Lomibao 1

Dominique Lomibao
Professor Ogbara
English 1A
6 May 2015
Gunfire in the Crowd
Social problems are among us in our daily lives. These social problems affect the
population every day, one way or another. There are a plethora of problems that need to
be solved but will take sometime. Gun violence and mass shootings are social problems
that our society has to face. They can occur at any given moment and can happen to
anyone from kids attending school to adults watching a movie in a movie theatre. Even
the most innocent person can wind up in a massacre such as this one. Its terrifying to
hear that mass shootings can take place anywhere at anytime. No one in this world should
have to deal with such a violent act. Gun violence and mass shooting can restrict a certain
group such as elementary school kids, teen, and adults from accessing the American
Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit because victims who experience one can be
disabled for a while or for life and it will slow them down from pursuing their dreams.
Victims can also be traumatized from the experience or worse case scenario they could
end up dead on the spot and their dreams would just end in an instant. This issue is an
injustice to us citizens and the United States laws have accepted it in a way because not
much is being done to stop or prevent this problem.
The influence of pop culture such as violent movies and video games cause gun
violence. Mass shooters can also obtain guns easier in todays society. Most mass
shooters have severe mental illness, which brings up poor treatment of mentally ill

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individuals. The last cause of mass shooting is that most shooters have been declined
from parenting and family values. Many effects can also happen after gun violence and
mass shootings. Being exposed to gun violence can traumatize people not just physically
but also emotionally. It can have psychological impact and people can that have
experienced it can have higher levels of anger. People may also experience posttraumatic
stress like flashbacks, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the shooting.
Other effects may also be sleep distortion and withdrawals. After conducting research I
found that there are a couple of feasible solutions to solving gun violence and limiting the
amount of mass shootings. For one we can reduce exposure to gun violence by limiting
what movies and video games can show in terms of gun violence or violence in general.
We can also better the mental health treatment and add sensible gun laws like banning
high capacity magazines and expanding the 24-hour gun background check.
There are billions of people in the United States and billions of different
personalities. Some of the personalities that our society has to deal with are a serial killers
and a mass murders. There is no telling when these people are planning on doing
something detrimental. Finding these things out can help stop mass shootings and our
health providers play a big role. In Jessica Rosenbergs, Mass Shootings and Mental
Health Policy she gives us her opinion on mass shootings and mental illnesses. This
article mainly covers the mental health policy that took action after the mass shooting in
Sandy Hook, Connecticut and Aurora, Colorado with some research that existed
beforehand about mental illnesses and gun violence. Rosenberg claims that many were
angered because mental health policies were barely being passed after both mass
shootings. It took over 100 people to be shot or killed including children for policies to be

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passed. Rosenberg continues on by stating facts such as only 4-5% of people with
schizophrenia or bipolar disorder actually commit violent crimes but 87% of the people
who are mentally ill commit crime that is mostly interpersonal, targeting family and
friends. If our psychologists and doctors find out whats going on in a serial killers brain
they most likely prevent a mass shooting before it actually happens.
When people say, guns dont kill people, people kill people all they are trying
to convey is that a gun is nothing more than an innominate object. All it does is sit around
until someone actually picks it up and uses it. At that point the gun can be put in the
wrong hands. In this case someone who is mentally ill. Whether they decide to use it for
good or bad people with mental illness should never have a gun anywhere near them.
Jonathan Metzl and Kenneth MacLeish touches on mental illness and mass shooting with
firearms in their article, Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and The Politics Of American
Firearms. Metzl and MacLeish wrote from the words of New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo, People who have mental health issues should not have guns[People with
mental illness] could hurt themselves, they could hurt other people. People with mental
issues can be experiencing hardships in their life and thats what causes them to do mass
killings. They might have be denied from their American Dreams and in order for them to
feel better about themselves is if they ruin other peoples American Dream as well. It is
very sad to hear that a person would do such a thing. Why do people have to suffer for
someone elses doings? Another fact that Metzl and MacLeish stated in their article is,
Links between mental illness and other types of violence are similarly contentious
among researchers who study such trends.

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Several study suggests that subgroups of persons with severe or untreated mental
illness might be at risk for violence It might sound like people with mental illness are
being discriminated against but its all for their safety and others as well. We want our
society to be safe and fulfill their American Dreams and in order for them to do that is if
we keep these people away from guns. Having a safe society is a good start to assessing
ones American Dream. It would definitely unfortunate for a person to lose their life to a
mass shooting when they already close to achieving their dreams. When the 20 kids were
shot and kill in Newtown many dreams were put to an end permanently. Those 20 kids
had dreams of their own and their parents had dreams for their children but it was taken
in an instant by a person will a military-grade semiautomatic weapon. A person with
mental illness and a gun is a recipe for disaster.
The influence of movies and video games is big in the United States. Its
something we as a society cant stop but we can limit it. Movies and video games today
include gun violence, explosions, and people being killed. Growing up we enjoyed
watching these things and we still do. After watching a movie or playing a game with
these violent acts we would run around the house pretending that there are bad guys and
with our fake gun shooting those bad guys. Thats when we know that we are being
influenced. Now imagine these kids grown up in their mid 20s. What if they are still
influenced from that one movie or video game experience and want to go even further
than their imagination? For instance buying a real gun. After buying a real gun they
would want to shoot it because thats what guns are made for. From there it could all fall
down hill. One gunshot can change the gun holders feelings making them feel more
excited.

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As a child they werent able to shoot a gun and now as an adult they can fulfill
their dreams of shooting one. This could be very dangerous to the environment because
they might actually start thinking about kill or shooting people with the gun they
acquired. This situation would halt ones American Dream yet again because if an
innocent bystander or people were shot their lives would change in an instant. These
innocent people can be traumatized or they just wont be able to do anything. Worse case
scenario the person can end up dead. Life can be different for these victims and their
family. They may not see life the same way and they might be more hesitant to go out
because they might be afraid to go out in public.
If we want to grow as a society we must first start by protecting the people in it
from any type gun violence and mass shooting by making more sensible gun laws. In the
Gun Control Act of 1968 - Material Misrepresentation Abramski V. United States by
the Harvard Law Review, the main purpose of this gun control act is to rule out
individuals from buying firearms and to make it more effortless for law enforcement to
track guns used in crimes. Although this document has nothing to do with mass shooting,
it goes to show that certain acts such as this one can be passed. After this document was
passed it halted gun violence for a little bit until many guns were starting to be produced.
This made is more difficult to track guns for law enforcers. We should start making
sensible gun laws such as this one so that we can prevent gun violence and mass
shootings from happening because if we dont act now it maybe too late because another
mass shooting might occur.
A sensible gun law we can attempt to pass is by banning high capacity gun
magazines. This may not stop mass shootings because of the fact that guns are still out in

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the streets but it will stop more people from dying. With low capacity magazines each
gun can only contain a certain amount of ammunition. More lives will be saved and its a
good start from protecting our citizens from gun violence and mass shootings. Another
sensible gun law we can attempt to pass is expanding the 24-hour gun check. The 24-hour
gun check is a process where the buyer of the gun has to go through different types of
backgrounds checks, from mental health checks to criminal background. This is
necessary because we cant just sell guns to anyone but in order for this to be more
effective we must increase the time of the background check to maybe even a week.
Increasing the time can prevent many mass shootings because finding out every detail
about a certain individual can ensure the safety of the gun buyer and also the people in
our society.
Others may argue that doing this will make also halt people trying to get guns
because it is there hobby. They also may argue that their right to bare arms will take
longer as well because the background check is longer. This shouldnt be a big deal
because at the end of the day their lives are being saved as well. People in our society
should have the right to know where guns are being bought and who is buying the guns.
As a citizen of the Unite States of American I feel much safe that gun sellers arent just
selling guns to anyone.
In summary gun violence and mass shooting can take away ones American Dream
because someone who is experiencing it can be traumatized from the shooting. They can
also be disabled for life or worse they could just end up dead on the spot. It is a terrifying
moment when you hear about little kids being shot and killed and it puts us into
perspective. If we want a safer community we must stand together in trying to keep guns

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away from people who shouldnt have them, such as people with mental illnesses. Our
psychologist and doctors need to do more research in such that people with disorders are
kept away from guns. Not only can people who have mental illnesses harm others but
they can also harm themselves by committing suicide.
Most mass murderers and mass shooters have some sort of mental illness in their
background and starting with gun control can prevent a lot of gun violence and shootings.
Longer background checks can also be apart of this solution because increasing the
background check from 24-hours to a week can insure that people who have mental
illnesses wont be able to buy guns. An influence in movies and video games is also a big
factor in a lot of shootings. Parents need to do a better job of keeping an eye of what their
children watch and play at home. They also need to be around their kids more often to
teach them from what is right and what is wrong. It may not be the parents fault entirely
because movie directors and video game produce include a lot of violence in their
products. Some violent acts would be big explosions, gun shooting, and people dying. As
a kid seeing these things it makes you want to do it because it seemed cool at the time.
These violent acts can continue into teenage hood and as well as adulthood. We can
prevent the influence by talk to directors and producers and telling them to limit the
violence they put out. If this plan doesnt work then we can go further by implementing
more sensible gun laws such as banning high capacity magazines. Banning high capacity
magazines cannot stop people from being shot but it will stop more people from being
shot and it is going one step forward. The Government isnt taking away guns from the
public because the Second Amendment and the right to bare arms so the public cant get
mad, at the end of the day their lives are being saved as well and everyone will feel safer.

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If this problem is left unsolved more people will die from gun violence and mass
shooting. More people dying means American Dreams are being stopped. If these
changes are made in our society many lives will be saved from little kids to adults.
People wont hesitate going out as much because people who shouldnt have guns wont
have guns and pop culture wont be as influential. When it comes to the magazines with
less ammo people can feel more relieved that even if they happen to experience gun
violence the gunner wont have a lot of ammo to begin with and their chances of survival
will be more than when the magazine had a high capacity for ammo. We have to work
together to stop gun violence and with these new changes more lives will be saved.
The United States law has condoned gun control laws because I believe that they
stand by the saying, guns dont kill people, people kill people and with the Government
thinking this they believe that it would be pointless to put out more gun laws if in fact the
people do the actual killing not the gun itself. This is an injustice to us citizens because
we should feel protected in our own country and local neighborhood wherever it maybe. I
understand that many may be angered by this decision of adding more gun control laws
by the Government but in the long run more lives will be saved everyday from a mass
shooting. Gun violence and mass shootings is an issue that is easy to prevent with
sensible gun control laws. We just have to stand together as community and do whatever
it takes so that we can have these guns laws in full effect before it is too late and another
mass shooting occurs.

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Work Cited
"Gun Control Act Of 1968 Material Misrepresentation Abramski V. United States."
Harvard Law Review 128.1 (2014): 391-400. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25
Mar. 2015.
King, Martin Luther Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" A World of Ideas. Ed. Lee A.
Jacobs. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2006.
Metzl, Jonathan M., and Kenneth T. MacLeish. "Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, And
The Politics Of American Firearms." American Journal Of Public Health 105.2
(2015): 240-249. Business Source Elite. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Rosenberg, Jessica. "Mass Shootings And Mental Health Policy." Journal Of Sociology
& Social Welfare 41.1 (2014): 107-121. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
Collection. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden and "Civil Disobedience". New York: Signet Classics,
1980.
Zornick, George. "Gun Control After Newtown." Nation 299.14 (2014): 22-25. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.