Guns in the United States
Many people believe that there are many problems with guns in America, but honestly, I believe that it is the people that are America’s problem. No matter what you do, there is still going to be some form of violence, even if you take guns away. For instance, if you take away guns, people can still make bombs, or use knifes, and they are also even capable of killing someone with a vehicle. As much as we want to blame violence in America on guns, we can’t, we can only blame the violence on the people. Therefore, guns are not the problem with America, because guns cannot control themselves, someone has to be controlling them.
It is definitely very clear that republicans are for the second amendment, and democrats are for more gun control laws. At the democratic convention this year, the democrats said, “With 33,000 Americans dying every year, Democrats believe that we must finally take sensible action to address gun violence. While responsible gun ownership is part of the fabric of many communities, too many families in America have suffered from gun violence. We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe. To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM’s)—off our streets. We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues. There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.” I personally believe that we need to leave the second amendment as it is, and focus more on the people who are causing all of the issues with violence in today’s society, because they are truly our major problem.
Mass shootings have been going on since before I was even born, all across the United States, and they have definitely been very tragic. Back in 1991 there was a mass shooting in Killeen, Texas that killed twenty-two people and injured about twenty others. This shooting was led by George Hennard at little restaurant in Killeen, and honestly nobody really knew what the shooters motive was. A lady, Mary Mead, from the shooters town, told police, “[…] a few months ago, he walked in and said [that] he wanted me to tell everyone that, if they don’t stop messing around with his house, something bad is going to happen. I was so scared I didn’t know what to tell him.” More community members also told police, “A neighbor near the Hennard home, a large antebellum-style mansion, said he had frightened her and her daughters for the past five months with bizarre behavior that included a rambling letter, phone calls and running in front of their cars. “We just lived in fear of the man,” said Jane Bugg, 46, a medical secretary.” Facts show that the gun was a glock, a nine millimeter semiautomatic pistol, but since the shooter died, nobody will know the reasoning behind using the glock and killing and injuring all of those people in Killeen, Texas back in 1991. Another shooting that many, many people probably know of or remember would be the Columbine shooting in Colorado back in 1999. “No American high school has seen so much violent death at the hands of its own children–and late into the night, the day’s reckoning was not yet done,” that is what people had said about the mass shooting of twenty-three people that happened in less than five hours in a town southwest of Denver, Colorado. The Los Angeles Times said, “”It appears to be a suicide mission,” said a haggard John Stone, the Jefferson County sheriff.” One witness also told LA Times, “I begged him not to shoot me and he just put the gun in my face and he started waving it and said it was all because someone was mean to him last year,” but other than that, they do not really know much about why the shooters went into that school with guns that day. Facts show that the shooters were armed with several guns and bombs, and some witnesses claim that they also had shotguns. Back in 2014, there was another mass shooting at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas, where many people died and got hurt by a shooter. In 2016 alone, there has been mass shootings in Florida, Virginia, Alabama, California, and about ten or more other states in America. Yes, guns have been the weapon used in these awful crimes, but if you take guns away, these sick people causing these tragedies will find new ways to hurt people. For instance, bombs were used in the Columbine shooting, so people can use bombs to hurt other civilians. They can use knifes, vehicles, and I would probably say that they still may be able to find a way to get a gun. The role of guns in these mass tragedies are just a simple accessory, the main role and problem of these tragedies are the sick people that are leading them. According to Everytown Research, there are many other factors that lead to mass shootings, some backgrounds to these shootings have had issues with family or domestic violence, age can be a factor, high-capacity magazines are used in some cases, mental health can also be a huge factor, a suicide was planned for after that mass tragedy, or they wanted to get back at former workplaces or schools, along with law enforcement, and “gun-free” zones are also a major target. So as you can see from their research, guns are just a small role in a shooting, because there are so many other factors as to why these tragedies are even happening. So, making restrictions or upping gun control probably won’t be a solution to stop bad tragedies, like mass shootings, because there are so many other factors and options to allow sick people to cause such problems in our society.
In my opinion, if someone is threatening our country, and is on a terrorist watch list, then they definitely should not be able to purchase guns and what not. Many people may say that that is wrong because that is creating gun control, but honestly they have already committed a crime just by threatening the United States, so why should they be able to purchase items that they are going to use to hurt our country. In a way, that could definitely be a form of prejudice, but it is also protecting every citizen in the United States. Our main goal should be to protect every citizen in the United States of America, even if it is banning potential terrorists from purchasing firearms or if it is allowing people to keep the second amendment.
Works Cited
21, April. “Armed Youths Kill Up to 23 in 4-Hour Siege at High School.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 1999. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
17, October. “23 Shot Dead at Texas Cafeteria: Massacre: A Gunman Drives His Pickup through a Window and Opens Fire with a Semiautomatic Handgun, in Nation’s Worst Mass Shooting. He Is among the Dead.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 1991. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
“Analysis of Mass Shootings.” EverytownResearch.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
“The 2016 Democratic Party Platform – Demconvention.com.” N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.