Ghana could teach U.S.A about gun control

During my senior year of high school, a freshman brought a handgun to school. Thankfully, someone informed our principal of the gun, and proper precautions were taken. The student was expelled because it is illegal to bring any weapons onto a school campus in the United States. This is just one example where a terrible tragedy was avoided; unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Since 2006, there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) data. This number includes both private and public mass shootings from domestic violence situations to school shootings to workplace disturbances. Some states including Florida and North Carolina, do not report their shootings to the FBI, so this number is much higher. Mass shootings are defined as a shooting that results in four or more deaths. The sheer amount of mass shootings and their victims have resulted in the people of the United States being embroiled in an intense debate over gun right laws, gun violence, mental illness regulation, etc.

Many gun supporters in the US say that those who think regulations should be put in place are violating rights guaranteed in the U.S. constitution while gun control supporters argue that placing regulations on the buying and selling of guns does not violate the rights of the citizens, but will better protect them. After the December 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 young children and six adults were killed, lawmakers started to push for legislation for stricter gun laws. This push was led by President Barack Obama and U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a survivor of a 2011 mass shooting that claimed the lives of six innocent people. These actions have been largely unsuccessful because of the partisan bullheadedness in the senate.

According to the National Commission on Small Arms (NCSA), Ghana has an estimated 500,000 total number of guns held by civilians while according to Gun Control Legislation; the United States has an estimated 270 million to 310 million civilian guns (and most likely closer to the higher number). These numbers include both legal and illegal firearms. In 2011, a total number of 32,163 people died in the United States from gun-related deaths and though a total number is not available for Ghana in 2009 approximately 1.8 people died for every 100,000 people. Ironically, many Westerners, including those in the United States, often have a violent and unstable vision of Africa such as the Boko Haram in Nigeria, but nations like Ghana actually have fewer instances of gun violence and a lower number of guns than the United States itself.

Why does this incorrect assertion exist in the United States? In large part, the media is a main proponent of this problem. The U.S. media is very selective about what type of stories it chooses to publish to the masses. It is very rare to see a positive story from Africa because the majority of the stories on the U.S. news are about war, famine, rape, religion, etc. The United States media's focus on negative stories from Africa, which gives Americans a largely inaccurate understanding of Africa. Many Americans would be surprised to know that Ghana has stricter gun laws than the United States and is, statistically speaking, much safer as far as guns are concerned.

As a developed nation, the United States seems to pride itself on its superiority over the rest of the world, but truthfully the U.S. could learn many things from developing countries, like Ghana and its stance on gun control.