Peace does not need weapons

According to the New York Times, being killed with a gun in Japan is as likely as being killed by a lightning strike in the U.S.

Gun control needs to be put in place before the United States experiences another deadly mass shooting.

With the recent shooting in Las Vegas, the topic of gun control has arisen, yet again. Many say now is not the time to discuss political debate, however, how many more mass shootings does the U.S. need to face to finally make a decision gun control?

After we face a tragedy, we work as a country to find a way to make sure another tragedy or crime isn’t committed again. Laws are created, others are reinforced, and solutions are offered.

When we’re faced with an act of terrorism involving guns, prayers and support is the only solution that is given to the victims. How do we reassure the victims that something so horrid will not happen again?

After the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in December 2012, many supported the idea of arming teachers with guns as a necessary step to protect students.

On the contrary, regardless of giving teachers gun training, having them take multiple tests, or giving background checks, we do not, and never will know the mental stability of any human being.

Looking back to Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old Orlando shooter, reports say that he legally obtained his weapons and went through a background check twice. On June 12, 2016, Omar killed 49 innocent people and wounded 58.

In our most recent shooting, now the deadliest in U.S. history, Stephen Paddock was found to have purchased more than 33 guns legally in the past year.

In an interview conducted by CNN, Chris Michael, the owner of one of the stores Paddock purchased guns from, says the killer “passed all of [their] background checks … and passed every red flag that could have popped up.”

Both of these shooters obtained their weapons legally and passed their background checks without any issues, yet they killed many. Fortunately, we can control what these gun owners could potentially do, by implementing gun control.

Essentially, there are loopholes that people can use to surpass and obtain a weapon without a background check. According to CNN, it is harder to purchase two packs of Sudafed, a medication used to treat congestion, than a gun.

Many would argue that these mass shootings and acts of terrorism are just another reason to own a gun for personal safety. However, owning a gun for protection would not be necessary if guns weren’t already legal to most, if not all citizens.

A complete ban of guns may not even need to be the only solution. Stricter gun laws is what the U.S. should get started on.

It should be more difficult to obtain a gun by limiting the amount of weapons someone can own, restricting certain types of guns, and disallowing customization and modifiers such as silencers and bump stocks.

There is no other logical reasoning behind why people would want to modify their guns with such deadly customizations. After all, these modifications and guns are built to kill.

Leave the heavier weapons to those who are trained and dedicated to protect our country such as law enforcement and our military.

Implementation of gun control can help solve and prevent the tragedies and mass shootings the United States is facing.