In 2023 40,167 people died due to gun violence. Some of you may think that oh this is not a very big number. But when you think of those as human beings that is a huge number and the people that die are family members So even though you may think that is not a big number just think of how many families were destroyed because someone decided to use a gun as a type of violence. The most often that we see gun violence is in schools, stores, and even homes

The number of school shootings a year is outrageous. An article written by Christopher Wolf on January 5, 2023, in the U.S. news states that, In 2023 there were 346 school shootings across the United States. The number of deaths is 57. You might think that is not a very big number but it is. That is 57 people that we lost and that impacted many families. People don't know how much families go through if they lose a child especially if they didn't get to say goodbye. Those teachers lost their lives, They died saving their children in their class because they cared so much about their students that they would do anything to protect them. People need to realize that there is more to it than a school shooting. Realize that people died because someone was looking to harm other people. 

As citizens, we must find a way to prevent this from happening so often. There needs to be more protection in the schools. And when there is a school shooting the students need faster routes to get out of the school safely. I think there should be 1 to 2 cops on campus at every school. Because then families wouldn't have to worry about whether their child is going to make it home every day. Kids shouldn't have to go to school worrying about if it's going to be their school next. I just think that we should find more ways to prevent this. Schools are affected by this so much. When a school has a shooting the aftermath is really bad. Students don't come back to that school because they are terrified that it's going to happen again. Teachers are scared that they are going to have to watch and listen to those innocent students crying because they are scared. Some schools even shut down because nobody wants to go back there. 

Many shootings happen in schools but also happen in stores. The amount of people that are affected by a shooting in a store is a lot. You don’t think of the people shopping and that can be a lot on some days. You don't think of the workers that work there. And most of all you dont think of who is around you. The people around you if you're the one making a scene are little children who are going to be scared for the rest of their lives because one person decided they wanted to make a scene. 

Gun violence in homes is different. The reason is that people have guns to protect themselves from other bad people in the world. But if something goes wrong most often people use a gun as their weapon. Which to me is wrong because you should never solve something by using a gun. What I want to know is the reason why people do this. Is it to get satisfaction or is it to get back at someone? I don't know but what I do know is that it is wrong. Most of the time when we see people use guns in their homes is because someone else provoked them and they have a mental health disorder. 

As I said in the paragraph above people use guns because they have a mental disorder, or they might mental disorder. But in some cases, they just do it because they are cruel and want to hurt people. Another reason I think is that they are looking to hurt someone is because they have lost someone in their life and feel like someone else should have that same feeling that they have.  

As you just read about school shootings, shootings in stores, and shootings in homes, think about how you feel about gun violence. Are you against it or are you for gun violence? I am against gun violence because I don't want to come home someday and hear that one of my family members has died due to gun violence. I think that if you want to have a gun for hunting you should take a permit to carry class. That is the reason why I am against gun violence.