By: Ben Frederick
Guns! Guns! Guns! That is a topic that is always being talked about in the political sphere. However, in recent weeks, it has come front and center with the 18th school shooting this year.
An ex-student of a high school in Florida walked into his former school with an AR-15 and proceeded to empty clips into classrooms. At the end of the day, 17 people were dead and countless wounded.
This should have been a wake-up call for America, just like the hundreds of mass shootings before this. Columbine, Sandy Hook and Las Vegas are just a few examples. Every time there is a mass shooting, the issue of gun control comes up, but somehow, every time, no big changes are made.
Whenever there is a bill forming in any level of the government for strict gun bans, our representatives always seem to vote it down. The people of America keep dying and want gun reform, but these representatives will not pass gun restrictions.
Private organizations are paying these elected representatives to make sure no gun reform laws make it through the government. It is not just a select few that are being lobbied.
Over 50 percent of our politicians are receiving millions of dollars in campaign funds to influence their stance on guns. These private organizations include the NRA — which strongly supports the Second Amendment and rejects restrictions on any guns.
These organizations have lobbied billions of dollars to loosen gun restrictions and get rid of gun-free zones. It is because of this lobbying and support that guns are so easy to come by in this country.
In many states, it is easier to get a gun then a driver’s license. That is not okay. There should be more of a vetting process to buy a weapon that can easily kill multiple people than to drive a car.
A person with criminal history or a mental illness can buy a gun with little to no paperwork in some states.
This was the case for the most recent Florida shooting. A person known to have a mental illness and erratic behavior bought several military grade, high-powered rifles at the age of 18.
There is more than one thing wrong with that situation. First, a person with depression and known violent behavior should not be able to buy a firearm.
Second, a person who is only 18 years old should not be able buy a gun. Older adults barely trust teenagers with basically anything else, but when it comes to guns, they say these teenagers can have as many as they can afford.
The final problem is that buying a military-grade, high-powered rifle for civilian use should not be allowed.
The leading argument for the second amendment is for hunting and self-defense. Look at each issue separately.
A person does not use an AK-47 to hunt. It is a weapon of war. No one wants to infringe on the hunting industry, but military-grade and semi-automatic rifles are not used for hunting.
The second argument is for self-defense. Once again, a military rifle is not needed for self-defense. Pistols are the main weapon of choice for that matter.
All gun control activists want to do is increase vetting on buying guns and reduce the amount of unnecessary dangerous weapons owned by civilians.
However, every time there is a mass shooting, organizations like the NRA want to do the exact opposite of these gun regulations.
The NRA thinks the problem with gun violence is a lack of guns. They believe that if they sell everyone guns, then there won’t be any more mass shootings.
The NRA and the government’s new plan to stop school shootings is to put more guns in the schools. They believe that they should arm teachers to be able to stop school shootings before they happen.
However, many people are opposed to that idea because of the dangers and questions it brings. What if a student gets the gun? What if the teacher misunderstands a situation and shoots an innocent person? What if a teacher misses a shot?
Some schools’ teachers have already started training for this exact situation, and the results are less than acceptable. In training situations, reporters have witnessed teachers missing shots and “killing” innocent bystanders.
Cops miss over 60 percent of their shots, and we are treating this like we are expecting teachers to be more accurate than trained professionals. Nothing good can come out of this situation.
It isn’t a solution. The gun crisis can not be fixed with more guns like the NRA believes.
America is done paying with our lives so a small minority can have assault rifles.
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