POST 9 : THE US GUN CULTURE

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated American nonprofit organizations that advocate for gun control and against gun violence. Together, they are commonly referred to as the Brady Campaign. They are named after James "Jim" Brady, who was permanently disabled as a result of the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt of 1981, and Sarah Brady, who was a leader within the organization from 1989 until 2012.


This document is a poster made by the Brady Campain in 2010. It tackles the issue of the bearing of arms in the USA. What catches the attention is a handgun wearing the colors of the country's flag because it is the central element of the poster . Besides, above it we can notice inscriptions quite shoking : They mention the exact number of gun murders in one year, in different parts of the world and in increasing order. With no surprise the USA has the highest level of gun murdered above Finland, Australia, England and Wales, Spain, Germany and Canada. Of course these countries prohibited the bearing of arms that could explain why their rate of gun murders is lower. Besides, there is a tremendous difference between the number of murder in Canada (200) and in the USA ( 9,484). Below these information, we can recognize the US slogan "God bless America" that shows all the hypocritical side of the country. Because of a big part of the population is christian they are supposed not use violence yet with this slogan written in bold we realize that it's the exact opposite.

In doing this poster the Brady Campain aims to make guns lobby feel guilty for all these horrible crimes. Furthermore, it makes american people aware of the legalization of carrying weapons is not something normal because it caused much more murders than in other countries. 

I personnally think that to me it's obvious that carrying arms legally increases the number of crimes in a country. I'm definitely convinced that the USA should prohibit this right. Yet, the power of the gun lobbies is very strong and this issue is the same for many years. All in all, this document depicts very well this issue. 

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic (composite index) of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. A country scores higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, and the GDP per capita is higher. The HDI was developed by Pakistani economist, Mahbub ul Haq, for the UNDP.^[1][2]

These two graphs are made by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and based on datas from 2004 to 2010. This document tackles also the bearing of arms in the USA but in a different way. On one hand, the first graph presents  the top 10 countries more exposed by gun murders by rate per 100.000 people. The USA are 26th country behind Honduras, El Salavador, Jamaica, Guatemala etc... On the other hand the folowing chart illustrates the same issue but only counting gun murders in developped countries (listed in Human Development Index Order). Then, we can notice that even if the USA are the 26th country  touched by gun murders in the world, they are widely more impacted by guns crime than the other developped countries. 

This document brings us another look to the bearing of arms in the USA. It makes us aware that the USA are not the only ones that use too much the power of guns  in the world. Yet, it is true that compared to others developped countries the USA are late to solve the issue of gun murders. Actually it seems that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime suggest that the USA is included in the less 
developped countries.

Dave GRANDLUND, on www.davegranlund.com, 

Second Amendment and NRA (2013)

Steve SACK, on www.startribune.com,

Gun Lobby and Congress (2010)

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights

The Founding Fathers of the United States were those of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the Kingdom of Great Britain and contributed to the establishment of the USA.


The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights



Theses two cartoons criticize the power of gun lobby in the United States of America. They both make a mockery of this kind of association.

In Gun Lobby and Congress there is a satire of the typical US politician who looks happy to receive some money for spilling blood in his own country. Indeed, there is blood flowing from the white house until the feet of the politician embodying the congress. The other man seems false and corrupted with a forced smile and what is saying emphasize this idea  : " Now, where were we, before we were so rudely interrupted...". It shows how gun lobbies achieve to corrupt US governement. It also depicts the passive figure of US politicians.


In Second Amendment and NRA there is a comparison between two visions of the Second Amendement : one by thee founding fathers and the other by the NRA. On one hand, a grey statue represents a founding father with a rifle. He looks proud with a regal apparence. On the other hand there is a man armed to the teeth on a kind of pedestal composed by ammos. The cartoonist raises the awarness that the NRA has an abusive vision of the second amendement. The only thing that this gun lobby can create are just dangerous men.