• Getting Rid of All Guns Is Scary
By Edwin Bello
The question over gun laws has sparked up massively again after the tragedies of the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas and a white supremacist attack on black residents in Buffalo, New York. Many people want a simple answer which is to eliminate guns for people overall, the gun control problem is too complex to just have a simple answer. There should be many restrictions to make sure these guns do not get in the hands of the wrong people. A simple stop on guns from being bought by people won’t solve this issue, there should be more restricted and complex background checks on these people purchasing a gun. There are multiple ways to make these laws more strict and reduce the number of these mass shootings.
One way to do it is by not allowing people with mental illnesses or problems to be able to purchase a gun. People with mental illnesses or problems shouldn’t be allowed to purchase a gun because nobody knows what they’ll truly do with it, whether it’s committing suicide or homicide. People who are going through a tough time can do anything they want without thinking twice – even if it’s harming themselves. Allowing them to own a gun is extremely concerning to people because you never know when they’ll pull that trigger. If they aren’t mentally stable, they should not be allowed to purchase a gun.
Another way to reduce the amount of mass shootings is by limiting the amount of people who can own a gun. A complex and deep background check should be required before allowing the person to purchase a gun. Checking if this person has had mental issues or has been in trouble with the law/police shouldn’t be given the chance to own a gun. This is mainly because if the person is a criminal you are giving that person another chance to break the law with a gun.
Another way might be to limit the amount of people who are able to own a gun, but don’t completely get rid of guns from people all together. They say police are there to protect the people from violence but there have been many cases where police abuse their power and commit acts of police brutality. Not allowing guns to be owned by anybody can make them and their family feel very vulnerable to acts of violence committed by other people.
For example in the article “I’m a black gun owner. I have mixed feelings about gun control,” by Akin Olla, states many valid points. One that stood out was “Accept that some solutions will involve restructuring our society. We have to accept that gun control may mean some people that reasonably fear for their lives will be left at the whim of fascists and police.” This stood out because he directly explains how no matter what gun control laws are out, it will leave people with fear. Limiting guns to people is scary because acts such as burglary or breaking into someone’s house will be more fearful since they won’t have a weapon to keep them safe. This is why guns should not be taken away from the people altogether, but limit these gun owners with restrictions.
Getting rid of guns altogether is scary and it can cause other life-threatening issues to arise. To prevent this from happening there should be very strict restrictions on gun control laws. Limiting the amount of guns being sold can reduce the amount of gun violence actions happening. Extremely strict background checks should be done no matter what and people with mental health issues and problems shouldn’t be able to own a gun. Actions have to be taken immediately because these mass shootings are really getting out of hand and it’s been happening for decades.
• A Call for Better Gun Control
By Bryan Perez
The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and 12% of women). In the United States, the use of owning a weapon especially a firearm is a privilege but that privilege has to be taken away because of all tragic accidents that have occurred recently.
Sadly, many of these firearms end up with the wrong people, these people do horrific crimes and they could all be prevented with gun control, with more control of who ends up with these guns. There have been 27 school shootings this year. There have been 119 school shootings since 2018, when Education Week began tracking such incidents. The highest number of shootings, 34, occurred last year. There were 10 shootings in 2020, and 24 each in 2019 and 2018.
These are not the only crimes that happen in America, but these are crimes that could have been prevented. All with more gun control. Lives of children, and teachers lost, parents expecting to see their kids at the end of the day, devastated families in disbelief because of these horrible crimes. On May 24, 19 children and two adults were killed and 16 injured in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. It was the deadliest school shooting since 2012, when a gunman shot and killed 26 people as young as 6 years old at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
President Biden urged Congress to act and the House is preparing to pass multiple gun control measures. But the Senate is where a compromise must be made. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is reportedly discussing policies like enhanced background checks and a federal red flag law. This is definitely a step in the right direction, many people argue why this is happening now, and why it didn’t happen before.
Many hope with better gun control, crimes involving guns will decrease in the following years.
• The Gun Control Debate in America
By Kaylyn Amigon
Having the right to own a gun in America stems from the Second Amendment that states “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” which Americans nowadays use this amendment as a way to protect their right to be able to have a gun. As times have changed and we see guns being more easily accessible and with different ones to choose from, more and more bad things have started to happen as a result of people owning or being able to get their hands on guns, because of this I believe that the right to own guns and the Second Amendment should be reviewed.
The Second Amendment which states that the people have the right to bear arms is the amendment that is used by the people who still support that right today. With how much guns have developed, how much you can actually modify one, and how many different types there are, there should also be stricter gun laws that develop alongside all these guns that now exist.
The Second Amendment was ratified in 1791 and was proposed by James Madison to allow the creation of civilian forces that can counteract a tyrannical federal government, what this means is that this amendment was made to give the people from back then the right to own a gun, protect themselves and fight back in case the government were ever to attack the citizens themselves, who,if were unarmed and unorganized, would be unable to fight back.
These days however this amendment is being used as the sole excuse as to why people have the right to own guns, which I believe should also mean the amendment be updated to match the type of weapons that now exist. Using that reason as the only argument as to why you should keep your gun is unfair to those who simply want to make countries safer and lower the rates of deaths associated with guns. The Second Amendment’s purpose is very different from how it is being used today.
The main reason people are asking for more gun control is due to the sheer amounts of deaths related to guns. In the article “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S” by John Gramlich, it states “In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S according to the CDC.” A mass shooting supporting the amount of deaths related to guns would be the one that occurred in Buffalo, New York, at a Tops Friendly Markets store, a supermarket in the East Side neighborhood where 10 people were killed at the hands of an eighteen year old with a gun.
The saddest deaths related to guns or gun violence are often children, from school shootings to accidental gun discharges, small children are often innocent victims that a bit more of gun legislation could have helped keep safe.
In the article titled “Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted” by ProCon.org it states, “A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that firearms were the second leading cause of deaths for children, responsible for 15% of child deaths compared to 20% in motor vehicle crashes.”
A big chunk of children deaths related to guns are school shootings, which are carried out by disgusting people who decide to prey on innocent children, as we saw in the recent shooting at Robb Elementary School Uvalde,Texas where a recently turned eighteen year old shot nineteen students and two teachers and wounded seventeen others with the use of a gun he had purchased just days before when he turned eighteen. This shooting was the third-deadliest school shooting in the United States, after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and the deadliest in Texas.
Stronger laws pertaining to gun control, as simple as raising the age limit to be able to legally purchase a gun could have stopped this from happening. And although you could argue this killer would still find a way to obtain a gun, it would be much harder for him to do so and might have deterred him from doing so. When the right to bear arms is more important to certain people than the thousands of lives lost each year, there needs to be some degree of change on these rights whether they agree to it for the overall well being of society.
Those fighting for gun control and stricter laws aren’t trying to take away people’s rights, they are only trying to make places safer. A simple law where the legal age for buying a gun is raised to at least 21 for any type of gun could have prevented multiple mass shootings, including the ones mentioned above, from happening. Stricter, more rigorous background checks or even mental health evaluations could also be a way for gun control to be safer.
According to a Mar. 10, 2016 Lancet study, implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%. An eighteen year old’s brain is still developing and the fact that an eighteen year old can’t drink a beer legally in their own home without going anywhere after, but is able to legally purchase a weapon capable of killing hundreds does not sit right with many people,(though this of course in no way promotes underage drinking either).
Another legislation that can be added to further have more gun control, though considered much more “right violating”, would be to ban assault/automatic rifles. I believe there should be no reason why a regular civilian arguing about not being able to have a self defense weapon, would want to or be able to obtain an assault or automatic rifle, as opposed to a handgun or other small gun which they would be able to discreetly carry and actually use as a gun for self defense.
Having assault/automatic rifles banned would also lessen the chance of these guns being the weapon of choice in shootings, possibly lessening the amount of people who die.
Data reported by Statista.com states “Since 1985 there has been a known total 50 mass shootings involving rifles, mostly semi-automatics. This figure is underreported though, as it excludes the multiple semi-automatic (and fully automatic) rifles used in the 2017 Las Vegas Strip massacre – the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, killing 58 and wounding 546. In fact, semi-automatic rifles were featured in four of the five deadliest mass shootings, being used in the Orlando nightclub massacre, Sandy Hook Elementary massacre and Texas First Baptist Church massacre.”
I believe there should be stronger laws pertaining to gun control, since having simple things such as more rigorous background checks or a higher age limit to purchase a gun could potentially save thousands of lives. These things in my opinion don’t really violate a person’s right to bear arms since it’s just extra or more rigorous safety measures added on to buy one, compared to banning all guns all together.
I also believe that the people arguing against these types of simple extra safety measures being added while buying a gun are selfish. Their rights are not being violated, they just don’t like the idea of being told what to do with their many weapons. In a day and age where you can stroll into a Walmart and purchase a gun I think these extra laws should be necessary. There should be no reason why a person would need a gun like an AR-15 as a self defense weapon when a pistol can do the job.
As a student, hearing about all these mass shootings going on and occurring because of young or mentally unwell people (usually both) so easily obtaining a weapon capable of mass killing scares me and baffles me as to why obtaining these types of weapons is so easy.
No longer being able to go to places like grocery stores, malls, churches, and even school, a place where I should be learning and not having the idea of possibly dying towards the back of my mind, should not be what kids think about. Especially small children who don’t even understand the concept of dying, having to experience or witness it first hand like the students at Robb Elementary or Sandy Hook elementary, is not fair when these tragedies could have been prevented had there been stricter gun control laws.
I and many students agree with the idea that there needs to be more gun control legislation present in order to stop mass tragedies from happening. And as a student and human being I think I also deserve “the right” to live and live without the fear of a gun taking my life or any of my friends or family’s life.
• The State of the Gun Control Union
By Victor Carpio
The state of America is abysmal regarding the level of gun crime. The amount of mass shootings is just unacceptable, and it should be stopped. The immediate action that needs to be taken is to abolish firearms. There are plenty of examples. Look at the destruction at Uvalde that just happened, just disgusting. An 18 year old should not be able to purchase an assault rifle at all. Actions need to be taken NOW and with no repercussions.
First step is to abolish every weapon except pistols/hand arms because the age limit is 21 to buy one so there is no problem with that. But the fact that an 18 year old can purchase an assault rifle but has to wait until 21 to buy a pistol… that is just sad.
There have been 950 school shootings since Sandy Hook and 100 people are killed by guns every single day in the U.S. Those two stats alone speak volumes and show the destruction that guns cause in our country. Simply abolishing them would quickly diminish these numbers, especially when the assault rifles are banned. School shootings should not be happening, one is enough and the fact there are 100’s of school shootings is just shameful. There are steps to take to prevent school shootings, it all begins with school climate. Students should feel safe in school and feel respected by their peers and teachers. Limiting bullying definitely improved the school climate.
Students are top priority, especially when it comes to mental health. Having good/healthy mental health is the key to safety. Reducing day-to-day aggression by creating programs and providing assistance to our students like school-based youth counselors, school counselors, school psychologists are all examples of resources that schools need to provide. That would decrease isolation and make students feel more comfortable and less overwhelmed. The reason kids decide to shoot up schools is because they are bullied so they feel alone and angry. The anger is then taken out on the school. The kid wouldn’t feel angry and alone if he/she was provided the resources to overcome their mental illness.
• A Quick Thought on Gun Control
By Junior Bravo
Gun control laws regulate the possession and purchase of firearms, including the types of guns that may be owned, and may include waiting periods required for the purchase of a gun,and classification of persons who are prohibited from owning firearms. While it is unclear what Congress might agree to do about this problem, researchers do have some ideas about what policies could help prevent mass shootings and other gun violence.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is reportedly discussing policies like enhanced background checks and a federal red flag law. The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is highest total and per capita number in the world. I cannot believe that there are more guns than people in the United States. Other facts about the size of the gun issue in America are that 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and 12% of women).
The pros gun rights people say that the Second Amendment is a right to own any weapon they want, but that is not true. The Second Amendment is not an unlimited right to own guns, and more guns control would reduce gun deaths, and high-capacity magazines should be banned because they too often turn murder into mass murder, and guns are rarely used in self defense.
Those who are opposed to the ownership of guns and want very strict gun control laws or even a repeal of the Second Amendment want, at the very least, to ban assault weapons. However, they do infringe on the Constitutional right to self-defense through the Second Amendment. This would limit people’s rights to own guns for self-defense, hunting, sport shooting and might even lead to a tyrannical government have the power to enforce their will on the people. This would take away the people’s right to personal safety and give too much power to the government.
While some new laws may be necessary to try and prevent senseless murder, more gun control is unnecessary because overall few people are killed by guns.
• Serious Gun Measures
By Sebastian Hernandez
Gun control and gun rights should be taken seriously and there should be more laws about how and when you can purchase a gun or not at all because you never know what can happen. If the congress can’t agree with a statement about gun control then the police should have some more research about what to do, which is why in the article “What Gun Control Measures Would Prevent Mass Shooting?” it says that researchers have some ideas for the police.
NPR reporter Cory Turner writes about what schools safety experts think can be done to prevent mass shootings. A former FBI agent Katherine Schweit describes where the police may have erred in their active shooter response because you may never know what’s going to happen and there has to be a way to stop a shoot out anywhere, not just schools. Because if anyone can get a gun just like that, then what’s the point of having laws if not everyone is going to follow them.
In the article “I’m a Black gun owner. I have mixed feelings about gun control” it talks about the shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde Texas. It also says that gun control laws have historically been used to target Black people, so they are not easily convinced that most current gun control proposals will even solve the problem. If they run background checks on the person trying to purchase a gun and pass it then the gun control bans won’t affect.
If people can buy guns and pass background checks, why are there laws if they’re not going to follow them, like what’s the point? These laws should be taken very seriously because people are dying innocent people and kids. These are reasons why gun control laws are there for a reason and we should follow them for our safety and others’ safety because no one deserves to have their kids dead or anyone else by these guns.
• Is It Guns Or Do People Just Need a Good Whooping?
By Simon Quispe
The right to bear arms, found in the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights created in 1791 states the right to any individual to buy, or carry firearms. “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Shortly after the constitution was officially created, James Madison proposed the second amendment as a way to empower these state militia.
Having said that, after 231 years, there are around 100,000 victims of gun violence each year. Action needs to be taken so Americans don’t feel unprotected going into a public place. America can become a safe place for everyone by keeping guns out of the hands of people tempted to make bad choices.
Tightening gun laws is essential for the US to save lives. There are gun control laws to try and reduce the number of violent shootings that happen on a daily basis. They are trying to put limits on weapons that Americans can own. The government is trying to take our guns away mainly because of people that are criminally insane.
For instance, for a long time, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment applied only to the federal government. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court extended Second Amendment protection to individuals in federal black sheep. Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority decision in that case had weight to the idea that the right of individual private gun ownership was for only self-defense purposes.
This isn’t the only debate, video games also play a big role in this as well. On March 8, 2018, President Trump discussed “violent video-game exposure and the correlation to aggression and desensitization in children,” according to a statement from White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters.
“I’m hearing more and more people say the level of violence in video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” Trump said after the Parkland school shooting, according to a report by the Washington Post.
On the other hand, Mark Appelbaum does not think the same. But blaming violence on video games just doesn’t solve the problem. “The short answer is there is virtually no research” on whether or not video games cause violent acts like school shootings.” An emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California San Diego and the chair of a 2015 American Psychological Association Task Force on Violent Media. “There is no scientific evidence that confirms or disconfirms that speculation.”
In conclusion, this amendment and right should not be revoked but what should be taught is that being a good member of society is the goal, with good parents and neighborhoods, so perhaps a good ass-whooping should do the trick.
• What Gun Control Is Necessary?
By Hendi Solis
Do you think it is ok for an 18 year old to be able to gain an assault rifle legally? Since the beginning of 2022 there have been at least 246 mass shootings in the US. This statistic includes the mass shooting of an Uvalde, Texas elementary school in which 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was able to purchase a rifle and commit a mass shooting.
This number should be deemed unacceptable. There are many ways to combat this number and the people should start taking this into consideration. Gun laws need to be upheld with greater precaution or even limit the power some of these laws grant gun users. Gun control is a set of laws that allow the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms. The right to bear arms is a right but a right that should be very limited such as creating a way to lessen the number of weapons given out. They can also make stricter rules regarding how to get a gun legally. These rules should also be able to take a stricter look on backgrounds as well as other precautions before releasing guns to citizens.
Ways to combat mass shooting numbers or shootings at all is to ban high-number magazines as well as assault rifles in general. A Mother Jones investigation found that high-capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012.” Using that statistic, we can infer that these numbers have only increased with the amount of new technology. In 2020 there were more than 45,000 Americans who died from guns which was a 43% growth since 2010.
In general, a situation in which a gun can potentially become involved can be considered a more dangerous situation. In Australia they had banned all semi-automatic rifles and took back most weapons from the public.
Nicholas Johnson’s research implied that this would not work in the US because of the sheer magnitude of weapons of about 325 million guns and if the plan to ban all guns were to go through there would still be about 200 million guns not returned.
These numbers should ring alarms and imply that there are too many weapons and there should be a greater attempt to stop these weapons from being given out as well as stop such a mass production of the weapons.
Although some people may feel that guns are a necessity, there should be stricter gun laws. If people want weapons they should have to go through a stricter and lengthier process. If there isn’t any way to stop the mass production, the stricter release of weapons to the public should be the solution. They should never allow any assault rifles or bigger magazine weapons out to the public.
• We Need Stricter Gun Laws
By Eric Rios Jr.
This current situation concerning gun control has been preposterous. During the last few years, especially as of recently, with all the shootings that’s been going on. Having gun control laws would not deter crimes; instead, gun ownership would deter crimes.
Anti-gun people state that the assault weapons ban in the nineties would help to deter crime, except that it didn’t then and it wouldn’t now. Assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level and states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murders. New Jersey and New York already have assault weapons banned, and there is not a difference in the amount of murder here, and it is actually worse.
One thing that might be considered is the federal universal background checks that could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%.
We have gun rights in America for our protection, but the US government is prioritizing gun ownership over basic human rights. Roughly half Americans favor stricter gun laws, a large majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners say gun laws should be stricter, though this share has declined slightly since 2019.
Personally, I feel like certain states should have stricter gun laws, this is because certain states might have more gun violence than others and those states should be background checked before purchasing a weapon. This could possibly decrease gun violence going on in those states and create less conflict.
This issue is not going to be solved by making guns illegal, and it will not be solved with many of the other suggestions, but it may have an affect with certain specific law changes that do not hurt the average gun owner, but would restrict those who are buying a weapon to do harm.
• Why Do We Have Gun Rights in America?
By Nitay Rodriguez
According to the Constitution, the supreme law of the United States, it states “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” This amendment was adopted in 1791. It has been over 200 years since, and much has changed since then. The Second Amendment is why we are unable to send our children to school, go to work, go on a night out, etc. The Second Amendment is why hundreds of kids won’t be graduating.
Currently, none of the gun proposals would change anything. Gun control laws won’t stop criminals from obtaining a firearm. It won’t stop people with ill intentions. According to an article “I’m a Black gun owner. I have mixed feelings about gun control,” we have to look at the Virginia Tech shooting, the deadliest school shooting in the history of the US. The shooter went through the entire process like any normal person.
What does this mean? This means that the system is flawed. If from 2019 to 2020 the increase in the rate of firearm related deaths overall (homicide, suicide, accidental, etc) among young people was 29.5% which is double that of the increase in the general populus. If that is not seen as a problem, I don’t know what would.
Guns are rarely used in self-defense, as stated by ProCon.org at 0.79% of victims claiming they protected themselves with threat or use of a gun. Background checks, assault weapon restrictions and/or bans, bans on high capacity magazines are all supported by a majority of individuals including those who own firearms. However, in the current system and including recent proposals for gun control all it would do is make it harder for minority communities to arm themselves in order to protect themselves.
Gun control has a history riddled with racism, and it continues to follow that trend by labeling “poor black communities who are perceived as more dangerous than white gun owners… Whites walking down Main Street with an AK-47 are defenders of American values; a black man doing the same thing is Public Enemy No.1.”
To handle mass shootings honestly we must be willing to have complex conversations about the difficulties of the situation along with realizing that most solutions will require societal transformation. The fact of the matter is that there is a possibility that stricter control will leave people afraid and at the mercy of those with one.
So why do we have gun rights in America? Because we lived in a flawed society. Gun control is definitely a social issue. We are still following what was written down into the Bill of Rights, adopted over 200 years ago. This leads me to believe that instead of somewhat stricter gun control, we restrict them heavily. Looking at our G7 counterparts and their firearm laws, they are heavily restricted with an extensive list of banned weapons. Take notes Uncle Sam.
• Gun Violence Has Been Getting Out of Control
By Anastasia Tangarife
With the amount of mass shootings that have been going on you would think gun violence would start to be controlled. Little kids who haven’t gotten to experience the full extent of life suffer because our government can’t control the people who purchase guns.
Guns are being used for hate crimes and self satisfaction instead of protection and that is the issue we are having in today’s world.
Lots of people disagree with not having their own firearm which is why we’re going back and forth with gun laws. There is the argument of only having it for self protection, and there is the argument of not needing one at all. Gun violence has been affecting communities for years. Nothing has been done about this and it’s only getting worse. If we don’t get guns under control it will continue getting worse and people will keep dying for no reason.
Recently because of gun control not being handled there have already been 12 shootings in the month of June and it will only continue to grow. It’s almost becoming normal to hear about all these shootings. They are happening more and more often. There’s the argument that people need guns for protection but in the end it looks like it’s only backfiring on itself. People are instead using them for their own sick ideas. If guns were used in the correct way they are meant for, we wouldn’t have shootings every other week.
Guns have been getting into the wrong hands and it’s not necessarily the way the laws are set. People can get through gun checks easily then resell them on the streets for more. Even if guns were to be banned, they would be sold illegally anyways.
I personally do not believe the background checks performed are good enough to stop the people who don’t have good intentions. If the background checks were reliable, I feel guns wouldn’t be getting into the wrong hands as often as they do.
People change over time. Just because when they got their check they were good doesn’t mean in 2-5 years they wont have different intentions. I feel like if these background checks obviously aren’t working why do they continue with the same system? Things need to start changing before everyone starts killing each other.
In summary, gun laws need to change. If things don’t start changing now things will only get worse. I’m not saying guns have to be taken away completely but they should have higher security behind them. There needs to be a way of knowing who exactly possesses them and who is trying to resell them illegally.
People will continue to die if negative people keep getting them. Not everyone has good intentions when purchasing a gun and there needs to be a way of pointing these people out and stopping them before it’s too late. Guns can be used for protection, but they can also be used for mass murder and we can’t have both.
• There Are a Lot of Gun Owners Out There
By Nathaly Vargas
Gun owners make up about at least 50% of Americans, from 18 and older. The debate about gun control and gun rights in America is wrong and they are getting out of control. If we have guns it is to protect yourself not to run around shooting people in the streets, or especially at schools.
In America you can’t buy an alcoholic drink until 21, but you can buy a dangerous weapon at 18, which makes no sense. The state also doesn’t do anything about it, people don’t feel safe even at their own home because of someone having a dangerous weapon and threatening them. People don’t think twice when buying something dangerous, they think that they look cool when they are ruining innocent people’s lives.
The United States has about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest total number in the world (35% of men and 12% of women in America own a gun). Guns were intended for militaries, not people that don’t know how to use them. Guns are used anywhere and anytime, even though we don’t see them, like someone coming into a store to steal money or rob people. You have the right to own a gun at 18 but don’t have the right to drink.
Gun control laws target mostly black people, for example, the shooting from a month ago at Buffalo supermarket. Ten black people were killed and the shooter was white, what they did was grab him and put him in jail. What about the one that happened four years ago at Stoneman Douglas High School, he was also white, and a police officer also grabbed him and put him in jail. But if it was a black guy, they would kill him right there without any hesitation.
Gun control should be a good start to start saving lives for our women, little children and anyone living in America.
• My Two Cents on Gun Control
By Eddy Fortuna
My opinion about gun rights is just a big ball of mixed emotions. Yes, some people in the world have guns to defend themselves in case of emergency but some do it to hurt others. You never know a person’s intentions.
I personally don’t think it is safe, the past few incidents that have taken place have been shootings. It isn’t fair to all the innocent individuals and families having to go through the pain of losing a loved one.
On the other hand, I can understand why people have guns because they do it for their own safety. There’s a lot of pros and cons when it comes down to the gun control argument. The main pro that stood out to me was “Legally owned guns are frequently stolen and used by criminals.”
It’s another reason why gun control should be taken more seriously. It is so easy for a gun to be carried away and sold at a relatively high cost.
We have gun rights in America because the people have the right to keep and bear arms. Personally, it should be controlled more for everyone’s safety. Not everyone in this world wants to think of the positive and do it for defense, some individuals in this world want to be malicious and cruel.
• Too Many School Shootings
By Hendi Solis
Did you know there have been up to 27 school shootings in the US since the beginning of 2022? The mass shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas is one of the 27. The suspect was 18 year old Salvador Ramos. On May 24 2022, Ramos killed 19 children and 2 adults during this mass shooting.
The Texas department of public safety said that the shooter was wearing body armor and carried a rifle. The officers on duty had received active shooter training just two month prior. It took more than an hour for police to enter the building and stop the gunman.
From this experience schools all over the US seemed to add more security precautions as well as add more safety procedures. In Passaic High School while speaking to one of the SROs we learned that “security measures are not to be taken lightly as the safety of their students is most important.”
There was also an increase in SROs as well as police officers. Procedures such as occasional bag checks were also put in place. Schools all over the US are doing their best to create the safest learning environment for their students.
This is also causing people to question whether or not the right to bear arms is a positive. Many people are protesting that weapons of that size shouldn’t have gotten in the hands of the culprit, and there should have been plenty of ways to prevent this.
