproportionate impact on more underserved minority communities in America. African American men make up more than 52% of gun violence victims in America, despite comprising less than 7% of the population. The disproportionate effect on black men have clearly caught the democrats intention, and they strongly feel that empowering the community isn’t through improving job opportunity first, it’s addressing the root of the problem that is preventing these communities from obtaining the opportunity. Guns also affect children at a concerning rate. Guns are the second leading cause of death for children under 18, only behind vehicle crashes. To add on, 3 million children are directly opposed to gun violence each year, causing disfigurement, lifelong trauma, death, and severe injury. Especially with times now, domestic violence in households across America has increased tremendously. Domestic violence victim are 5 times more likely to be killed when their abuser has a gun. The sheer damage that a weapon can do alarms Democrats, and is evident in their rhetoric to drastically increase the influence of guns across America, even in the most conservative states where their power is limited. The statistics about the effects of Republican lawmakers on states such as Arizona, Alaska, and Alabama are quite clear. To put into perspective the severity of this issue, Democrats provide the concerning statistics about the prevalence of gun related deaths in just a matter of a day. In Alabama, someone is killed by a gun every 9 hours. To comprehend the frightening statistic and put the debate into context, half of all gun related deaths in 2016 occured in 6 nations, which include the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Considering the fact that the US is by far the wealthiest nation among the list, it is perplexing why a nation that has a structured democracy, strong military, and intelligent minds with a diverse background, can’t tackle such a simple issue that all other prosperous nations have accomplished years ago? Venezuela and Guatemala, struggle from a crippling economy and political instability. Their problems cause them to refrain from tackling issues such us gun control, as the lack of governmental structure makes it difficult to have the implementation of policy possible, unlike the United States which has the resources and ability to actually pass a law that tackles The issue nationwide, not just in specific states depending on the states political preference. Conservatives try to refute this. One of the most common statistics is that a majority of gun related homicides are caused by illegal guns, abolishing the narrative that extensive background checks will actually have an effect. Only 28% of gun related killings are caused by legal gun owners. Chicago, for example, has the most gun related homicides yet has the strictest gun laws. Another example which proves that strcitning laws throiuhgout American will only have minimal effect it not any on reducing the number of deaths. The core root of the problem won’t be solved through tougher laws. Consevratives also like to point out that the largest type of homicide by guns are actually suicide, whichis about 60%. Tackling the problems that cause suicide is the strongest solution in improving the statistics shown. When you eliminate sudicie from the argument, the number of people killed by firearms is drastically lower. It proves that the current gun policies are working efficiently. We can’t eliminate gun violence without banning them all together, but what we can do is approach the problem in an intuitive and patient way. This begins with understanding the causes of sucide. If we can lower sucide through various ways of government involvement, the number of gun related killings in all of this data will drastically plummet. Conservatives argue that the data presented by liberals is taken out of context to fit their narrative. Despite these two polar opposite views, the country must unite and tackle this severe problem. Reform laws and stricter control is not an effective method from Democrats, but neither is ignoring a problem that kills hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.