American ideals and questioning American ideals

The Apollo 11 mission was the first time that man stepped on the Moon. This Image was taken by Neil Armstrong and shows Buzz Aldrin posing on the moons surface. This event was huge for America as it signified that they had won the space race. Proving that they had the ability to land humans on the moon cemented their place as the superpower of the 20th century. This was a global scientific victory and the fact that it was done by the Americans helps separate them from the rest of the world as front runner in science and technology. The landing was watched globally and was so unbelievable that even today there are conspiracy theories that it was staged. 

This was one of the defining moments of the 20th century and is still significant to this day, so much so that almost everyone knows the phrase 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'

This second image was taken on December the 14th 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. It shows a line of children being escorted to safety after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting after a gunman entered the school and killed 20 children and 6 members of staff.

Although freedom is an idea central to the American way of thinking, this image challenges the idea that every American should have the right to bear arms, as given in the second amendment. The issue of gun control is a huge problem today, with mass shootings still going on and nothing really being done about it.

In 2013, the year after the Sandy Hook massacre, nearly 11 million guns were manufactured in the US, whereas in 2009 the figure was half of that at 5,555,818. These statistics show that, even with school shootings becoming a regular thing in the country, Americans are not ready to give up their guns. 60% of the murders in the Us in 2012 were committed using a firearm.

If America truly was the great place which many people see it as, then why do they let events like the Sandy Hook massacre and countless others happen on a regular basis without enforcing stricter gun control laws?