Gun Control

Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden and Olivia Engel are only three of the twenty children killed in the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (JD Journal 1). These innocent little children had their lives ripped away from them at the ages of six and seven by a mentally unstable man. They had no say, no input on whether they could live or die. It seems as though every week a new tragedy that no one was expecting; not the family of the shooter or the family of the shot, arises. Most of these stories follow a similar path, a path in which guns; mental instability and large crowds of people are present. These, and many other reasons, are why I am for Gun Control.
“Twenty-year-old Adam Lanza, was carrying an arsenal of hundreds of rounds of deadly ammunition – enough to kill nearly every student in the school if given enough time” (Associated Press 1). Those twenty-nine are exactly what’s wrong with our current gun policies. The fact that a kid, who isn’t even old enough to go to a bar by himself, can get that much ammunition and get his hands on that many guns is absolutely crazy. He could have easily killed many, many more children had he had the time. The bigger issue here is inadequate background checks and screenings. Had proper background checks been enforced on Nancy Lanza the mother, who was the owner of the guns, they could have spotted a kid who was on the verge of explosion. They could have seen that a kid who was known to have no friends, no Facebook, no social life; a kid who routinely talked about aliens, was obsessed with mass murders and was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (Khan 1). These potential red flags could and should have stopped the Mother of Adam Lanza from purchasing those guns, and could have saved twenty innocent lives along with eight brave teachers and staff members. This is why I think more extensive background checks are needed.
The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”. Now, people who are against gun control always point back to the fact that the 2nd amendment protects their right to bear arm. When in actuality that’s not exactly what its says and proves why it is outdated. The whole point of the 2nd amendment was to protect the U.S. citizens using “well regulated militias”, the same type of militias that helped Washington’s Continental Army against British regulars (Amato 1). It was not saying that it gives all Americans the right to possess and bear arms. That’s the first reason it’s outdated. The second reason is we simply don’t have militias in this day and age. Our “Militias” are our police offers, swat teams and soldiers, and last time I checked they’re all properly armed. It’s also vastly misunderstood. Many who are against gun control policies always point back to the fact that the 2nd amendment protects their right to bear and possess arms, when really they are just taking advantage of a vary outdated and unclear amendment that happens to be a part of our U.S. constitution.
The number of deaths caused by guns each year is astronomical. According to and article published by Smart Gun Laws, guns took the lives of 36,105 people in 2012. That’s equivalent to more than 85 deaths every day and more than 3 death per hour (Smart Gun Laws 1). Between 1955-1975 during the Vietnam War, 58,000 American soldiers were killed-– less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average two-year period (Smart Gun Laws 1). The United States leads the world in homicides, with over 310 million guns in circulation its only a matter of time before some of these guns fall into the hands of people like Adam Lanza and Sueng-Hui Cho aka the Virginia Tech Shooter. Why does the average U.S. citizen need to have Ak-47s and semi automatic rifles lying around in their home? They aren’t going to war and they have no