Gun violence is an important issue in the United States. Many people are dying from gun violence, in fact, every seventeen minutes someone is killed by a gun ("Just the Facts: Gun Violence in America"). Every seventeen minutes is too frequent for citizens to die from gun violence. The United States needs to stop these deaths. To do so the United States must create laws to prevent many citizens from obtaining guns. Guns should be regulated strictly to protect the American people.

As American citizens, everyone should be aware of the gun rights in their state. Laws vary state by state but in the United States today non-militia personnel are allowed to own a firearm. To get a firearm, one must be subjected to a background check conducted in government databases. All firearms must be kept locked or unloaded in each household (“District of Columbia V. Heller”). Recent mass shootings have brought this subject to light including the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary where twenty-six people were killed (“Infobase Learning - Login”). This shooting could have been prevented with stricter gun control laws.  The gun locker was found open with no evidence of forced entry, this means the locker was not locked (Botelho).  If there had been stricter gun control laws in place Adam Lanza would not have been able to access the gun.  Stricter gun control laws are needed to keep citizens safe and to prevent shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary.
There are an unreasonable number of people dying from gun violence in the United States. In fact, in seven years 4,400 United States Citizens died in the Iraq war. The same number of Americans has died from gun related deaths in seven weeks on U.S soil (Lopez). The same number died in seven years in war as seven weeks in the United States. The U.S is not an active war zone, so the death toll should not be the same as the Iraq war. In the United States, many people die from gun violence. In fact, every day “289 people are shot, 86 die and eight of those killed are children” (McQuillen). Eighty-six people are dying every day and that is too much. Eighty-six funerals with grieving families huddled around a gravesite wishing they could have them back, and hating the unjust world for taking their precious loved ones away. Eighty-six people a day is too many deaths for one country, even one as big as the U.S.

Very little effort is required to purchase a gun. As a result of this many people have guns. For example, there are four million guns in the military and American police forces but the number of civilians with guns are 310 million. The number of civilians with guns is significantly higher than military personnel with guns (Lopez). This means it is easy for regular citizens to access guns. In some states, it is practically effortless to purchase guns and bullets. For example, in California one is able to walk into a Big 5 and purchase as many bullets as one would care to buy (Lopez). A Big 5 is similar to a Walmart or Target and in California one is able to purchase hundreds of bullets for their firearm. The ability to walk into a Big 5 and purchase that many bullets makes it easy to fire a gun as many times as the owner would like. It is even easy for mentally ill citizens to access guns. In fact, in mental health related issues the New York Police Department has seized 1,000 guns (Luo). Mentally ill citizens are able to gain access to many guns just like other citizens. There are ways to get guns illegally from different sellers but people are able to get guns right from the store even if they are underage or not eligible. For example, “two people walk into a gun store, one selects a firearm, and then the other uses identification for the purchase and pays for the gun” (Noyes). It is that simple to get a gun, just give it to the person outside of the store. Access to guns is becoming increasingly easier; in fact Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel “has chosen not to fight a federal court ruling that struck down the city's gun shop ban” (Chicago Tribune). This means there will be legal gun shops throughout the city. Instead of having to go to the government, citizens will be able to go to their local gun shop to purchase a gun. Many more people will have access to guns and it will be much easier to purchase a gun once the gun shops open. It remains far too easy to purchase a gun in the United States.
Other countries have stricter gun laws and less gun related deaths. Canada is a thriving example of stricter gun laws. Canada does not prohibit guns entirely, but there are different screening processes for different types of firearms. For example, to get a firearm generally one must pass a government safety course. To get a prohibited or restricted gun, citizens must pass another safety course and the specific gun must be registered with the government. It is illegal to point a gun at a Canadian citizen, even if it is not loaded. One can go to jail for pointing a gun at someone (Bright). In Canada there are stricter gun regulations. Some might seem extreme but they are certainly effective. In fact in Canada there are 0.51 homicides by gun per 100,000 people (“Gun Homicides and Gun Ownership Listed by Country”). There are far less homicides by guns in Canada than the U.S which means their laws are quite effective. It would behoove the United States to follow suit.

Some Americans believe gun laws should be less strict. In fact Jerry Henry, Executive Director of GeorgiaCarry.org says, "If you disarm me to where I can't protect myself or defend myself, all you're doing is empowering the bad guys" (Copel). The reason for the whole existence of any type of military force is to protect the people. The United States does not need armed citizens trying to save the day. In fact, since the 1990’s, police officers have been trained differently because of the amount of guns in the U.S. Officers are taught to look at all of the angles and behind the doors. Today they jump out as fast as they can but before they would proceed slowly. This new training and preparation has helped officers understand the dangers and mechanics of gun violence and arrive at scenes faster than ever before. In fact, during a school shooting a man “shot two other teenagers . . . More than 100 police officers responded” (Wilson). The police are well equipped with tools and trained specifically for situations involving guns.

Some individuals argue that criminals are going to break the law anyway. With stricter gun control laws, it would be harder for criminals to obtain guns. For example, President Obama has a plan to “improve the nation’s database used for background checks and otherwise make it harder for criminals and people with mental illness to get guns”(Baker).  By doing so there will be less criminals with guns because it will be harder to get guns.  By creating stricter gun laws there will be fewer guns which means fewer deaths.

The United States should have stricter gun laws. Laws should be created to make guns accessible only to certain people. Aside from recreational hunters with training, the United States should make guns accessible only to military personnel and the police force. The military and police exist to protect the citizens and guns should only be accessible to them. By doing this there would be less gun related deaths, it would be harder for criminals to gain access to guns, and it would be easy to spot criminals because they have a gun.


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