A man opened fire at the Umpqua College in Roseburg City, Eugene, Oregon, killing ten people, including the gunman and injuring 7 more on Oct. 2, 2015. This has shaken the state of Oregon as this event is highly unlikely and out of character for the state, and when the news reached Washington, sympathies and prayers has flown for the victims.
This was also when U.S. President Barrack Obama, in his press release, decided to push for stricter gun implementation nationwide. "We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths," he said. "Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this,"
In 2013 a study has been published by the Journal of the American Medical Association observing over a four year period and 120,000 deaths compared that these gun related fatalities were lesser in those states that implement gun laws. This comparison was tracked by Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "Higher number of firearm laws in a state is associated with a lower rate of firearm fatalities in the state, overall and for suicides and homicides individually."
This study has been the foundation for Obama's statement, giving accuracy to a problem that has been taking lives in the United States, through accident, homicide and suicide. Those laws that require licensing or permit to own or purchase a gun, universal background checks are one of the few laws that are being looked over persistently.
The U.S. has seen many shootings throughout the years. The negligence and mishandling, and the possession of firearms to people who are not capable has been underrated
However National Rifle Association spokeswoman Catherine Morthensen stated that these studies linking state's gun laws and related deaths have been insufficient. She claimed that the 2013 study was being "subjective and not verified by an independent source."
Failing to delve into more in the statistics about how much money is being invested in suicide prevention and other factors that affect the fatality rates. Eric Fleegler, the lead author of the study justified that all the evidence has been sufficient as both fatalities from homicide and suicide is generally reduced in states that implements gun laws. "In states where there has been more legislation related to firearms purchasing and the way guns are stored and carried, there are lower rates of fatalities," he concluded.
