Gun violence in the United States is a significant crisis nowadays. According to a study in Pediatrics in 2017, almost 1,300 children die from gun-related cases each year in the United States and around 6,000 are treated (Macmillan). Over the past few years, America’s federal and state government tried to work toward stricter gun control laws, but there are still cases of gun violence happening on a continual basis. It is extremely controversial and debatable these days about whose responsible for gun violence issue in the United States. Some people claim that parents play a crucial role in stopping the adolescent gun violence because they can educate their children and make sure they are in a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis. Others have stated that state government should take full responsibility to end gun violence. Because different states have different circumstances, the government can focus on their own issues easier, such as banning a specific type of gun that used a lot in the mass shooting, which will lead to a better result. However, I think it’s mainly the federal government’s duty to prevent gun violence. This is not only because they have stronger influences on the American people, but also, their actions are targeted to the whole country.
Parents are accountable for massive shootings to some extent. According to Dr. Gail Saltz, the associate professor of psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, parents can really make a difference for gun violence by knowing the flags that need intervention and treatment (Wallace). Parents are “legally responsible and accountable for the reckless actions of their children,” according to Mayor Todd Strange at City Hall (Yawn and Montgomery). The massive shooting in Oregon, which nine people were shot to death by 26 years old Chris Harper-Mercer in their community college classroom, was reported that both the shooter and his mother, Laurel Harper suffered from Asperger's syndrome (Wallace). People with Asperger's syndrome are always awkward in social interaction, pedantic in speech, and preoccupied with very narrow interests (OED). They can experience a meltdown where they temporarily lose control due to environmental factors (Steward). It’s difficult for parents like Laurel Harper, who also suffered from the mental disorder to be aware of the red flags of their children. People blamed parents on their unawareness of their child’s mental issues and the unsuccessfulness of the helping their child to develop their emotional intelligence. However, even though some parents don’t play an effective role in their child for gun violence, they’re not the principal factor of the massive shooting.
Melania Trump stated that parents should be responsible for helping their child to manage the issues they’re facing, encouraging positive habits with social media and technology and understanding the what they are exposed on a daily basis (Grinberg). Parents should also pay more attention to the mental health of children, whether they are socialized with others and having enough sleep (Englander). Moreover, having good communication with children is the easiest way to make sure they are mentally okay (Englander). Although most teenagers don’t like to talk with their parents about their life, parents can simply have a normal conversation with them to ask about their friends, school life, the news, etc. (Englander). Parents can even ask their children’s opinion toward the massive shooting to know how they feel and think about it. Making sure their children have a healthy relationship with everyone is also important. Children need friend or family to support them in order to feel connected to the community. If they’re struggling to make friends, then actions such as joining a program or talking with a family member are necessary. When mental or behavioral illness is discovered, parents need to take their child to a doctor immediately because extreme gun violence is always done by people who have certain behavioral or mental problems (Englander). Thus, parents are only responsible for educating and making sure their children are in a healthy lifestyle.
The state government of the United States is as important as parents toward gun problems. Each state has different circumstances, which requires different actions. States like Alaska, Alabama, and Louisiana have the highest gun violence rate, whereas Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Hawaii have the least gun violence (Frohlich and Harrington). For states that have a low death rate on gun-related cases, the government doesn’t need to do many things, like publishing gun laws or restrictions on gun possession, but for the states that have a high rate of mass gun shooting incidents, the government must do something to prevent it from happening. Research has shown that “states with stronger gun control laws have fewer gun deaths” (Kirk and Quandt). Alaska, for example, doesn’t have background checks for private sales, doesn’t have any restrictions for gun access to risky populations, and it isn’t strict on the open and concealed carry laws (Kirk and Quandt). People living in Alaska have a higher death risk from gun violence because no action is taken by their government to prevent mass shooting (Kirk and Quandt).
The issue for the state government is that some of them are even considering loosening gun laws rather than toughen them and they take no action toward the gun violence issue (Seelye and Bidgood). According to the study in JAMA Internal Medicine, state government should publish strict licensing requirements of gun dealers, strong background checks for private sales of firearms, and restrict multiple purchases of guns (Welch). Even though the state government is not mainly responsible for gun violence, they still have to take actions to stop any gun-related violence within the state.
The United States has the major responsibility for gun violence. Donald Trump claims the Congress and the federal government is accountable for gun violence (Trump). In his interview, he stated that the Florida gun shooting could’ve been avoided if there were strong background checks (Trump). He wants the Congress to pass legislation and laws for strengthening background checks and raise the age to 21 years old for buying rifles, the common assault weapons (Trump). Congress should consider Americans’ thoughts in order to represent the people. According to the two surveys by Gallup and Quinnipiac University, 96% of Americans support strong background checks for all gun purchases and 66% of Americans support stricter gun laws (Silliman). Moreover, Thousands of Minnesotans urged stricter federal gun laws and legislation on limiting the age and types of guns for possession (Keen).
The current issue, however, is the deep divisions among different political polls among Congress and the people. The Florida Democratic and Republican lawmakers had debated on the gun control issues(CNN). Ted Deutch, a Democratic congressman, said they must act now with no delaying, but the Republican congressman Carlos Curbelo who supported Trump’s idea, said he’s still waiting for the commitment from Speaker Ryan for the action (CNN). It seemed unlikely for the Congress to take actions on moving forward and bringing up the legislation (CNN). Moreover, a 2017 research letter published in JAMA, gun violence was concluded to be the least researched and least amount of allocated funding case (MACMILLAN). Congress is open to a conversation about gun restrictions and strict gun laws, however, it didn’t fully address the issue due to the lack of research on the best solution (Dooley). After the school gun shooting event in Parkland in February, Donald Trump stated that he will make progress on enhancing gun safety right, but he backed off (Haberman). Actions are needed for the Congress and US federal government in order to stop gun violence. According to the Quinnipiac University National Poll, 75% of the Americans think the Congress needs to do more to reduce gun violence (Quinnipiac University).
All in all, even though parents and state government are both accountable for gun-related violence, the federal government and the Congress have a major responsibility on this issue. Gun violence is an extremely concerning issue in America these days because it happens on a regular basis. The problem with the Congress is that there was no action taken so far to prevent gun violence happening. Even though there are many proposals on carrying out policies of how to improve the system and education, little action was taken by both state and federal government. An action is necessary for all citizens, not just the government itself because that’s the only way to stop the gun violence. Gun violence in America can be prevented in the next few years if parents, state and federal government work together toward it.