Gun Control in the United States

Nearly 8 american children are shot every day. Stricter gun laws are the answer to protecting our children, the children of the U.S. Most of us have heard about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. The day when 20 year old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 innocent children and 6 staff members of Sandy Hook Elementary. Lanza later shot himself in the head when the police arrived. When he was younger, his mother legally purchased an assault rifle, the gun he ended up using in his hideous crime. Lanza suffered from Asperger's syndrome, a mental condition often associated with the inability to empathize with others. Many mass murderers suffer from some mental disability. This supports the rationale that someone should not be eligible to purchase a gun if they or someone they live with has a mental disability.

In 2013, the US had around 106 gun deaths per million people. In 2011, the last year we have numbers for, the UK had around 2 deaths per million people. Why is the UK so much safer? In the US, on average, there are 88 guns per 100 people and the UK averages less than 7 guns per 100 people. Because of the strict gun regulations, police in England don’t even have to carry guns.

There is always the possibility of stopping a potential mass murder rampage with a gun. But this is very rare. There have only been 12 mass murders stopped by good guys with guns in the last 18 years. In just 2015, there have been 67 recorded mass shootings in the US.

The biggest reason to own a gun would be for self-defense. To take away the fear of being in a helpless situation. If we took gun control to the extreme of completely banning guns, this would not be an issue. Since all the guns are gone, gun violence will go down, and the fear of being shot will go away. The famous actor and comedian Mark Wahlberg once said,  “... I would love it if they could take all the guns away. Unfortunately, you can’t do that so you hope that good people in the world have them to protect the people who can’t protect themselves.” We all know that the U.S. would never confiscate all of the guns, but we do need to make it harder for the people of the United states to purchase a gun. As the leader of the first world, it is ironic that the US leads the world in nonsensical gun violence.  To reduce the climate of fear, we have to reduce the number of available guns.