Hand Guns Kill People
Chibueze Enyinna
Dr. Shazia Ali
ENGL 1302
17 July 2016
Handguns Kill People
The ad on gun violence send a message about hand guns. In the ad it had an American theme gun and it said, “Stop handguns before they stop you” (Boyko). This ad brings up one of the biggest problem in today’s society. Over the year’s gun violence has increased significantly in various parts of the world. There is a big debate on whether the gun laws are strict enough. It is sad to hear about some sort of gun violence or death of a person each day on the news or social media. Each day more and more lives are affected and thought of not seeing tomorrow arises. The question comes up of how the United States can stop the casualties of thousands. The answer is to get rid of handguns. The best way to put a stop to all of these deaths is showing awareness. The author of the poster tries to portray a huge public service announcement and bring awareness to how handguns are killing and destroying a country.
The ad was made by the Write Handgun Control Inc. based in Washington, D.C. Understanding the meaning of the ad, gives the viewer a bigger picture of the situation. On the poster it says, “Last year, handguns killed 48 people in Japan; 8 in Great Britain; 34 in Switzerland; 52 in Canada; 58 in Israel; 21 in Sweden; 42 in West Germany; and 10,728 in the United States. God Bless America. Stop handguns before they stop you” (Boyko)! When reading the ad, one can see that the United States has had the most deaths compared to the other countries. The author is trying to show that the gun problem is not in the world, it is in the United States. America is far from the most peaceful country in the world. A lot of bad stuff happened in the 1980s, the gun violence in the United States was getting out of control. So to try to help the situation the poster was made to show awareness. The ad ran shortly after John Lennon was murdered in 1981. John Lennon was “shot by Mark Chapman in the back with four hollow point bullet from a .38 special handgun” ("Handgun Violence Ad Still Relevant Today"). This is a great example of the terrible things that handguns do. The percentages of the deaths by country are still the same in today’s society. One key thing to understand not pertaining to the poster is that most of the deaths are black people and some related to gang violence. Study shows that “black men are 10 times more likely than white men to be murdered with guns” ("Gun Violence by the Numbers"). The United States “murder rate is 25 times the average of other countries that are developed” ("Gun Violence by the Numbers"). That is just an unhealthy rate that has to change. The ad was made to save lives and put an end to handguns. The ad is not an anti-gun, it’s an anti-handgun because handguns were made to kill people. The poster looks like and is a public service announcement.
A closer look at the poster gives the overall message. The handgun in the picture looks to be a revolver. Revolver handgun is a very common gun that one sees on Television, especially old western shows. By using this gun, it draws the viewer attention if they were to walk by it. The handgun in the picture also has the theme of the American flag. The poster also portrays the handguns as a toy because looks like something a kid would play with. The author is trying to say that handguns are in the hands of the wrong people. The background of the poster is a dark grayish white that makes the poster look mysterious. The only color in the poster is the handgun, making it the highlight. The gun stands out and is very appealing to the viewer. The handguns are now becoming Americanized because the gun in the ad is painted the American flag. Although all guns are dangerous, handguns are specifically made to kill people. Guns are an essential part of life, where they are used for hunting to get food. If there is anything that the poster does is show awareness. Comparing the United States with the other country shocks the viewer. The phrase, “10,728 IN THE UNITED STATES,” stands out because it is longer that the rest of the sayings (Boyko). “10,728” is not just a number, it is 10,278 families that were affected by the dumb choices that others made. The number of deaths in the other country come nowhere close to the United States. On the poster it says God Bless America,” this shows that the author is patriotic and patriotic viewer are more prone to like the picture. At the bottom of the poster says, “Stop handguns before they stop you.” This means in order to fix gun violence; it must start with the people. Handguns do not kill people, people kill people. The phrase is saying that if you don’t stop handguns that they will kill you. All of this can be stopped if one makes the first move. It’s saying that the society cannot be controlled by handguns.