April 13th 2003, I will never forget that day. Like hard cracks of thunder, the man fired 3 shots onto my middle schools playground taking a man’s life in the process. Seeing an adult be gunned down before me was an experience no sixth grader should ever have to experience. With gun restrictions being as low as it is, many children are forced to live in this harsh reality. Gun control is not strict enough. Guns are the most dangerous item a man can posses, therefore the laws on them must face stricter regulation policies. The United States government does not have strict enough laws in effect to deal with these dangerous items. Firearms and guns in general are designed for military and authorities. As history has shown, the common man can’t always be trusted.
Throughout the 1980s and into 1990s, violence and murder rates escalated, causing the issue of gun control to become a part of a long-term heated debate. Many times in our countries history gun control policies were put into question. After the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, gun-control legislation became a major focal point of Congress’s agenda. However, it wouldn’t be until 1994 that the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, or Brady Law, would pass. This mandates a 72-hour waiting period on the purchase of handguns, practically halting random acts of rage. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act bans the manufacture, sale, or possession of nineteen kinds of semi-automatic assault weapons, making sure that civilians cannot become victim to acts of mass murder. We can prevent the execution of
Contino 2 innocents and stop making our streets the sites of war. We have the tools to make sure than no man, woman, or child, is a victim to the travesty that is gun violence.
However, I do not believe that a gun free world would be a better world. There are select officials that use them as a tool to enforce laws and keep peace. The outcry is why authorities and military need firearms. These brave men and women use firearms to protect, not to attack. They have been trained and know how to handle firearms. They use them to protect society, while when civilians have possession, there is always a possibility for misuse.
A common claim made by gun advocates is that people use firearms for protection. What do they want protection from? The only threat I see is the everyday man with guns or weapons. The need to protect ourselves from gun violence would be removed is guns were made illegal to the public. If guns were outlawed, then crime rates would drop drastically. Guns have lead to many tragic events in our country’s history. Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois; these are just a few of the places where the devastating effects of gun violence were demonstrated. In opposition to these life-saving laws stand the National Rifle Association. These men and women claim they are merely trying to maintain the Second Amendment, saying the new