Gun Control Controversies

Should we provide guns for the use of murder and crime? Today, not only is it easier for those who wish to commit crimes, but we are also making it the new norm. Guns should not be in the hands of those who do not meet specific requirements such as, a clean background, a registered license and a valid reason as to why they are buying ownership of the gun. Currently, one can purchase a gun as easy as purchasing anything else off the market. This can be done without having to go through a background check. We cannot allow people to easily slip through the law and purchase guns without a background check.

School shootings have been around as early as the 1760s. One of the famous school shootings that greatly affected people was the Virginia Tech massacre. This took place in April of 2007. The Virginia Tech massacre aroused questions about the United States gun control laws. How did the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, purchase the guns without undergoing a background check? Loopholes. Loopholes allowed this massacre to happen. If at the time of purchase, a background check was placed, the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) would have deemed Cho as ineligible to purchase weaponry. In the past, he was diagnosed with severe anxiety. Not only that, but he was also declared mentally ill. (ABC news) The mentally ill are not in their right mind to carry such dangerous weapons.

If the United States had a better grip on gun control, crime rates would drastically drop. Approximately 16,272 murders took place in the U.S. in 2008. More than half of these murders were committed using firearm (just facts). Most crimes are committed with the use of a gun, or with the assistance of a gun. If one cannot possess a gun because of gun control laws, and all loopholes were closed, crime rate would drop. There are many examples of the loopholes that the gun control laws in the United States have.

James Holmes. Does the name ring a bell? It should. He killed 12 innocent people and wounded 70. All of this took place in Aurora, Colorado during the viewing of The Dark Knight Rises. Holmes didn’t buy his guns in a local gun shop, a shop across town, or a shop out of state; in fact, he bought his firearms over the internet. Yes, you heard correctly. He purchased these deadly firearms without a license, and anonymously, over the internet (Huffington Post).

He is to blame for these gruesome murders, but when you search further into detail, the blame is on the lack of gun control laws. Like Cho, he met with mental health professionals before the shooting (CBS news).

Many anti-gun control people believe that guns don’t kill people; gun control laws kill people (Renew America). “It has never been the government’s responsibility to protect us; it has always been the people’s responsibility to protect themselves.” (Chuck Baldwin)

This opposing claim is wrong. Yes, it is your own responsibility to protect yourself, but who is providing for us? The government is our provider. It provides for us and protects us. Why take matters into your own hands when the government can handle it for you? Gun control laws do not kill people. People kill people. A gun does not act on its own. It acts once a trigger is pulled. It is simple. You put guns in the right hands, and take guns out of the wrong hands.