Joshua Aspiring Journalist

It is a well-known fact that gun crime is a problem in the USA, and if you somehow don’t believe that, just search up ‘BBC News US gun violence’ and you will see hundreds of articles, that seem to be written more regularly than People’s Magazine.

Guns have been engraved in the history of the United States, even an amendment in the US Constitution keeps guns in the hands of US citizens. This amendment has never been changed even though we have seen countless instances where this right has caused more harm than good.

The amendment was originally created to protect citizens from the British after the USA gained its independence, however, now there is a meagre chance that Britain will choose to take over the United States, especially after the US has grown to such power since the 1770s.

According to Brady United, 327 people are shot in the US every day 23 of them being minors. Just showing the true scale of this epidemic, leaving these minors as another statistic.

In 1999, at Columbine High School, one of the deadliest school shootings took place in the whole history of the USA. Two boys (one 18 and the other 17) decided to bring in explosives, semiautomatic rifles and pistols. After 20 minutes, the boys had already shot 33 students, killing 12 of them.

Even after incidents like this right-wing Americans support and campaign for the right to bear arms and not to have a much-needed change. Many of these gun supporters are part of the National Rifle Association, a group known to be racist when they stopped African Americans from using guns in the 1960s. 

However, the racist background of guns hasn’t stayed in the 60s. The racism linked to gun crime can still be seen just last year, in 2023, when a 16-year-old black teen rang the wrong doorbell and was met with a bullet to the head. Although it was obvious the shooter had done it for racist reasons, the courts let him go free, telling the public that the shooter felt threatened by the boy.

Many people demand an amendment to the US Constitution to control gun use, however, presidents like Donald Trump ignored these demands and instead decided to spend money on war weapons like it’s Tanks’R Us, spreading the violence, that Americans experience daily, across the world.

Controlling gun use may work, as we have seen in other countries that have laws against guns (like the UK) experience significantly less gun crime. But it is obvious that stubborn Republicans of the USA will never back down and change their fatal gun crimes, leaving us listening to these shootings and knowing nothing will be done.