Last week on February 14th, 17 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida lost their lives in a mass school shooting. The loss has been absolutely devastating for the people who are close to the shooting and for many others as well. As for Carlee Soto and others, it has forced them to relive the losses that they themselves experienced in previous school shootings. Enough is enough. It is time that we as citizens demand that our government enacts legislature with stronger gun control. It shouldn’t have to take more Columbines, Newtowns, and Parklands to get our government working on protecting its citizens.
The second amendment was enacted in 1791, giving the right to bear arms to each and every adult citizen of the United States. Since then, guns have evolved. The question is, then why shouldn’t we expect our laws to evolve as well? In 1791, Americans didn’t have to worry about a bump stock converting a semi-automatic rifle to an automatic. Unfortunately for Americans, our politicians don’t seem to be worried about this either. Politicians such as Paul Ryan believe that there should be changes in regulations rather than enact a legislation. We as citizens have the responsibility to reject the politician rhetoric that says, “criminals will find a way no matter what law is put into place”. There will always be people who break the law, but why not make it as hard as we possibly can for guns to fall into the hands of the wrong people? The issue of gun control is extremely partisan, making it harder to enact the laws necessary to prevent tragedies such as the one that occurred in Parkland. According to the Pew Research Center, “Republicans choose gun rights over gun control by a 71% to 26% margin, while Democrats prioritize gun control over gun rights by a 73% to 25% margin”. Overall, “50% of Americans say it is more important to control gun ownership, while 47% say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns”. With that said, more dialogue needs to take place so that some sort of compromise can take place. Dialogues such as the one that took place this past Wednesday at the CNN Townhall with Marco Rubio and Ted Deutch will allow for the bipartisan legislature to make our schools, and entire country safer places. While this event did not necessarily spark any sort of immediate change, it did allow for citizens to question their representatives on the spot. There was no lag time that Rubio or Deutch could prepare something that would satisfy the person asking the question as well as their campaign donors.
When asking the question, “Should the U.S. government be more restrictive towards gun ownership?”, the answer is yes. Individuals who want to exercise their right to bear arms should undergo the necessary precautions in order to protect other U.S. citizens. By not enacting more restrictive polices, citizen’s peace of mind is not only at risk but so is their safety. While yes, criminals will still find ways to break the law and obtain guns illegally, the rate in which gun violence occurs could at least be decreased through these measures. The majority of Americans are favorable towards these actions. There is a point at which the right to life becomes more important than a person’s right to buy guns. How many more mass shootings is it going to take? How many lives have to be lost until universal background checks are at their highest functioning capacity? These are the tough questions we need to start asking our representatives. Call them, email them, or write to them. Tell the politicians that they cannot expect to win your vote if they don’t start protecting your life.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/us/politics/bump-stocks-congress-nati…
http://www.politifact.com/florida/article/2018/feb/23/fact-checking-clai…
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/24/florida-high-school-shoot…
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a18218290/carlee-soto-florida-shoo…
http://www.people-press.org/2015/08/13/continued-bipartisan-support-for-…
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/politics/cnn-town-hall-full-video-transcr…
Photo Source:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-3-worst-arguments-against-gun-control