This is a topic that has been debated within the United States for years, especially over the past couple weeks with all these campus killings. I can understand why people are getting fed up with guns because they are killing innocent lives, however, the issue is not necessarily the gun. The issue lies with the person behind the gun. Guns do not have the physical capabilities do actually shoot itself. I think there needs to be stricter background checks but people have to understand they are pretty top notch right now. The government does all they can, to make sure the guns do not get in the hands of the wrong people.

Some say that if guns were limited, there would be less crime. I cannot agree with this because criminals are known to break laws, and if they are used to breaking laws, what makes you think they wouldn’t break one more? Plus, law abiding citizens would be the ones getting “punished” because most gun owners abide by the laws. Being an avid gun owner and a hunter, I can tell you that I would be very upset if the government tried to step in, because the government already puts an incredibly high tax on ammunition as it is, to try to stop citizens from shooting guns.

The issue that needs to be addressed in this country is, making it more affordable for the mentally ill people to get help, whenever they need it. It should not cost thousands of dollars to receive help. Maybe the taxpayers can stop paying for criminals in jail to get steak and college degrees when they should be paying for citizens to receive psychiatric help.

Another thing I do not think people realize is how long it actually takes before enforcement gets to a crime scene. It takes .357 seconds to shoot a gun and close to about ten minutes for the first responders to arrive at the crime scene. This is generally speaking. Sometimes I often wonder if these shootings would occur, if these places were not gun free zones.

Imagine having a bystander with a gun, do you think these mass killings would take place? I feel like if a citizen had a gun, they could potentially kill the killer before too much harm is done. Gun free zones are our worst enemy because a killer knows they could just go and kill as many innocent people as they want without having a fear that someone would kill them before they accomplish want the are trying to accomplish. In most cases, the killer does not care if they die but they basically just want take innocent people with them, so if citizens carried in gun free zones, there is a chance they will not accomplish what they want to.

I believe there is a solution to gun control that politicians have not thought about, at least to my knowledge. I think there should be a Gun Safety Education class taught in elementary and middle schools by ex-military officers. I do not mean teach kids how to shoot, but teach kids to never point the muzzle at anyone loaded or not loaded, where the safety on the gun is located, and little things that I think all people should know. There are Physical Education, Sexual Education, Drivers Education classes, so why not have a Gun Safety Education class? For example, I grew up around guns and have been shooting for a long time, but I know to NEVER point a gun at someone no matter the situation unless an innocent life is threatened, also to always have the gun on safety until ready to fire because God forbid something accidently hits the trigger and now there is an accident which all could have been avoided.

There is one other point that I used to not have a problem with until I thought about it--some say the government should require citizens to register all their guns instead of just handguns, I am against this because if the government ever wanted full control over their citizens they’ll know exactly where to go and get the guns, people would be completely defenseless and that is not exactly fair, in case for some reason we ever have to overthrow the government.

All I am saying is there is ways the government can handle gun control without trying to attempt to limit our guns.