Rough copy essay

Over the last few years Canada’s urban areas have shown an increase in gun related violence. In an attempt to stop the illegal use of guns the federal government has created gun control laws, for all Canadians. However gun control laws are ineffective because people are driven to violence due to poverty, the use of guns is promoted by the media and guns can be illegally obtained. Although gun control laws are a step in the right direction they are pitifully inadequate.

It’s impossible to prevent gun violence because of the presence of poverty in our communities. Gun control laws can only limit gun use to the people who won’t use violence as a mean to solve problems, however in low income areas such as Jane and finch area in Toronto violence is a regular event, even in the schools. A trustee for west view centennial secondary school says some parents and students have “very grave concerns” about fights in the hallways, guns and sexual activity at the high school. ”http://www.thestar.com/article/251995”. Violence will always be around because poverty is a permanent entity in our society even with the intervention of the government. Ontario Premiere Dalton Mc Guinty has taken action against violence by “adding specialized resources to fight guns and gangs, appointing Argo coach Michael Clemons to lead a fund that invests in challenged neighborhoods and providing $4 million so the Toronto public and Catholic boards can keep open about 150 schools in troubled and poverty-stricken areas this summer with recreational and educational programs.” “http://www.thestar.com/article/224271”. Despite this the impoverished areas of the city remain unsafe because of gun violence; Gun control laws are ineffective in preventing violence.

The overall amount of violence in the media can influence unstable individuals to commit violence. Majority of people can tell the difference between fantasy violence and real life violence. However some people cannot separate the two realities and choose to live their fantasy through violence. Some people speculate that the reasoning behind the Montréal massacre was because of the media. “Other interpretations emphasize Lupine’s abuse as a child or suggest that the massacre was simply the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues. Still other commentators have blamed violence in the media”. http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/topics/398/. This shows that violence was caused by many reasons and that one of them is a result of media violence.

Gun control laws don’t work because of illegally obtained guns. Most gun violence is due to gang violence in which the guns are registered. Violence in the street is not caused by legally purchased guns that cause violence. New police statistics reveal “when Toronto criminals go shipping for guns, their weapon of choice are 9mm, .40 and .45 hand guns they’re compact and easy to smuggle”. “http://www.thestar.com/article/167340”. Gun control laws are only effective for those people who use guns lawfully. Most Canadian gun owners are law-abiding people. “Nearly 2 million Canadians are licensed to own 7 million registered guns. There is 90 per cent compliance with registration.” http://www.thestar.com/article/202174. Gun laws attempt to control registered owners and not affective for the illegal smugglers who provide the guns used in crimes. Even though Canada’s gun control limit and control gun use, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have never met a gun law they would not like to soften. To that end, they introduced Bill C-21 in Parliament last year to kill the long-gun registry by repealing the requirement to register firearms that are non-restricted, such as hunting rifles and shotguns.” http://www.thestar.com/article/202174. Not only are Canada’s gun control laws ineffective in preventing the smuggling of weapons but we have a government that wants the law to be even weaker.

We need to find another method to solve the gun violence. Laws only reduce the use of guns but not all the guns. Illegally obtained guns are the guns used in the violent acts. Poverty is a major reason there is violence. Violence in the media can influence people to commit violence. The only way to stop gun violence is to ban guns in general but in the society we live in that will be impossible.