USA

From its inception, the USA has been a country surrounded by immense discourse about some of its controversial decisions and events. At the very start of its creation European sailors voyaged across the Atlantic hoping to discover new lands. First, it was the Dutch who settled in modern-day New York renaming it 'New Amsterdam' then the more infamous settlers came the British. Sir Walter Raleigh and others set up colonies in Virginia, Massachusetts, and Roanoke. At first, they were civil with the natives but over time they became increasingly hostile to the Natives, tensions increased and physical altercations took place.

First, they turned on them then the tumultuous cycle repeated with the British. This led to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Then following the revolution, the First and Second Amendments and the Bill of Rights followed shortly. These laws granted Americans many rights the most significant being the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of information, and freedom of law.

The Second Amendment allowing Americans to bear guns is particularly a common topic of discourse. It was created for citizens to 'protect themselves' against the native Americans when in reality they were massacring the natives and created the country's first genocide against the natives. It is estimated that approximately 56 million Native Americans died as a result of colonization over 100 years in the Americas.

Using this historical context provides insight into why some Americans choose to bear arms and why they choose to use them against others given the violent history. America was the first country in the world to be a republic, having no monarch but instead a leader elected by inhabitants of the land—George Washington. This was the innovative blueprint that inspired many republics to come, America was the first of its kind a pioneer and resulted in many countries following suit, wanting to seize power and overthrow their monarchies shown by the French Revolution and Russian Revolution.

The State's role in becoming a pioneer in the sectors of law and sovereignty led to the state being disputably the world's most influential leader to date. Dominating every inch of the globe, displayed by having the highest GDP in the world, being the first to create an Atomic Bomb, their triumph in the space race, and emerging from the Cold War as the ultimate superpower, are all some of the USA's greatest victories.

So far in 2024, there have been more than 385 mass shootings where 4 or more people had been killed. In 2021, 48,830 people died due to gun-related injuries and more than 20,000 of those deaths were homicides. A study that was published in February by the Annals of Internal Medicine discovered that 7.5 million adults in the USA became new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. As a result, this increase in possessing guns led to 11 million individuals to firearms in their own homes with half of those exposed being children.

This tempestuous history helps to explain views on guns and violence in contemporary American society. The stained legacy of violence deeply rooted in the country's founding, continues to shape the beliefs of Americans today.