Bullet Holes and Gun Crime

Back when i moved into the house i grew up in (a long time ago), i remember one of the first things i noticed was a bullet hole in one of the sheds round the side of the house. Still to this day i have no idea where it came from. The area i grew up in is a far cry from downtown LA so the likely hood that it was an actual gun that did this is tiny. Most likely it was an air rifle or something. But as i kid i didn't know the difference, a gun was a gun in my head. So i'd make up fantasy stories of armed robbers having a shoot out in my back garden over stolen jewels. 

Anyway on a more serious note, i'm glad i grew up in a town, actually, a country with relatively low gun crime. I understand the need for guns when it comes to security as long as they understand properly how to use them and WHEN to use them. That's where i think the US has gone wrong. It's far too easy for anyone to get a gun and that leads to too many people thinking they know how and when to use them when they clearly don't. Going to a certified gun range to shoot is absolutely fine, don't get me wrong! (Sounds amazing!) It would help with gun knowledge too, which i honestly think is lacking in the US. From people picking one up for the first time to the police, the knowledge of when to use a gun is just not there.

In recent times US has been criticised for a rise in fatal police shootings. A statistic came out recently about there being more fatal police shootings in the first 24 days of 2015 in America (59), than in the last 24 years in England and Wales (55). (For more stats visit The Guardian's article on police shootings in 2015). The US police can definitely learn a thing or two from UK police as in a recent online video became viral of police subduing and arresting a man wielding a knife without resorting to shooting him. Many people have openly said that if that happened in the US he would have been shot. I find it so sad and frightening knowing how so many people can just go out and get a gun in the US. Personally i feel gun laws need to be improved and become stricter. The reason people think they need guns is to protect themselves from gun crime... This just leads to a lot of paranoid and angry people carrying guns. 

Sorry for the more serious post today! Just wanted to share my thoughts on gun crime and gun laws. As always check out my Instagram for new work at peterboothphotography! Hope everyone reading this has a great 2016!