OPINION: Times have changed, shouldn’t we?
The Right to Bear Arms is not the right to kill people.
DENVER, CO – MARCH 24: Protesters had up 17th Ave for the March for Our Lives to end gun violence March 24, 2018. The student-led rally and march is one of more than 400 sister demonstrations taking place across the country March 24 in partnership with the Washington DC march that is organized by the student survivors of the February 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
The lights are off. The room is silent. Kids huddle against each other in a corner of a room. No one daring to say anything.
Somewhere in the school gunshots are echoing through the halls. Kids scream’s rip through the building.
Footsteps approaching, doorknobs jiggling. Useless against the shooter and his gun.
When the children woke up for school that morning, did they know it would be their last?
Did they get a chance to say bye to their mother? Their father? What about their siblings? Their friends? As they got dressed were they thinking of how this would be their last day?
In the year 2018, there were more school shootings than any other year on record, according to BBC news. On average, there was a school shooting once every eight days.
But that’s only in schools. 311 days into 2018, there were 307 mass shootings, according to The Gun Violence Archive. That’s almost one shooting per day.
Americans are more likely to die from gun violence than any leading causes of death combined, with some 11,000 people in the US killed in gun violence each year.
There are many reasons why there’s so many dead, injured, and traumatized from shootings. Part of this reason is that the requirements for obtaining a gun are easy to get around.
In some states, any person wanting to buy a gun must be 18 to purchase a long gun, and 21 with proof of residence to purchase a handgun. All purchasers must have a Firearm Safety Certificate. It also requires a background check to purchase any gun.
However, in some states, buying a gun from a private seller, online, or at a gun show does not require a background check. This makes it easy for guns to get into the hands of illegal buyers, gun traffickers, or people who are not fit to own a gun.
This makes it easy for mentally deranged people, or people looking to commit violence to get their hands on a gun.
There are many ways for a highly dangerous, and deadly weapons to fall into the wrong hands.
Guns laws make it so easy for someone to end another’s life.
The second amendment states we have the right to bear arms. And although that’s true, that was written for guns 200 years ago. Not for the guns of today.
By buying a gun online you can have it in your hands in less than 3 hours. It takes 5 minutes to buy a gun from someone online.
Our laws prohibiting buying cigarettes, beer, or even lottery tickets are more strictly enforced than gun laws.
In a video by HBO Sports, a group of people hired a young 13-year-old boy to attempt to buy beer, cigarettes, a racy magazine, and lottery tickets.
All of which, he was denied.
However, when he arrives at the gun show, he’s legally sold a rifle within minutes.
In a couple of minutes, someone’s life could be ended. It could be their last day. No more friends or family, or smiles or laughter.
Innocent people just trying to live their life just like the rest of us would never be able to see the light of day again. Their families would never be able to say goodbye.
People’s worlds and lives could be ripped to shreds in a matter of seconds.
That is why we must change, and do better. We have to protect ourselves, each other, our kids, our future.
Our world doesn’t have to be this way. People don’t have to die, we won’t have to wake up going to work or school and wonder if this day will be our last.
We don’t need to have automatic or semi-automatic guns on the market. For people who like to hunt, they can do it without a machine gun. You get a hunting rifle and shoot your animal. You don’t need a rapid-fire war gun to hunt.
Along with that, bump stocks are not needed. Machine guns were made for war. No one using a gun for protection needs a gun that fires 400 rounds per minute.
We need stronger gun laws. Our background checks need to be more thorough. We need to make sure whoever is buying the gun is eligible to buy the gun.
People say it’s our constitutional right to own guns. And while that’s true, it’s not a constitutional right to own a gun that fires 400 rounds per minute and it’s not a right to kill innocent people.
Our constitution was written 200 years ago. The guns 200 years ago are not the guns today. They changed. Shouldn’t our laws?
Anonymous • Apr 20, 2019 at 9:49 PM
You cannot buy a fully automatic rifle (one that would shoot 400rpm) without a full auto license, which are very difficult to get, and require numerous background checks and training. Please provide a source for the statistics you used. For example: “Americans are more likely to die from gun violence than any leading causes of death combined, with some 11,000 people in the US killed in gun violence each year.” — this “statistic” makes no sense at all. The leading causes of death are heart disease and cancer, which over 600k people die every year, each. Also, many hunting rifles are semi automatic, conflicting with your statement, “We don’t need to have automatic or semi-automatic guns on the market. For people who like to hunt, they can do it without a machine gun. You get a hunting rifle and shoot your animal. You don’t need a rapid-fire war gun to hunt.” Semi automatic firearms also include nearly all handguns and many rifles. Not having them on the market would mean not having firearms on the market. Finally, you cannot use a bump stock on a machine gun. Look up what a machine gun actually is before you make such wild claims. In the future, please do your research before making claims and stating them as fact. Also talk to someone who has debated or written nonfiction so they can help you to not use straw mans, and to back up your points with reasons and arguments.
Ps. I don’t think you mean what you think you mean when you say, “Guns laws make it so easy for someone to end another’s life.”