英美文化的一篇论文

My View on the US Gun Culture

   At the local time 7:15 in the morning, April 16th,2007, Korea student Cho Seung-Hui  opened fire in the campus of Virginia Tech University  ,which killed 33 students including himself ,and wounded another 17.  Police said it was the deadliest shooting rampage in US history .
It is not the only accident.From Sep.27 to Oct.9th,four shooting rampages happened in American campuses ,killing six students and one headmaster.As statistics shows ,an average of 30,000 people die from shooting every year,and 12 kids die under the gun every day .Apparently,the abuse of the guns has been a serious problem in the US since a long time ago,so why doesn't the authority take tough measures onor just ban owning guns privately? Obviously,this is easy said than done,as behind these  shooting rampages there is an unmovable gun culture,which was formed and develepped in the particular historical circmstances,and enjoyed long time developping in the modern times.

The History of Gun Culture

An American scholar says,"Every American citizen is born with a rifle."This is in some degree correct,as the American gun culture do have a long history.

As early as the 1600s,when the first Europeans came to the continent of the North America,what they had to face were the crue beatles,the frequent conflits with the local Indians,as the government at that time did not had the power to provide necessary defense,the people could  only rely on  themselves,thus,undoubtfully,gun played an significant rule in self-defense.In many states,suchu as Virginia,Massachusetts,the local governments encouraged people to own and carry guns ,and even to form army to protect themselves as well as the public.So no wonder

When it came to the time of the Independent War,the substancial role the armed civilians played enhanced the importance of owning guns privately.Because it was the people with private guns who  first opened fire to the Lexington ,which led to the beginning of the war.In the views of many Americans,the victory of the Indenpendent War was largely determined by the fact that most Americans own and carry guns with them.

Time to the development the westen lands,again,the guns palyed its unrelacable role.During the time of the Civil War,in order to the victory of the North,the Lincon government strongly encourage the pulbic to own guns ,and meanwhile suport massive production of all kinds of guns.All these measures helped to establish the inportant position in people's mind.Consquently,the Americans began to take the right of owning guns privately for granted.

Therefore,during the long process of hoistory,the gun culture has been fully formed and developped in the US.As a result,the right of owning guns has been considered as a right that can not been derived.

Gun Culture in the Morden US

As it has been said above,gun culture was formed and developped by history,the right of owning guns has been considered as a right that can not been derived.So after the development of centuries, the gun culture enjoyed long time thrival in the modern US society.
Although in most countries,guns are considered as dangerous ,yet in the US,they are simple of order and stability.What's more,owning and using guns has become an important part of American life style and in some way,a significant part in the US politics.
To begin with,let's take a look at the modern life in the US:An official survey shows that in the present time,Americans own a total of 200,000,000-250,000,000,that is to say,nearly every American citizen has a private gun.What is more,in some sourthern cities,such as the Texas,there are 68,000,000 guns all together,an average of 4 guns for each person.
And then,the politics:the NRA(National Rifle Association),founded in 1871,is by far the largest association for gun holders in the US,with more than 350,000members,among which there are President Eisenhower, Reagan,Kennedy,Nixon,and Bush.The significant influence it brings to the US political stage is far from being neglected.

Thus,we can easily draw a conclusion that the gun culture has gained further development in the modern US society.

                         The Effects of Gun Culture
There is no denying that guns has great contributions in the US history,especially during the war time,guns are essencial tools for self-defense and for the securty of the society as well.However,in the morden US ,the abuse of the guns has been a serious problem in the US for quite a long time,and the negative effects guns have brought are far more than the positive ones.As a matter of fact,the guns,once considered as the simple of order and stability,have now disturbed order and stabilityof the society.
Despite of all these negative effects,Americans still hold a firm belief that the right owning guns privately is a right equals to the right of their freedom,which is definitely cannot been derived.Among the 50 states of th US,44 of them have made owning guns privately  legal.only when the rate of crime or shooting rampage rises do they react strongly,and demand the governments take a tough position.But after these have all passed and been fogotten,they ,again,pay much less attention on this issue.

Having all these discussed,I would like to sum up this essay with this conclusion:American gun culture is formed by history,developped in the long process of history,and step by step,becomes a significant part in both American society and American life style.In certain particular historical period,it played unreplacable roles to retain peace and security,yet as time goes by,it has lost its historical roles and turned to the opposit side.However,no matter how its roles change,there is great difficulty to get rid of it or even change it,because it has already been a culture of the US,and has great influences in life style ,politics,as well as many invisible aspects of the US society.