Gun Control

Unfortunately, I’m not talking about being able to hit what you’re aiming at…

One of the most controversial issues, currently anyway, is the issue of gun control in the United States. The government has taken cautionary measures in order to protect citizens of the country, or at least that’s what they claim. The idea of more restrictions came after a terrifying event in Connecticut, where a school shooting occurred. This event quickly became nationwide news, and soon after, all were shocked and alarmed.  Parents started to question their own children’s safety at school. Schools were soon flooded with questions similar to the following: Is there a sufficient security system? Does anybody have access to the school? Are there precautionary measures in case a shooter did get in? Is my child safe?  These weren’t the only questions to arise, however, because others criticized the easy access to guns. Not only did the “easy access” to guns become a problem, but also their ability to kill people. The government almost immediately reacted to the public’s concern by placing further restrictions.  In New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo went beyond the new restrictions  placed by the Obama administration, and also limited the rounds in magazines as well as banning assault rifles. 

I find that these new restrictions are more than unsatisfying; they are repugnant. Guns do not kill people, people kill people. A majority of the time, it is a mentally unstable person that is committing these murderous crimes, but instead of restricting guns there should be proper care available for them.  Putting a stricter security system in place at school should help with the prevention of a shooting. When mass shootings do occur, they usually happen in public places like schools, libraries, or shopping centers, so perhaps, as a part of the new security system in schools, principals and teachers should be allowed to carry guns. Many will say that, “We shouldn’t fight violence with violence,” but when there is a person with a gun coming to shoot people there is a larger possibility of survival when there is something as equally strong to fight back with. The shooting in Connecticut was recognized nationally; faces of the now dead students and teachers were posted over any form of media that would reach the public, but almost no one heard of the incident in Texas where a shooter came into a school but there were no deaths. In this particular occurrence, the school was threatened by the presence of a shooter, but, luckily, the principal of the school carried a gun and was able to shoot the shooter before he could cause any harm. Notice, the faces of every child that survived this incident didn’t run across the screen of your television. Neither a restriction nor making guns illegal will stop the violent crimes; the people that commit crimes with guns are usually the ones who obtain their guns illegally, they’re usually not legal gun owners. If the government ever gets to the point where they may make guns illegal all together, in order to eliminate violent crimes, they should also consider making meth and heroin illegal too, so that there’s no more drug trade.