Sasha Valon Rhodd

Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth Cuddy

Project #3
PSA: Anti Gun Violence

Gun violence in America has become an epidemic that has the potential to be resolved as a

result of slaughtered policies that protect the underground economy as well as members of the

National Rifle Association (N.R.A). Despite the varying differences between the N.R.A.s

involvement with the immense presence of gun-related street violence, gun violence in the

United States is becoming a common fabric to the American brand and must be ceased

immediately. A public service announcement campaign would be effective if geared towards

members of the N.R.A. and residents of impoverished communities who systematically permit

themselves to become victimized by the underground economy1. The underground economy

which fuels the mixed market economy in the United States is one of the many reasons as to why

effective gun-control policies have yet to thrive considering how difficult it is for the government

to implement sanctions on the illegal sales of guns. Although many of the media- documented

mass shootings are results of registered guns, countless atrocities happen in inner cities across

the United States from community guns2 and the governments inability to stop offenders

especially because of the hood3 induced no snitching4 policy that perpetuates terror within

impoverished ghettos. The bond between the N.R.A. and the underground economy must end

with reevaluated N.R.A. provisions to end the immense violence plaguing the United States.

1 Underground Economy- Illegal industries that support facades of wealth in impoverished communities i.e. the
sales of drugs and guns
2 Community guns- the ideology and fact that the majority of gun violence crimes committed in a particular area is
being done by guns traded amongst offenders therefore the same gun can claim multiple lives in entirely different
murders because the weapon has been passed around.
3Hood- A colloquialism for an impoverished neighborhood/community
4 No Snitching- a policy that plagues impoverished communities by inflicting silence amongst witnesses and
bystanders to crimes because the gang leaders in the community will handle their own situation when in all
actuality all this does is perpetuate crime and prevent justice. (In lieu of the distrust for law enforcement in these
neighborhoods)
Exhibiting these sorts of social ills and parallels between both communities via a public service

campaign can change the consciousness of the culture in America and ultimately lower the gun

related homicide rates.

Illegal industries that cripplingly perpetuate facades of wealth in the impoverished

communities play a keen role in the immense amount of gun violence that plagues the inner

cities (where the majority of gun violence in the U.S. is conducted i.e. Chicago). Stigmas

surrounding the desperation to appeal far more financially stable than one is reigns as a plague in

many inner cities that results in poor credit. Simultaneously living beyond ones means and

attempting to gain comfort in a socioeconomic position that inhibits poorly educated people to

receive a job beyond minimum wage (considering how difficult it is to live solely off of that),

According to research conducted at Portland State University, a scholarly journal proved some

communities have a long history of antagonism with policing agencies, believing they provide

oppression, not protection. Some gang members, therefore, may see themselves as performing an

important service of protection to their communities (Tita and Ridgeway, 2007, pp.213-216).

Politically imposed sanctions contribute to the inability of many residences in wretched

communities to get a loan. By the droves, minorities are unable to receive loans for amenities

therefore the underground economy becomes an essential resource to poor communities. In the

absence of law and order, guns are a resort of protection in a world where conventional rules to

business arent an option to gang affiliated organizations that dominate these illegal industries

such as sales of counterfeit / (knock offs), weapons, jewelry, and narcotics.

Politically attributed organizations such as the N.R.A. have refused to implement

provisions on gun control that would lower the vast amount of gun related crimes in inner cities.

However, because of conservative partisanship influences on behalf of politically powerful

N.R.A. members, liberal Americas initiative to fix crime riddled neighborhoods take a backseat

to right winged agendas. Firmin DeBrabander (Do Guns Make Us Free?) causes readers to

question the underlying meaning behind the right to bear arms as well as the emotional faith

U.S. culture has instilled within the power of our democratic freedom. Shedding light on

members of the National Rifle Association and their motives serves as the epitome of our

detriment as a society. The discussion illuminates the gun lobbys strategy of dichotomizing

law-abiding citizens and those intent on doing them harm, identifying bad guys (113-114) and

the mentally illrather than easy access to firearmsas the chief cause of gun tragedies.

Criminologist John Lott contends that shall issue (nondiscretionary concealed carry) laws, by

exploiting the deterrent effects of guns, offer the most cost-effective way to reduce crime (Lott

2010, 164-166). The wholehearted infatuation to protect the second amendment5 inhibits

resolutions in deteriorating communities because of guns. Ironically enough, the warped

initiative to provide equal laissez-faire6 to both the well-to-do N.R.A. members and disheveled

urban areas is just about the only equal treatment attributed to these two varying groups.

Excerpts from Roth A. Randals Book Counting Guns: What Social Science Historians Know

and Could Learn about Gun Ownership, Gun Culture, and Gun Violence in the United States

explains that this type of factor feeds into the misconception that the United States is a

flourishing democracy when in reality the communities affiliated with N.R.A. members are far

much safer and dont face the same socioeconomic hardships that impoverished areas have to

deal with when guns are illegally introduced into these communities ( 378-394). Facts

surrounding the fact that the C.I.A.7 sent crack cocaine into the slums of America to pay for

5 2nd Amendment: The right for U.S. citizens to bear arms/ own guns
6 Laissez-fair: a policy /attitude of letting things take their own course without government
interference
7 Central Intelligence Agency
thermo nuclear war a few decades ago is the same type of sneaky tactics rhyming in todays

history under the guise of dirty cops and a corrupt system built to permanently and

systematically ruin the lower class. Considering that the knowledge and funding needing to

smuggle in guns is something extremely complicated for communities that lack resources, the

only explanation to the parallels between crime riddled communities and the N.R.A. is that the

illegal sales of guns are being assisted and condoned by right-wing America to further ruin

struggling communities and widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The scholarly

journal (pages 23-29) in Preventing Lethal Violence in Schools: The Case of Entry-Based

Weapons Screening prove that exposing these factors within a public service announcement

would start the conversation upon opening the eyes of those who have refused to pay attention to

the parallels amongst the rise of right-wing America and the plight of impoverished

communities.

According to the C.D.C.8, on average , 93 Americans are killed by guns in the United

States. Roughly 43,000 people annually have their lives claimed by a firearm. These preventable

tragedies will only end if the government imposes sanctions to cease the unconscious co-effort

from crime riddled neighborhoods and the N.R.A. to reevaluate the love for gun-culture to

ultimately save lives. A call-to-action initiative begins with public pressure such as peaceful

protest and social media firestorms surrounding an influential P.S.A. broadcast urging liberal

America to recognize the pillars of this issue and to fight back on a local and national level.

8 C.D.C.- U.S. Centers for Disease Control