In this article, I am writing alongside with one of my closest friends, who is also one of the most amazing human beings. Her name is Alyse Greenough. Together, we decided to write this article, after staying up to 4 a.m. talking about the most random of things to political issues like guns.

The two of us do not believe that guns should be entirely illegal in the United States, but that something needs to change, and that change needs to come through gun control. We agree that guns are an issue, but they are an issue when they are in the wrong hands. That guns are not inherently evil, it is the people who use them in such a way to cause harm is what make the guns evil. It is people committing these terrible crimes, not the gun.

Alyse gave this example on the subject, that when you misspell a word while writing an essay do you blame the pencil? No, because it is your fault since you were welding the pencil. Guns do not have feelings and they do not decide to shoot up a school or an institution. It is the fact that guns are merely tools in the hands of the right people. Guns shouldn’t be limited, the people who have access to these guns should be limited. It frustrates me when people put forth arguments about gun issues, but do not even know the basics.

Since for the most part, many individuals do not know that you cannot legally purchase an automatic gun in the United States. The only people who have access to those kinds of weapons are individuals granted that special privilege by the federal government. It is also important to note that this is a state by state issue.

I personally believe that guns were never be banned and I do not think they should. The process in which how people obtain guns needs to change. There is also the elephant in the room that many people do not bring up when talking about guns and that is mental illness. I don’t believe people realize how much mental illness plays a part in these shootings. I completely understand that people do not want all the attention to be on mental illness and give it more of negative connotation given the stigma that still around it.

However, it is part of the issue and we both agree that it needs to be addressed in the proper way. In a way to truly understand the issue and find ways to prevent and stop these trudges from happening. We believe that is a goal that for the most part everyone can agree on. That's what matters, protecting people and trying to prevent the loss of life. So instead of shifting blame, action needs to be taken.