Gun Control - Awareness for the Youth of Philadelphia

Growing up in Philadelphia, I found myself running across a pattern. The fact that I had gone to a charter school in elementary and middle school, and a public school in High School, you get a wide variety of kids coming from many different backgrounds. More and more people I found having deaths in their family, or family members in jail because of a gun accident. Some of the friends I had made had brothers, sisters, parents, uncles, aunts killed from a gun. Or occasionally you would hear about the kids parents being put in jail for shooting someone, which brought me to a realization. Not only that, but one of my friends is currently in jail being allegedly charged with murder as an adult. So many victims from a situation involving a gun has affected so many lives, especially young kids, giving them mixed messages whether its good or bad. I soon began to think, is Philadelphia really a safe place to live, is there a lot of gun activity now? So here’s another question? Is having a gun really safe? Should we be able to have them to prevent accidents from happening, used as self defense? That is for me to learn, and you can come along my journey with me on my “You and the World” project to help make a difference against gun violence.

       Here is an image with statistics of who has the guns in the U.S.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/15/the-demographics-and-politics-of-gun-owning-households/

More than 100,000 people die in the US because of a gun. There are 89 guns for every 100 US residents. With that said, US is #1 in the whole world when it comes to gun ownership. That means out of every continent on our earth, our nation owns the most guns. The real question is, are guns really that necessary that 40% of US homes have one? Is it worth that about 1,500 children are hurt every year because of just a gun? No one deserves to die because of a gun whether if its an accident or not. If these sorts of “accidents” and “non-accidents” keep happening because of a gun, then why do we need them? If no one was armed, then there would be less of an issue of people being killed or hurt because of a gun.  

This issue is only getting bigger as the years go by. Everyday I find myself watching the news more and more often because the same sorts of gun incidents happen. How can we educate people about demonstrating that guns are safe, and won’t make the situation any safer for you or anyone else around you? How can we stop young teens from making decision based on the patterns they see in their everyday lives that come from social media, the news and newspapers?

       Here is an infographic on information about guns in the U.S.

http://www.news.com.au/world/us-president-barack-obama-gets-tough-on-gun-control/story-fndir2ev-1226435721625

I hope to learn further into my topic, and educate others about how guns aren’t safe and they are a life changing thing, even though they might be common. I am ready and looking forward to making a difference in our community as a city and making it safer place, for all of us.       

To read my bibliography click here!