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vila Cruz Melina 4th Grade Group 403 LN: 2 Professor Rita Santoyo Shorthand

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary film inspired on the Columbine High School massacre (or simply called Columbine) occurred on April 20, 1999. The juveniles were the senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They killed thirteen people and other twenty-one were injured, and afterwards they committed suicide. Thereunder, the narrator, Michael Moore, analyses the whole environment of the massacre and other aspects that include violence with guns. He goes over everything he could think of to explain the reason why there are 11.127 gun-related deaths-peryear in the United States. In fact, the number of people killed by a firearm raised to 11.346 in 2005. Violent movies and video games, cartoons, gothic culture, tradition, black people, unemployment rates, Moore goes through all of these aspects, since they are the most common answers people give as possible causes. Yet it is clear that the United States is not the only country that receives this kind of influence. For instance, he makes a direct comparison with its neighbor of the North, Canada, and it turns out that, under almost the same circumstances, the Canadians are less violent. Some American citizens believe it is their responsibility to protect their family with guns, since it is allowed by the government to own them. Nowadays, they see it has part of their culture; but sometimes it looks like paranoia. At some point, Michael leads us to the conclusion that there would be fewer murders if there were stricter restrictions about owning guns. Gun Violence in the United States

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the US produced more than 5.4 million firearms in 2009. There are an estimated 270 million firearms in the country, which means that approximately there is a gun in one out of four homes. At the same time, the States is one of the most important manufacturers of arms and military equipment. Statistics prove that guns are more likely to raise the risk of injury than to provide protection. Strangely enough, the United States has the highest rate of firearm deaths

among the 25 high-income nations. I found some interesting facts related with guns and the use people give them. o The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) reports that in just one year 31.593 people died from gun violence and 66.769 survived gun injuries. This includes: y y 44.466 people shot in an attack. 18.223 people who killed themselves and 3.031 who survived a suicide attempt. y 592 people who were killed unintentionally and 18.610 who were shot unintentionally but survived. y Forty one percent of all firearms deaths and non-severe injuries are constituted by children and young adults. o Over a million people have been killed with guns since 1968. o Keeping a firearm in home increases the risk of homicide by 3 to 5, and the risk of suicide by a factor of 17. That is an estimated 41% of gun-related homicides and 94% of suicides of the same type would not occur if a gun were not present. o A gun at home is more likely to be used in a completed or attempted suicide, criminal assault, homicide, unintentional shooting death or injury; than to be used for self-defense. o Each year there are only around 200 legally justified self-defense homicides. o Guns are used to intimidate and threaten 4 to 6 times more often than they are used to thwart crime. o People with a criminal record are also more likely to die as homicide victims. In view of these facts, the US gun laws are among the most lax in the world. Its Federal laws allow guns to be sold by unlicensed sellers without Brady background check.1 This increases the chance of supplying dangerous people with guns. Therefore, gun violence has become a controversial debated political issue. Although there have been established a set of restrictions, it still is relatively easy to get a gun.
1

Act of the United States Congress that instituted federal background checks (compiling criminal records) on firearms purchasers.

Besides Columbine, there have been others mayor incidents involving guns; such as the Beltway sniper attacks (October, 2002), the Virginia Tech massacre (April, 2007) and most recently, the 2011 Tucson shooting. Certainly, these shootings have brought growing attention to the easy availability of firearms in the country. I honestly hope something more remarkable would be done about it. Conclusion The film was made almost ten years ago and I am surprised the situation is still the same or even worse. It is mentioned that crime rate has been decreasing, but unexpectedly the fear of crime and gun ownership has been rising at the same proportion. I liked the way Michael Moore questioned people who promote the use of guns as a means of protection. Besides, he also proposed solutions and showed the viewpoints of more open-minded people, I would say. I agree with many of these opinions. When a child can grab a gun so easily and shoot a bullet into the middle of a childs face [], something is wrong, said Tom Mauser, father of a Columbine victim. I do not know what else is needed to make a real change about the matter. It would be ideal that people do not have anything to fear anymore; nor need to lock their doors or have a gun at home. All this makes me wonder if we would be as violent if guns were permitted here in Mexico. I do believe it would be much worse and it is a little scary, since Mexico is currently a very violent country. It is already bad enough to know that people from different countries are attacking each other, so that also people coexisting also shoot at any threat without a second thought. In my opinion, owning a gun is not the best way to protect neither yourself nor your beloved ones. I believe that keeping one at home makes one feel more uneasy. A gun always represents a great responsibility. It is not a toy, since the consequences of using it in a wrong way can be fatal. 790 words

Sources: o Gun Violence. Available on: http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/gun-violence/ o Preventing Gun Violence in the United States. Available on: http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/articles/2007/vernick_gun_trafficking.html o Facts of Gun Violence. Available on: http://bradycampaign.org/facts/gunviolence#Richardson o Gun Violence Statistics. Available on: http://www.lcav.org/statistics-polling/gun_violence_statistics.asp#6 o Glynn, J. et al. (Producer). Moore, M. (Director). (2002). Bowling for Columbine. [Documentary film]. United States: Alliance Atlantis.