Gun Violence Must Stop

Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom once revealed, Americans are 25 times more likely to die from gun homicide than people in other wealthy countries. Many innocent lives are being taken due to minimal regulation of gun usage. Mothers, fathers, teachers, students, people of all ages are all being affected by this ongoing dilemma. This problem keeps increasing day by day and it needs to be solved to guarantee safety for everyone. If the government would implement stronger order on gun safety, the lives of those innocent people would be instantly saved. Although these complications seem insurmountable, there are several ways to cure this epidemic.

The 2nd amendment reads a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. From the time this amendment was passed in 1791, everyone living in the U.S has been allowed to purchase and carry a gun with them and is often used for protection. Evenso, misuse of the weapon has increased over the years. For the past two years, gun violence has become an enormous problem in this country affecting thousands of people and their families. According to ABC15 news, in 2017 there were 346 mass shooting. No other developed country had this same kind of issue as the United States. Besides mass shootings, homicide and suicides rates that are executed by a gun have skyrocketed. In the most recent years, America has seen many cities affected by this and nothing has been done to protect future incident to happen. In 2018, there has been 308 mass shootings- one of them taking place in Parkland, Florida where 17 students at a high school were killed by an active shooter who was a 19 years old and a former student (Courtland). He obtained an AR15 from his home and went to his former high school. He then proceeded to murder 17 innocent teens. There are no laws that prevent people of that age to obtain a firearm like an AR15. In fact, the law says that people who are 18 years old or older are allowed to purchase any type of firearm with no questions asked. Recent studies also explain that it is much easier to be a legal gun owner in America than it is to be a legal driver (Gregory, Sean, Wilson). This shows how the legislature we have today is not very strong in making a change for the people. To sum up, gun violence is a major predicament that can easily be solved to save future generations.

The first solution is to implement smart guns.This could save many lives and drastically decrease the amount of national shootings. Former President Barack Obama once said that if our technology is so advanced that our phones have fingerprint readers why can't we implement that on guns as well?? (Gregory, Sean, Wilson). Companies have tried implementing gun technology that will require the person that buys the gun to scan their fingerprint into the memory chip of the gun. Therefore, when the gun needs to be used, it must first be unlocked by the user of the weapon. This will cut the issue of young teens obtaining their parent's gun and causing accident or even intentional harm to themselves or the people around them. Also, if fingerprints or pins are implemented and someone were to steal a gun, it would be useless since the owner is the only one who can unlock the gun (Kristoff, NYTimes). This method would be effective since the fingerprint is something that could not be duplicated in anyway. Nevertheless, this ideal solution also has it's negative side. As many companies have tried to add this smart technology into guns, large influential groups like the National Rifle Association have shut down this idea and inevitably making other companies not want to do it. In addition, this technology like many others can fail at any given moment. Consequently, when the gun is needed, the gun can fail on its owner and not unlock leaving the person unprotected. Though this may be true in few cases, pins and fingerprints on guns would automatically reduce the amount of accidental and intentional shootings saving others and diminishing gun violence.

Another solution to this issue is creating stricter gun laws that make it harder for a person to purchase a gun. Mandating stronger background checks should be an obligation for people who wish to own a gun. These gun laws will be directly for those who shouldn't own a gun. If one has a past of immense felonies or intense mental disorders, he/ she should not possess a gun. Kristof mentioned that 22 percent of guns are purchased without a background check. Background checks can ultimately prevent people that has mental issues, are emotionally unstable or have a criminal background from buying one. This will decreasing mass shootings, suicides, and homicides. Furthermore, requiring ??mandatory training and licensing for owners would essentially diminish this continuous difficulty (Prevention Institute). Many stores like Walmart will let people buy a gun without the need of a licence or any type of prep class prior to buying the gun. Lastly, making a longer process to acquire a gun can also discourage a person from buying it. This would mean less guns being misused. One may be mislead to believe that many of these gun laws, like every other law, will have it's loophole, meaning people will still be able to obtain guns one way or the other even if that includes lying in the background check or allotting iit under the table. However, statistics show that after tightening gun laws in Connecticut, firearm homicide rates have dropped 40 percent (Kristoff, NYTimes). If these laws were implemented in the whole country, gun violence would unquestionably decrease .

Newsom's static is not something that should be normalized. The nation will continue in a destructive path if nothing is done. As previously proven, the best solution is implementing smart technology into guns. Introducing fingerprints for firearms would extremely benefit the United States. Lawmakers need to make a impactful change to end gun violence for future generations.

Work Cited

Ehrenberg, Rachel. What We Do and Don't Know about How to Prevent Gun

Violence.Science News, 13 Mar. 2018, www.sciencenews.org/article/evidence-preventing-gun-violence-deaths-research.

Gregory, Sean, and Chris Wilson. Gun Violence in the U.S.: 6 Real Ways We Can Help Reduce It. Time, Time, 22 Mar. 2018, time.com/5209901/gun-violence-america-reduction/

Gun Violence Must Stop. Here's What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths.

Prevention Institute, www.preventioninstitute.org/focus-areas/preventing-violence-and-reducing-injury/preventing-violence-advocacy

Hayes, Christal, and Emily Bohatch. 'I'm Sick to My Stomach': 17 Dead in Florida High

School Shooting; Former Student in Custody. USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Feb. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/14/injuries-reported-after-shooting-florida-high-school/33821702.

Jeffrey, Courtland. Mass Shootings in the U.S.: 317 Mass Shootings Have Occurred in 2017. KNXV, 15 Feb. 2018, www.abc15.com/news/data/mass-shootings-in-the-u-s-over-270-mass-shootings-have-occurred-in-2017

Kristof, Nicholas. How to Reduce Shootings. The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/06/opinion/how-to-reduce-shootings.html.

Strasser, Mr. Ryan. Second Amendment. LII / Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, 5 June 2017 www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment.

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