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Essay / The Effects of Mass Media on Gun Violence in America
Society has many problems that everyone must deal with. However, there are some obstacles that people have controversial issues with. One of the problems would be gun control. The authors, James L. Knoll IV and George D. Annas, explain how mental health has contributed to mass shootings perpetrated by people with mental health issues. In the chapter “No solution; “Reasonable Steps,” by Stephen King, mentions some ways to reduce gun control in America. Finally, writers Jared Michael Jashinsky, Brianna Magnusson, Carl Hanson, and Michael Barnes reveal the consequences the media implicates in gun violence before and after it is reported. Gun violence has been touted as the leading cause of mass deaths in America; however, people should anticipate society's influence on others, the use of semi-automatic weapons, and the way the media talks about these violent causes. Children and adults face paranoia and fear from people who isolate them from social groups or from the actions they take in life. According to the article “Mass Shootings and Mental Illness”, it mentions different aspects that contribute to the commission of mass murders. "Their worldview suggested a paranoid state of mind. They spent a lot of time feeling resentful...for past humiliations." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay People who struggle with mental health typically face insecurities about the world and themselves because society influences how others treat them. Additionally, society isolates people into certain categories that make them feel unwelcome. These emotions cause children and adults to feel remorseful towards society because they are labeled by others and can lead to mental illness. Mental illnesses can be caused by the emotions that others make people feel, which creates catastrophic problems in the world, in this case, gun violence. Gun violence occurs with only one intention, either to seek revenge or to let society know what it has created within itself. Discrimination against people can usually lead to massive chaos against society. The authors point out the fantasies that some people create in their heads after being treated horribly by others. “…individuals who commit mass shootings often feel wronged, are extremely angry, and have harbored fantasies of violent revenge.” These feelings cause some people to hallucinate or fantasize about harming anyone who has treated them harshly or to bring justice to the way society acts for the actions people commit. For example, some people may have a desire to seek justice against police officers, teachers, or someone who has the power to take action against malicious people who do injustice to them. This leads to mass murders committed by people struggling with mental health issues because they were not getting the help and attention sought from others. Furthermore, this situation demonstrates “psychosis” because abused people fantasize about taking revenge because they fear for their safety by living in a place that makes them feel unwanted. Therefore, most people are willing to find a way to access a semi-automatic weapon to commit mass murder. Nowadays,people have access to a gun to protect themselves or to harm innocent people. Additionally, semi-automatic weapons are more likely to be purchased by civilians, since people do not need to reload the weapons. The author, Stephen King, points out some factors that can be used as measures to reduce guns and murder. In the chapter “No solution; Reasonable measures,” he mentions, “prohibit the sale of clips and magazines containing more than ten cartridges.” Clips are used to load ammunition into the magazine, and magazines are the area of the weapon that feeds ammunition into the chamber. Both clips and magazines should be banned or at least reduced to a certain number of cartridges below 10. If the number of cartridges is reduced, there is a greater chance that ammunition will run out. Additionally, the criminal would have to stop and reload, allowing a bystander or the police to gain the upper hand and be able to arrest the person before hurting more people. In addition, the sale of firearms in the United States should be accelerated in order to reduce the number of deaths. A gun ban is unlikely to happen in America, since these weapons are used to protect civilians. However, the sale of firearms should be accelerated so that people cannot obtain a destructible weapon. King reveals that a ban on assault weapons is unlikely to be a reality, but he points to some solutions. The author recommends “banning the sale of assault weapons such as the Bushmaster and Ar-15.” Banning highly dangerous weapons used in everyday warfare should not be used by any civilian outside of the United States Armed Forces. Additionally, these guns cause mass destruction to others, which increases the number of murders. However, the United States should raise gun sales prices to prevent people from having easy access to a gun. In this case, people would think twice before purchasing a rifle that was outside their purchase limit, thereby reducing the number of deaths in the United States. Additionally, rifles should not be sold to the public, as they can cause immense harm. But if someone buys them, there are only two reasons. First reason, hunting animals as an activity or second killing someone out of remorse. However, if semi-automatic weapons are excluded from advertisements, there is a greater chance that people will stick with a revolver. A revolver pistol should be loaded one at a time, with perpetrators most likely to be arrested and captured. However, if people continue to watch propaganda news, this cycle of gun violence will continue. Media journalists tend to make a mass shooting worse by changing certain stories. The article “The Media Agenda for Gun Violence Before and After a Mass Shooting” reveals how the media contributes to gun violence and how the news does not devote enough time to an issue. “While the media does not just reflect reality, but filters and shapes it...”. The media filters what people will see at home, which controls issues that should take longer to consider to find ways to end these scenarios. Additionally, the media contributes to giving fame to the perpetrators rather than delving into a solution to gun violence and whether public health has anything to do about it. The more gun violence is publicized in the media, the more others will want to have the same fame that the information gives to the attacker. Propaganda brainwashes many people differently,..