According to the national data released in 2002, about 80 Americans die a day, near 29,000 a year. Many people think this is because terrorists can get a hold of firearms and explosives very easily even if they can’t get on planes. In fact, it’s only a checklist and a signature away. In America, firearms and ammunition are that easy to get. The U.S. laws on firearms are to loose, suspected and sometimes known terrorists or gang members can walk into any place that sells guns, fill out and sign a checklist saying they aren’t convicted criminals, illegal aliens, dishonorably discharged from the military, a minor, or a known terrorist, if they aren’t then they can buy a gun. The only problem is, because the back round checks are loose people can lie about themselves.


The laws are to loose and the whole country would benefit from them being tightened. We can stop the terrorists from using planes because they are on the watch list, but we can’t stop them from buying firearms and explosives when on the list. In 2006, the FBI’s national instant criminal back round check operations reported 230 legal purchases of firearms and/or explosives by people on the watch list. The number had grown since 2005 when the count was at 220. Since our laws on guns are a lot looser then they are for planes and the back round checks fail more often then they do for people getting on planes. People can be stopped even before they reach security sometimes. But in a gun shop with just an ID and a signature, somebody can get a gun even if they are a terrorist if the back round check fails to find out that they are a terrorist or not. Only about 1% of purchases are denied.


The data released in 2002, says thousands of people die per year. On average, 80 Americans die per day from firearms. That’s 29,200 deaths a year because of firearms. In a single year, 3012 children and teens died because of firearm-related deaths according to the data released in 2002. That’s one child every three hours, eight a day, and more than 50 every week. Every year, at least four to five times as many teens suffer non-fatal firearm injuries (Children’s Defense Fund and National Center for Health Statistics). Between 1979 and 2001 America lost 90,000 children to firearms.

The laws on firearms remain to loose and many people die every day, month, and year because the laws are so loose. The number of deaths a year is close to 29,000, many of them children. Even one should be too many. If we tightened our gun laws and restrictions then the number of deaths would be expected to go down. Isn’t this reasonable cause to tighten gun laws?