In a society where gun ownership is higher than any other country, the need for security is becoming a topic of discussion. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut has brought about the reexamination of the rules and regulations that are set in place at this moment pertaining to firearms. The reexamination will result in some kind of change, but the question is what kind. There are two major sides at conflict over this contentious topic. One suggests that the gun-free zones in schools be repealed and replaced by the firearm training of school personnel therefore inserting firearms into schools, while the other searches to use gun regulations and national gun registry to control qualification of those who should possess firearms. While both sides are informative and unique in their resolutions for this problem, they are not yet developed. Tighter gun control may be thought to fashion a harsh and unneeded fear, but in truth putting in force more security guards in schools, strengthening the counseling and mental health examinations of all students, and enforcing a stricter security of guns through registered lockboxes will completely obliterate gun violence in schools.
It has been proposed by Staten Island that armed guards be inserted into schools. These guards would be retired police officers, rotating throughout the schools, and hired in as independent contractors thus costing no extra to the city. In inputting these armed guards in schools the likelihood of all twenty of the children killed in Connecticut would have been minimized or eliminated entirely. Although the police officers are supposed to do this job, having guards that are dedicated solely to the protection of the children in the schools would be more efficient. More security guards would mean less insecurity and more protection.
Adam Lanza, the man who slaughtered 27 people in Connecticut, has been thought to have had some type of mental illness that disabled him only slightly. With his mother who supported him through everything, he was never defined as disabled, only odd, and he never had a mental health examination. It is possible that his mother had decided to seek help in understanding her son’s illness and he got frightened. In this society, a person receiving mental health exams is automatically thought to be crazy. So these exams are feared. But if this society created a different picture, a more distinctive illustration of seeking help, then this fear would not have been present. If seeking help was in order to understand one’s self, learn their boundaries, and be taught how to live with it, would that change our perception of help? Counseling should be normal. All people, especially students, need someone to walk alongside them and give advice. Counseling should be renamed mentoring, for counseling should be from a person who is more knowledgeable to one who is still learning. If counseling was a normal procedure and mental examinations annually monitoring the mentally ill would be simpler and more effective. Congressman Thomas Massie has stated that it is evident through the recent shooting at Sandy Hook elementary that "Gun-free school zones are ineffective. They make people less safe by inviting criminals to a target-rich, no-risk environment... and create vulnerable populations that are targeted by criminals.” But Congressman Massie has created a very broad generalization. He was