Gun Culture in The United States

                       

         The above statistic can send a chill down the spine. These are startling numbers. More 

than 40% of the world's civilian population that own guns belong to the United States(U.S.). And this statistic becomes even more intimidating when you consider that the population of the U.S                   constitutes only about 5% of  the entire population of the world. The result of this is there for              everyone to see. Numerous mass shootings of innocent people have been prevalent in the U.S.for quite some time now. 

                                                                                                                                 

         So let us try to understand why this unnecessary bloodshed occurs and what could be the reasons behind it. It is. by the U.S. Constitutional law, a right to possess a gun. However, the ease with which people tend to open arms on innocent public suggests that strict laws have not been imposed to curb this menace. Although the data reveals that 80% of the people who own guns use it for self defense, this percentage does not give the complete picture. The number of accidental deaths & suicides contribute a large part of this percentage.

                                                                                    

        I for one cannot fathom how these two categories can be classified as an act of self defense. Depression and relationship troubles are the two leading factors that prompts an individual to commit suicide.Most of these individuals who take such a drastic step are young  people who fall under the age of 30. This can never be good.  I feel it is a crime to commit suicide and many countries have also enlisted it as one. It is utterly preposterous to allow a person to commit suicide if he or she is not having his or her own way in life because of any reason , no matter how serious it may be.Also ,accidental deaths, though small in number are unavoidable. Recently the news read that a father accidentally killed his daughter while he was teaching her about gun safety.                                                                                                                                                             

          Another component of the 80% is homicide. Homicide in plain English terms means an act of a human being causing the death of another human being. This again can lead to vague conclusions. Killing another person cannot always mean an act of self defense. Recently there have been instances of racist killings which cannot be termed as acts of self defense.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

           All in all the government of U.S.A. has to bring in strong laws to limit this avoidable massacre . Although the government has tried various methods like counselling parents whose children possess arms, the gun buyback program,etc. to curb this bloodshed, it has been largely unsuccessful in limiting the number of deaths. Therefore, in my view the government has to act strongly and inflict harsh punishments on the inappropriate use of the gun or even try to reduce the number of guns that are easily acquired by ambitious youngsters.