Gun violence and gun control have become a highlighted issue within the United States. In recent years there has been a vast increase in young adults engaging in gun violence, or being caught up in such conflict, particularly within schools. The issue of school shootings has become a major problem within the city of Atlanta. However, with more lives being at potential risk, there has been controversy debates over what causes such incidences and what can we do as a society to solve the problem. It is evident that in order to decrease school shootings the law and community need to work together by limiting or monitoring the accessibility of firearms, identifying risks of violence and providing the correct resources to students that are a potential risk. The spread of school shootings within the UnitedStates is at an all-time high. Granting they don’t make up a large percentageof youth violence overall, they are traumatic proceedings for society as awhole. Although the first shooting leads back to 1764, the Pontiacs rebellionschool massacre, where 11 people were killed at a schoolhouse in Pennsylvania,the rise of statistics within the last 5 years have been drastic and show agrowing trend to a problem within the US. Research states ‘‘Since 2013, therehave been more than 300 school shootings in America — an average of about one aweek’’ (Everytown). However, the appearance of guns alone or threats ofviolence is even higher. Statistics are only calculated for the recordedgunshots fired on school grounds or fired within a school during school hours.They do not include incidents where guns have been brought into school withoutbeing fired or shootings outside of school hours (Patel). With the ongoing risein school shootings in the United States as a whole, Georgia ranks one of thehighest states for such incidences.Gun violence as a whole has become a major issuein the south, particularly Georgia. Judd states that’s ‘’Georgians are morethan twice as likely as New Yorkers to be killed in a shooting. The death rateexceeds even that of Illinois.’’ With the 13th highest death rate, most ofthose deaths occurred in Atlanta (Judd). Since the sandy nook shooting in 2012,when a gunman shot and killed 20 children and 6 adults with a firearm, Georgiahas been the second leading state for school/college shootings, behind Texas,with a total of 23 incidents resulting in either deaths or injuries. At least 5of those incidences were in Atlanta alone (Karishnakumar). The reason forschool shootings follows a controversial debate amongst society. However, itcan not go unmentioned that easy gun access is one of the most influentialcauses.Some will argue gun control is the sole factorin school shootings, others will argue it’s not the gun, but more so theindividual that posses it. America’s love for guns dates back to the secondamendment, which give the ‘right to bear arms’. Originally implemented for the militia, the Supreme Court revitalized itallowing guns in homes for self-defense (Cornell law school). With this inmind, there are approx 300 million guns statewide. With a population of justover 300million, that is roughly an equal amount of guns to persons. However,only one-third of the population own guns, meaning that more than one is heldin each of those households (BBC). Household gun ownership is high particularlyin the south. Studies show that ‘‘Across the South, 38 percent of householdshave a gun — compared with 35 percent in the Midwest, 34 percent in the Westand 27 percent in the Northeast’’ (Simonton). With this high rate, it makes itvery easy for young adults to have access to guns, with or without an adultsknowledge. Friedman states that ‘‘The American Medical Association reports thatbetween 36 percent and 50 percent of male eleventh graders said they could easilyget a gun if they wanted to’’ (90). Further reasearch also states that ‘‘overtwo-thirds of students who used guns in violent acts at school got those gunsfrom their own home or that of a relative’ (Erwin). This is likely because thegun was not stored away and unloaded, not because the young adult has freelybeen given it. However, it shows that there are definite links betweenhousehold gun ownership and gun violence. Besides the fact that guns are easily accessiblewithin homes, there are over 50,000 gun stores in America making a purchase ofa gun an easy task. Within Georgia, the purchase of a gun is very simple. Youdo not need a permit to purchase a firearm, and you do not need to register thefirearm once purchased. However, there are some laws on age restrictions. Tobuy a handgun statewide the consumer must be at least 18 years old, however inGeorgia for an unlicensed person to sell a long gun there is no age restriction(Laws). This is a serious issue as it means that children of any age are ableto obtain and have access to a gun without any consequences. With thesestatistics in mind its safe to say that the easy access to guns plays a hugerole in gun violence within schools, however, they are not the only factor thatcontributes to such incidences.With the many school shootings that have takenplace over the years, we try to look at all specific causes and whether thereare links between the causes. The media plays a huge role in trying to convincesociety that there is a specific cause of all school shootings. However, thereis no specific profile that fits the motivation of a shooter. Often there doesseem to be links between school shootings and a specific factor, but this isnot in all cases. Friedman states ‘‘ 66% of shooters interviewed after theattack felt they had been bullied or threatened by classmates and said that wastheir main reason for shooting others’’ (90). However approx. 1 in 5 childrenreport being bullied in a given year, yet show no signs of violence or suchcrime (De La O). Although bullying may worsen problems for youth, physicallyand emotionally, there is very little evidence that alone it is the cause ofgun violence. Society often singles out an issue like mental health, revenge,the culture of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as various socialproblems as the cause. However although many of these factors can be associatedwith a shooter, it is very hard to say that one alone fits that of everyshooter. When we look at all these issues we see that many young adultsexperience at least one of them, yet don’t commit such a crime. On the otherhand, a mix of these factors could be a possible cause and its important thatsociety pays close attention to an individual that may encounter several ofthese issues to prevent anything further happening (Friedman 52). It is important as a community that everyoneworks together, including the law, public health, schools, peers, parents, andteachers in order to prevent school shootings from happening. Such proactiveprocedures include watching for warning signs and identifying and reportingthem. This will help a student early who is showing potential risk factors. Inmost cases, it is apparent that previous to a shooting someone is aware or shownsigns that a shooter has plans of an attack. Duplechain and Morris states “In more than 80% of the cases [hestudied], at least one person knew the attacker was planning something; two ormore people knew in almost 60 percent of the cases” (146). Most shootings arepremeditated and at some point, there is a chance that the shooter has eithershown attack-related behavior or discussed the event with someone, whethersomething is said as a joke or said on a serious matter. In previous shootings,this has occurred. In the Columbine school shooting, the shooter prior to theevent wrote a paper on a male who was planning a school shooting, as well aswritings journals with all their plans in for the shooting (Gumbell). Nobody atthe time thought anything of it, yet it was a significant sign as to what wasgoing to be carried out. This being said, it is very important that students,teachers, parents and all listen and watch for signs and act accordingly.Reporting such suspicions could be crucial in preventing an attack. As well as watching for signs a solution toprevent school shootings is to Work together to provide strategies and thecorrect resources for students. Sometimes for parents it can be hard to come toterms with the fact their child has a mental health issue or behavioral issues,however, it is important that they get their children the help needed. It isalso important that schools provide resources. School counselors pay a pivotrole in providing counseling groups to provide tools to deal with emotions,anger, grief, and loss as well and mental health problems. They help support achild in making changes in their life addressing the topics that most concernthem (Paolini). With the correct support available and the communitieswillingness to watch and report suspicions, school incidents could be preventedin the future. However with this in mind, the role of the law is also veryimportant. Stricter gun laws are substantial in reducinggun violence. In the state of Georgia, there are very little restrictions ongun laws. As a state, they allow sales of a gun without a permit or withoutprocessing through the federal firearms license, Mentally ill individuals arealso removed from the database after 5 years without a reassessment fromdoctors. This meaning that after a person passes the 5-year mark they are thenillegible to purchase or sell a gun, even if they have not been assessed by adoctor to say they are now mentally stable (Cook). Unlike other states, Georgiaalso sticks with the federal age restriction of 18 to buy a gun, whereas manyother states have reassessed age restrictions and moved it to 21.  These weak laws make it very easy for a youngadult or mentally unstable individual to acquire a gun.  Many will also argue stricter gun laws will nothelp reduce school shootings, however, research shows otherwise. When comparingthe US to other rich countries with stricter gun laws, there is a hugedifference in the homicide rate. Statistics show that ‘‘The number of gunmurders per capita in the US in 2012 – the most recent year for comparablestatistics – was nearly 30 times that in the UK, at 2.9 per 100,000 comparedwith just 0.1’’ (BBC). When looking at the US solely, research also shows thatthose states with stricter gun control have less gun related deaths. After alaw passed in Connecticut in 1995 making it more difficult to buy a handgun thenumber of homicides reduced by 40%. This law included purchasers having toobtain a license from the police in person as well as passing a backgroundcheck before being accepted for a sale (Lachman).  All of this research shows that stricter gunlaws are a solution towards less gun violence and unless Congress and thegovernment make some amendments, then school shootings are going to continue tooccur. It is evident that school shootings are a majorissue within Atlanta and America as a whole. With a vast and continuousincrease over the given years its important that both the law and communitywork together to help stop such incidents occurring. Research proves that thereis no specific profile for a shooter, however, it is important as a communityto watch out for any signs of potential risk, report them and provide studentswith the correct resources. This and stricter gun laws allowing students accessto guns more difficult will help decrease gun violence.  ReferencesBBC. ‘‘Guns in the US: The statistics behind theviolence.’’ BBC News, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34996604Cook,Rhonda. ‘‘Georgia clears way for mentallyill to buy guns.’’ Myajc, 2018,https://www.myajc.com/news/local/georgia-clears-way-for-mentally-ill-buy-guns/agHJKZW8LiqVI4mu1GQmLJ/Cornell LawSchool. ‘‘Second Amendment.’’ LLI/Legal information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/second_amendmentDe La O, Maria. ‘‘Schoolshootings are about more than bullying.’’ The Washington post, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/10/25/school-shootings-are-about-more-than-bullying/?utm_term=.6be5672995aeDupllechain, Rosiland, and Robert Morris. ‘‘SCHOOL VIOLENCE: REPORTED SCHOOL SHOOTINGSAND MAKING SCHOOLS SAFER.’’ Galileo,Vol. 135, no. 2, pp.45-150.Erwin,Nicole. ‘‘In wake of school shootings, alook at how kids get guns.’’ Ohiovalley resource, 2018, http://ohiovalleyresource.org/2018/01/24/in-wake-of-school-shooting-a-look-at-how-kids-get-guns/Everytown. ‘’The long shameful listof school shootings in America. ’’ 2018, https://everytownresearch.org/school-shootings/Friedman,Lauri. 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Gumbell,Andrew. ‘‘The truth about columbine.’’The guardian, 2009, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/17/columbine-massacre-gun-crime-usJudd, Alan. ‘‘Youretwice as likely to be shot to death in Georgia than New York (and other gunviolence facts).’’ Myajc, 2017, https://www.myajc.com/blog/investigations/you-twice-likely-shot-death-georgia-than-new-york-and-other-gun-violence-facts/Kdk3MXsowc6ASzmd15o2QN/Krishnakumar, Pray. ‘‘Since SandyNook, a gun has been fired on school grounds at least once a week.’’ www.Latimes.com,2015, http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-school-shootings-since-newtown/Law.‘‘Minimum age to purchase and possess.’’Giffords law centre to prevent violence,http://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/who-can-have-a-gun/minimum-age/#federalLachman,Samantha. ‘‘Conneticut gun control lawsharply reduced gun-related violence, report says.’’ Huffpost UK, 2015,https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/12/connecticut-gun-control-_n_7570852.htmlPaolini,Allison. ‘‘School Shootings and StudentMental Health: Role of the School Counselor in Mitigating Violence.’’ Councelling.org, 2015, https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/school-shootings-and-student-mental-health.pPatel, Jugal, K. ‘‘After Sandy Hook, More Than 400 People Have Been Shot in Over 200 SchoolShootings.’’NYtimes.com,2018, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/15/us/school-shootings-sandy-hook-parkland.htmlSimonton,Stell. ‘‘Guns in school:Georgia has most shootingssince Sandy Nook.’’ America.Aljazeera.com,2015, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/29/gun-lax-georgia-has-most-school-shootings-since-sandy-hook-massacre.htmlGet Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more