This isn’t going to be a long post. I don’t have too much to say on this subject. I have a couple quick points and one main point. Then I’ll be out of here. It’s a serious topic, so I understand if you might not want to read this one. Everyone deserves positivity in their lives, and this isn’t a positive one. I need to get these thoughts out, though, so here goes.
The United States has a gun problem. We all know that. At least, half the people in the US and most of the people outside the country know that. The other half of the people in the United States (and they’ll likely say the same about me), are too hung up on their convictions to see the other side. They’re too hung up to realize there’s a problem. They want guns to the point that they don’t care about people being constantly killed or injured with them. To them, it’s a small price to pay to own and play with a device designed for death. I would say that price is too high.
Just this year alone, there have been over 180 mass shootings. That’s more than one per day. And the definition of mass shooting is that at least four people are shot. That’s over 500 people being shot or killed in mass shootings this year. No other first world country has that problem. And that’s only the mass shootings. That doesn’t include any of the shootings where one, two, or three people were shot. Again, no other first world country has that problem. No other first world country has this many people killing residents of their own country at this rate. Why? Because the other countries learned from their mistakes and put restrictions on firearms.
This is where three counter-arguments for gun restrictions will come up. The first one is that people will find a way to get guns anyway, likely from the black market. Okay. Sure. Some people might. It would be more difficult, though. The added difficulty will turn some people away. They won’t want to put the effort in to get a gun if it’s not readily available. That’s a good thing. You wouldn’t have as many people grabbing a gun, spur of the moment, to shoot someone in a fit of rage. That already reduces some of the gun violence because of people’s inherent desire to be lazy.
The second argument that pro-firearms people have is that gun restrictions will never eliminate all shootings. All I have to say is that everyone knows that. But it’s better to have one mass shooting than seven. Four people get shot in a mass shooting, maybe killed. Seven mass shootings means that twenty-eight people were shot or killed. If you put in restrictions and the mass shootings theoretically go down from seven to one, that’s twenty-four people who are no longer victims. That’s a good thing. Gun restrictions are about reduction. Everyone knows they won’t eliminate all shootings.
I want to take a moment to bring up Australia. The Port Arthur Massacre happened in 1996. Thirty-five people were killed and another twenty-four were injured. It was the worst massacre in Australian history, bringing things to a head after an increasing number of mass shootings over the decade prior. Strict gun restrictions were put in place. It wasn’t an outright ban, but a series of licenses required to obtain firearms. Since the restrictions were put into place, only a handful of mass shootings have occurred. None of them were anywhere near the high victim count of The Port Arthur Massacre. Most of them have been familicide, as opposed to the American trend of shooters going to public places and shooting anyone they see. The restrictions made a difference.
The third argument is that the 2nd Amendment gives people the right to bear arms. Fair. It does do that. But, it’s an amendment. It wasn’t there originally. The constitution was amended to put that in there. It could be amended again to take it out. It’s not like the 13th Amendment was always there. The Constitution was changed in 1865. The 2nd Amendment could be changed. Also, the 2nd Amendment was written by a bunch of white men who owned slaves in 1791. I wouldn’t recommend following everything they did declare. Society has changed. So should some of the rules.
I just don’t understand why people choose guns over human lives. I get the government doing it. Many of the Republicans are funded by the NRA. But you would think that people would be against the senseless shootings that happen far too often. You would think they would vote the NRA-funded congresspeople out. Alas, here we are. This is not a great, or safe, place to be.
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