Take a Side, Not a Sidearm

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Albert Einstein said this many years ago, but this quote perfectly describes the world we live in today. In the US, 39,773 people die from gun violence, but lawmakers are not doing enough. The second amendment in the Bill of Rights gives us a way to protect ourselves, but it could also be the cause of our dilemma.

Most people know that gun violence is a frequent occurrence in America, but not everyone knows how many people are really affected. The Gun Violence Archives specifically tells us that 263 kids under eleven die from guns, and another 635 children are injured. Most of this is due to the tragedy of school shootings. In the last ten years, 177 schools in the United States have experienced school shootings, and it's only getting worse. CNN wrote, in 2009, five children were killed in school shootings, and fourteen were injured. The numbers in 2018 are alarmingly higher at 37 killed and 68 injured. While the numbers help us understand the basics, we need to look at a personal story to truly grasp the magnitude of the issue.

Last year a high schooler in Frisco, Texas by the name of Gavin Golden brought a BB gun to school. Police observed that the BB gun “closely resembled a genuine firearm.” The gun was never fired, but it makes us wonder what could have happened if it had. The teenagers in the school were scared for their lives as they waited under lockdown. Gavin’s classmate said, “Our teacher probably did the best that he could,” Wilson said. “We had, I think, two desks [and] a chair. He took his belt and tried to jam it into the lock to keep it from moving as well.” After the lockdown, parents came to pick up their children from the high school. They had to drop everything, and some said that they had to wait for hours to see that their kids were safe. If a relatively safe neighborhood can experience shooting threats, imagine what people in unsafe cities go through.

Despite the everyday horrors, there are other sides to the story that shouldn't be ignored. The “right to bear arms” is the amendment that many people use to argue against gun control. This is a valid point but does have its flaws. People should have the right to protect themselves, but the danger wouldn’t exist in the first place if inexperienced or unstable people couldn’t own guns. The amendment gives everyone the right, but there are people with the intention of causing chaos. Other countries, like Japan, have already enforced strict gun laws, and, in 2006, they only suffered from two gun-related deaths “in a country of 127 million people.” Many people also say that it isn't the gun’s fault. The fault lies with the person behind the trigger. However, it would be a lot easier to take the gun out of the equation than the person. If other countries are setting strict gun control laws and are seeing results, why can’t the US do the same? Protecting your people from danger by arming them with a dangerous tool only causes more trouble.

Politicians have passed laws that help the cause, but they obviously haven’t done enough. Lawmakers have previously passed numerous laws backing gun control. They passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993 that kept three million guns away from dangerous people. This act enforces extensive background checks on any individuals purchasing firearms but are we sure that our laws are working? We are still experiencing school shootings, and many Americans are still dying from gun violence. Perhaps banning guns isn’t the right way to go, but even police support the ideas of background checks, registration, and safety mechanisms on guns. It’s time to take notice of the issue and solve it for good.

We live in a world where with every solution, a new problem will arise. Maybe if we forbid guns, we could cause more complications, but worrying about the possibilities will never give us a solution. People should have the right to bear arms, but we shouldn’t abuse the power that we are given. So take a side, not a sidearm.