Every year, I hear devastating stories about communities being turned upside down by school shootings. I’m terrified of the violence across the nation and believe that tighter gun laws are essential across the country.
Gun violence can happen any second due to how easy it is to obtain guns in this country. One example is Salvador Ramos, who was 18 when he shot up Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, killing 19 students and two teachers and injuring 17 others. This became one of the deadliest school shootings at an elementary school.
In the US, the minimum age for gun possession is 18. It’s horrifying that someone who is still in high school can have access to firearms. According to the nonprofit Everytown For Gun Safety, California has the strictest gun laws in the U.S. As mentioned in Find Laws, California has a law making buyers wait 10 days before purchasing guns. This is to discourage buys from compulsive purchases which might cause harm or danger. After 10 days, they can reevaluate if they actually want to go through with the buying of a gun. I believe these laws should be adopted in other states across the country to help prevent mass shootings.
To make it even worse, many adult gun owners do not properly store their firearms, even when there are children at home. This endangers everyone in the family. According to The Florida Times Union article, ¨Jacksonville boy, six, accidentally shoots himself; teen charged with culpable negligence in his death¨ by Dan Scalan, “On June 16, 2021, a 14-year-old boy was charged with culpable negligence for an improperly stored firearm, a six-year-old boy retrieved (the weapon) and accidentally shot himself.” I believe that if gun owners can’t properly store their weaponry, they shouldn’t have any at all.
People with severe traumas and mental health also contribute to this gun violence. In some cases, this is due to experiences they had in the past. For example, CBS News “At a young age, 42% of all mass shooters experienced trauma including physical and sexual abuse, parental suicide, or being victims of severe bullying.” Therefore, these situations cause others to go through the same trauma. Another example of this is how violence affects the person leading them to create more shootings, “…Seventy-two percent of mass were suicidal either before and at the time of the shooting.” Suicidal thoughts create a sense of hopelessness which leads to a lack of empathy toward others, causing them to act out in harmful ways. I think this shows how people have many unspoken emotions. Instead of speaking about these emotions, they become mass murders and this is what causes more shootings.
I understand people feel that they need guns for protection but I think they need to find other ways of protecting themselves because guns cause more violence than they prevent. As stated in San Francisco Chronicle, “Charts show how California crime trends compare to the rest of the U.S.” by Susie Neilson, “California’s reported violent crime rate has increased over the past two years. . . a significant spike in aggravated assault, which has risen by 24% since 2019.” People feel that their gun ownership is acceptable due to crime rates rising.
Hopefully, people consider this perspective and put more effort into doing deeper background checks to examine if the person is mentally stable and educating themselves on how to properly store a firearm in your household. Also, raising the minimum age to 25 to get a gun would help avoid gun violence.
