OPINION: Mass shootings won’t stop unless restrictive gun control laws are put in place
March 11, 2023
THE FOLLOWING OPINION ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE SHOOTING HOAX AND HARD LOCKDOWN AT CRHS ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND.
As an American student, I jump at the simple sound of a door closing. This is the America we live in, where nearly two mass shootings happen daily. Mass shootings need to stop, and that starts with gun control. It is the start of 2023, and there have been over 100 mass shootings. Over a thousand lives have been taken in one month; that is more deaths by gun violence than most countries have in a year. Last year 44,000 people’s lives were cut short due to mass shootings. How many deaths will it take before there are gun restrictions?
Military-grade guns or any gun with high magazines are usually the type of guns that turn murder into mass murder. With more gun control laws, there will be fewer deaths caused by firearms. There is no reason any American, especially a freshly young adult, should own such intense firearms.
Some may say they need a gun for protection, but according to Michael Planty and Jennifer L. Truman, “Firearm Violence, 1993-2011,” guns are rarely used in self-defense. And countries with restrictive gun control laws have lower gun homicide rates than America. The number of lives taken a day is alarming. Each day at least 12 children die from gun violence in America. America should have taken action years ago, yet most Americans would rather have more protection over their guns than the lives of innocent children.
School shootings are traumatizing and are now a regular thing in America. Students go to school thinking they’re safe, but their whole world changes because of a gun in a matter of seconds. Gun violence is out of hand and shows how selfish America truly is. Even a majority of adults, including gun owners, support common sense gun control, such as background checks, bans on assault weapons, and bans on high-capacity magazines. Data shows an alarming 98% of perpetrators are male.
I grew up surrounded by guns; I know how to use one, and I don’t wish for complete bans on guns. All I want is for America to be safer, yet with constant mass shootings, even going to local events is scary. America is a laughing stock because of our blatant ignorance every time a life is taken. It never really ends. A safer America is an America with gun restrictions.
Jeremiah Schnidt • Aug 28, 2024 at 7:34 pm
I disagree almost entirely with this “nonpartisan” article. First of all, I understand, and realize certain freedoms lead to deaths of innocent people. Like driving. Which leads to deaths of almost 43,000 innocent Americans each year. But I don’t think driving should be heavily restricted because certain freedoms come at a price. I noticed you didn’t include the number of lives that have been saved by guns either. So I’ll give you that number, it’s around 70,400 innocent people who get to keep living. Furthermore, by adding more, and more restrictions it makes it harder for the average American to get a gun for protection and etc. Do you think people who take innocent lives are worried about breaking a few gun laws. No because most of them receive these guns illegally already. Another fact is that these gun deaths are happening in the cities with the most gun laws. If you think guns are the problem then you are the problem. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Also there were 48,830 gun deaths in America in 2021, but only 43 percent of that number were murders, the others were suicides and accidents .ect. The amount of suicides in this country is absurdly high and should be treated, not regulated. Mental illness should be recognized not protected. Mental illness is what your article should be about. Most of the people who take others lives are mentally ill. Mental illness is a huge problem and extremely expensive to cure. One more thing, average Americans are not allowed to own “military grade” weapons. If you are referring to the AR-15 then you are even more wrong. The ArmaLite rifle 15 is a semi automatic gun made for civilian use, our military uses an M4/M4 Carbine. The M4 can actually shoot fully automatic. And the round that the AR-15 usually uses is one of the smallest rifle rounds out there (223/5.56). If you’re going to make an argument, be more right.
-Jeremiah Schnidt
Come and take it.
Sources
Pewresearch.org
iihs.org
Thetrace.org
Amelia Poulin • Jun 7, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Dear Ms. Grace Wayment,
While I respect your passion for gun control and keeping America safe, I believe your writing would be more impactful and credible if evidence was cited. Although the statistics you used supported your claims, it is difficult to believe such shocking numbers when they are not followed up with the article name, author’s name, and/or where you found them. I believe that gun control and gun violence in the United States is an extremely pressing and important topic. However, it is very difficult to create change if we cannot successfully prove the need for it. Not only would citations provide further support for your claims, but they would also establish logos and ethos in your article, two very important rhetorical aspects when arguing about a controversial topic. Articles, such as your own, play an important role in changing firearm use in the United States. Nonetheless, opposing voices will not respect our claims if they are not academically and professionally developed. I write this comment in hopes that your future writings will be as passionate as this one and will continue to inform readers of the threat of mass shootings and gun violence.
Sincerely,
Amelia Poulin.
Mason Hill • May 24, 2023 at 9:10 am
I agree that we should limit the freedom of gun usage. However, if the laws are too restrictive or if people don’t want to follow them, sure it’s illegal but they won’t care. We saw what happened when there was a severe ban on something. Prohibition banned alcohol and yet people went out of their way to sell it illegally. I suspect the same will happen with restrictive gun laws.
Max, • Apr 5, 2023 at 10:18 am
When you remove guns from law, abiding citizens, all you were left with is criminals, who refuse to follow the law, and will get their hands on a firearm, regardless of what the law says
Max, • Apr 5, 2023 at 10:12 am
Cording to the CDC in a 2016 study defensive, uses a firearms range from in the lowest of 500,000 and in the highest upwards of 3 million, with offensive or criminal, uses a firearms sitting at nearly 20,000 at their highest.
Max, • Apr 5, 2023 at 10:11 am
Your definition of mass shootings is skewed with the definition from the government being three or more injuries, this does not identify purpose behind the shootings which adds up to accidental gun malfunctions, adding to the total.