Our Government needs Gun Control
It seems like there is a shooting everyday day now in our country, and little has been done to prevent it. People were calling for change for forever, especially after the tragedies like Sandy Hook and the Colorado Movie Theater shootings over five years ago. A full on gun ban is not realistic right now, but certainly gun control should be able to be obtained. People in America hate change, but its not a hard reach to ask for background checks, to push the age to purchase a rifle to 21, to reintroduce mental health regulations into background checks, to push for gun safety courses for every purchase, and to push the ban on assault rifles.
Recently we have had the Pulse Shooting, the Las Vegas shooting, the Sutherland Church shooting, the Parkland High School shooting, the shooting at the Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and most recently the shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks California. In 2018 alone, more than 12,000 people have died from gun violence. What has our government done to help?
During Obama's time in office, he pushed the regulation that made it harder for people struggling with mental health problems to purchase guns. President Trump has claimed that he will push for stronger background checks, and ban bump stocks, but it seems like nothing has come out of it yet. His comments on the two most recent shootings were not received well, because he criticized the Synagogue for not having armed guards and pushed the idea of mental health being the culprit of the Thousand Oaks shooting. No religious practice should have to have armed guards, as they are places of peace and worship. And it's ironic for the President to blame mental health when he signed away Obama's mental health regulation earlier this year.
While a full on gun ban is not realistic in our country, it has worked for others. Australia has had a buyback law in place after a mass shooting in 1996, and has not had a problem with guns since. Canada does not have a ban, but they do have a strict set of laws that have helped prevent gun violence.
People who argue against gun control often go straight to the second amendment, the second amendment that was written over 220 years ago, the second amendment that was probably meant for muskets in mind, not assault rifles that can kill dozens in the time it takes to reload a musket. They argue that guns are needed for hunting, which may be true as hunting can help with population control in some instances, but there is no need for an assault rifle. People argue that guns are needed for self defense, but who needs to carry around an AR-15 for 'self-defense'?
If other countries can do it, why can we not? Why not save lives? Why not make a safer environment for future generations? People are stuck in their ways, but if we do not make change happen now, will it ever happen?
Recently we have had the Pulse Shooting, the Las Vegas shooting, the Sutherland Church shooting, the Parkland High School shooting, the shooting at the Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and most recently the shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks California. In 2018 alone, more than 12,000 people have died from gun violence. What has our government done to help?
During Obama's time in office, he pushed the regulation that made it harder for people struggling with mental health problems to purchase guns. President Trump has claimed that he will push for stronger background checks, and ban bump stocks, but it seems like nothing has come out of it yet. His comments on the two most recent shootings were not received well, because he criticized the Synagogue for not having armed guards and pushed the idea of mental health being the culprit of the Thousand Oaks shooting. No religious practice should have to have armed guards, as they are places of peace and worship. And it's ironic for the President to blame mental health when he signed away Obama's mental health regulation earlier this year.
While a full on gun ban is not realistic in our country, it has worked for others. Australia has had a buyback law in place after a mass shooting in 1996, and has not had a problem with guns since. Canada does not have a ban, but they do have a strict set of laws that have helped prevent gun violence.
People who argue against gun control often go straight to the second amendment, the second amendment that was written over 220 years ago, the second amendment that was probably meant for muskets in mind, not assault rifles that can kill dozens in the time it takes to reload a musket. They argue that guns are needed for hunting, which may be true as hunting can help with population control in some instances, but there is no need for an assault rifle. People argue that guns are needed for self defense, but who needs to carry around an AR-15 for 'self-defense'?
If other countries can do it, why can we not? Why not save lives? Why not make a safer environment for future generations? People are stuck in their ways, but if we do not make change happen now, will it ever happen?
While reading your blog, I could sense your strong and passionate stance on gun control. You were clear on your views and backed up your arguments with a few events and statistics. You also gave insight on how gun control laws have worked in other countries and how we could adopt some form of their plans, which I felt was informative. I think links to the sources of your information could help strengthen your argument even more. I also think adding a few of your own ideas on how you would make gun control work could also make your stance more powerful.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your editorial on gun control it seems like we have a lot in common on this topic as I agree with much of what you said. I also believe that it is not realistic at this point in time to put a complete and full on ban on guns but rather enforce stricter gun laws. I believe that this should be a higher topic on the list for concerns towards our country as I would like to see stricter gun laws and a higher age (21) restriction to purchase a gun.I think your blog is very informative and would recommend it to everyone I know in order to get a better concept on what needs to be done in our nation regarding gun control
ReplyDeleteIn Aloraboot’s article Our Government needs Gun Control, she’s calling for a stricter gun control plan. In my opinion, it is a well-reasoned and coherent article with the potential to be better developed to become more persuasive. This can be achieved by adding information from reliable sources. As we all know, the United States has the highest number of guns in total and per capita. The astonishing data will help to reinforce the urgency to control guns.
ReplyDeleteThe author begins her article with the cruel gun abuse situation, she then argues that even moderate gun control can help to build a more secure environment. She also gave some abstract ideas on what policies could be enacted in potential gun control plans.
Aloraboot also talked about recent tragedies associated with guns. She thought that the Trump government has done very little to prevent such tragedies comparing with Obama government. She then compared gun control policies in the united states with in other countries. Well, this is a very good point. When I was in China, I might have concern about burglary; but I was never scared of life threats. Because no people besides police and militia should be allowed to carry a gun. And I didn’t feel that I was sheared of my rights. Instead, I felt relatively safe that I won’t face a deadly weapon should I confront some bad situations like robbery. Although very rare in nowadays China, it did happen to me several years ago. I was slightly injured by knife, and I couldn’t imagine what will happen if the robber got a gun by hand. So, I deeply believe that the government has a sole responsibility to control gun and to protect its own people.
In the last part of her article, Aloboot confronted opponent ideas of gun rights resulting from Second Amendment. She concluded that the reason of self-defense is insufficient for people to buy all kinds of guns. It enlightens me that we may specify gun type in gun control plan as well, if there’ll be any.