In the heat of constant mass shooting such as the recent San Bernadino, is gun control necessary?

For:

The U.S. is crippled from approximately 30,000 deaths a year as a product of gun violence; a third of these victims fall below 20 years of age. We forfeit our youth to the pride invested in the power of firearms, and organizations such the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has far too great of an influence. The U.S. has the highest number of shootings per year in the world. Just within the city of Chicago, 2,787 deaths have been brought to light as the result of a shooting. On Dec. 8, there were 3 deaths in Chicago, 1 in Holland, Michigan, 3 in Las Vegas, Nevada, 1 in San Antonio, Texas, 1 in Kingston, Arkansas, 1 in Akron, Ohio, 1 in Macon Georgia, and many more spread across the planet. We are losing precious, significant, and important lives for what purpose? Why do we make it so simple and accessible for unstable and highly dangerous persons to obtain guns that not only place holes in the bodies of the victims but hollow the fabric of our nation?

The Second Amendment states, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Some may argue that the Second Amendment was an ideal that America was founded upon so it cannot be touched and or altered; however, by this same idea, slavery too would be incorporated into society, as it is foundational in the narrative of our nation. America should seek to improve and shape itself with the changing of times to truly be progressive. The staggering number of deaths by way of firearms ought to alarm and wake up each and every American citizen; we are in dire need of legislation to reform our out-of-date gun laws.

Following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which resulted in the loss of 35 innocent lives, Australia placed a ban on all handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Australia has since then been absolutely free from violence of such magnitude. Anybody with an atom’s worth of intellect can see that by reforming firearm legislation, Australia has only benefited as a nation. America ought to model itself after the standard Australia has set in regards to gun control. More intelligent restrictions would prevent potential weapons of mass destruction from reaching the masses, and more importantly, it would prevent them from falling into the hands of the unstable and persons of evil intent. In places where guns are being controlled, lives are flourishing.

Although the complete removal of guns in America may be unrealistic due to the powers at play within highly influential circles, placing key restrictions is vital for the ultimate livelihood of American citizens. Extending background checks and requiring tests of mental stability on those who seek to bear arms will ensure the safety of our people. These requirements will prolong the process of receiving a gun, but they will also reduce the opportunity for mass murder. Equipping yourself and your family with tools such as Smith & Wesson M&P assault rifles, such that were used in the most recent act of horror in San Bernardino, is grossly absurd. These sorts of weapons are reflective of a battlefield and are nowhere near necessary for day to day protection. As individual citizens of these great states, we have no greater responsibility than the advocation for protection of the American people.

-Maissoun Hussein, Guest Writer

Against:

After various shooting in the past few years, the public has been advocating for stricter gun control in the U.S. However, clearly gun control, as strict as people want it to be, has made no progress in eradicating mass shootings; in fact, shooting rates have skyrocketed this year, despite ever-evolving gun control. The bottom line is that the policies gun control establishes are easily manipulated and permissible by anyone, including those with a criminal background. Even though policies in the U.S. are comparably weaker than that of other countries, gun laws are all founded on the same principle of making a nation safer by limiting its civilian population’s access to guns. However, laws against murder and violence do not always stop wrong-doers from undertaking in these criminal activities.

Just as laws against theft do not apply to a person who intends to steal something, gun control is merely a law disregarded by terrorists. The only thing that the criminally-minded care about is not getting caught. Some are reformed in prison, but in large, those who want to break a law are not going to feel remorse when they are caught. This is why gun control is not the answer; some people will break the law, regardless of how strict it is. Creating stronger gun control laws will not attack the problem at its source, as the main issue lies with the people behind the gun, not the gun itself.

From this perspective, it is difficult to fathom the logic of enacting newer, stricter gun laws on an already lawful society. Most of us obey such laws. The sale of guns is forbidden, or intensely limited, within some cities. In 2012, Chicago, one of the largest cities in the U.S., had a murder count of 574. The FBI has officially named Chicago the nation’s murder capital. Flash forward to three years later, in 2015 there have been 472 murders. Even though the ordinance to restrict the sale of guns in Chicago was passed in 2013, there really has not been a significant decrease in murder counts over the past three years. This shows that guns and gun control laws are not the problem. As much as they are restricted, limited, or even eradicated, people with the will to disrupt peace and kill the innocent manage to inevitably find a way. In conclusion, controlling guns is useless when the gun owner is not controlled.

Gun control is clearly not working in its current state. More intense restrictions would not leave our country significantly more secure, but instead only worsen the situation and instigate even more massacres. If the gun control policies in the US and the world in general do not change from a “guns are the issue” mindset and realize people are the real issue, our future will stained with blood. It is time to wake up and realize that the reason there are so many mass shootings is because of the people who disregard gun control laws we have already have, not because of inherent faults with the laws themselves.

-Will DePrez, Reporter