By Samantha Perkins
Profile
Mason HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Feature Columnist
Shootings have occurred in schools, churches, movie theaters, doctors’ offices and many other common places, making some Americans paranoid to do day-to-day activities. In my opinion, gun control has been an ignored and neglected issue in the U.S. over the last few years.
Mentally unfit people get their hands on guns and kill others due to their mental instability. America needs to do something to prevent this. Buying a gun is easier than it may seem. They are available online, at department stores, sporting goods shops, and even from private sellers.
Private gun sales are among the most dangerous ways to obtain guns currently because there are no background checks involved.
According to National Review Online, 40% of guns are bought privately, which means that 6.6
million guns are sold without background checks.
To put this in perspective, that is higher than the number of seats in all NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL arenas in the entire United States put together. So naturally, that is where the majority of criminals obtain weapons. The scary part is that this is completely legal in 36 states.
The philosophy that freely owning guns will cause a safer country because of self-defense is, in my opinion, completely inaccurate. Not only is gun onwership at an all time high, it has lead to accidental deaths and injuries.
When 28,736 people die each year in the United States because of guns, most would assume that our country would make it more of a priority to protect us from gun violence and ignorance surrounding gun safety.
In order to buy a gun and ensure that it is going into responsible hands, precautions need to be taken. Extensive background checks, safety classes, and mental stability tests should be required before purchasing a gun.
We can learn from other countries who have stricter laws and a lower gun violence crime rate.
For example, in Finland, people purchasing guns have to prove that they are active members of regulated shooting clubs. After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Australia implemented stricter laws and has not had a mass shooting since. Now they have one shooting for every 100,000 occurring in the United States.
Stricter gun control in other countries has proven to be successful, so I don’t see why some Americans see a problem with it in the United States. Monitoring who can own a gun does not intrude on the 2nd Amendment. Everyone who is mentally stable enough and without a violent criminal record should be able to own a gun.
Without changes like this, mentally unstable people somehow get their hands on guns, and the events that take place afterward could end tragically.
One of the most tragic is the Sandy Hook shooting, where Adam Lanza, a mentally suffering 20-year-old, shot and killed 26 children at an elementary school.
Lanza had several mental ailments such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, severe anxiety, and anorexia, all of which were left completely untreated.
His doctor, Dr. Ford, stated, “[Lanza] was so deeply troubled [that] he was disconnected, not just from other people, but from his own body.”
So we ask ourselves, how could we allow such a deeply ill man to get his hands on a gun? It was no secret that this man needed help. Obviously, mental disorders give no excuse for killing a group of children, but if the gun had not been in his possession, the mass murder would not have occurred.
I cannot help but believe that if the background checking process became a more extensive one, we could prevent tragedies like this in the future.
American people should not live in fear of going to school, or the movies, or to church. These should be pleasant experiences.
If guns were harder to obtain, America would become a more peaceful and safe place for all.
Gun control is a controversial topic with many different viewpoints. However, in my opinion, our country needs to realize that there is a problem regarding guns getting into the wrong hands.
Whether it be an executive order or a ballet vote, America needs change, and in order to do so, we need stricter gun control laws.