So...What about these gun laws though?

So let’s talk about gun control and the lack thereof in America.

On Thursday October 1, another shooting rampage took place at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. This tragedy has left 10 people dead, 20 wounded and is the 295^th mass shooting in 2015 according to shootingtracker.com. As a nation, we are so concerned with terrorists and protecting our nation from other countries seeking harm that we are ignoring domestic gunmen. Now don’t get me wrong, we should most certainly be concerned with keeping our nation safe from terrorists but what about those citizens who abuse the right to own guns by just walking in public places and start shooting?

The great debate on whether people should be allowed to buy and carry guns continues to be popular. Yes, the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms but at what point does the nation come to realize it is time for a change? I understand people want to own guns to protect themselves but if what seems like anyone can just walk into a store and buy a gun continues to be okay, the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Having a weapon should be looked at as a privilege and the moment it was abused, it should have been taken away.

Point.

Blank.

Period.

Just like any rule that is put into place, when people start abusing it, it is taken away. Within the past ten years alone, multiple mass shootings have occurred. Some of the most well known are the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, Columbine High School shooting in 1999 and the Aurora theatre shooting also in 2012, just to name a few. It’s becoming more frequent and almost mind-numbing. The country sits in shock initially, we mourn for those who are victims when all they simply did was walk outside their front door to live their lives and then time passes and everyone moves on.

The fact that majority of the gunmen of these mass shooting have legally purchased the weapons they use to do mass destruction is heartbreaking.

Compared to other countries, America is unfortunately leading the pack when it comes to rates of gun-homicide. 

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Unites States has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate than any other developed country. When it comes to semiautomatic assault weapons, handguns and certain military style rifles, there aren’t federal laws banning them. According to Business Insider, there is no legal right to possess a firearm in Canada and in order to have one, it takes 60 days to obtain, a mandatory license, a safety training course and a background check. As far as guns in the United Kingdom, someone wanting a firearm must possess a Firearm or Shotgun Certificate. Machine guns, semi automatics and other firearms are prohibited. The U.K. and Canada are countries that are examples of stricter gun laws and the results yield significantly lower gun homicide rates.  

While banning guns might be ideal, it’s not necessarily safe to say that if this banning of guns in the United States were to happen, the gun-homicide rate will go down. Unfortunately, people will still find loopholes to obtain weapons but maybe if America had stricter gun laws, obtaining a weapon would be much more of a hassle.

In light of the tragic incident in Oregon and every other mass shooting incident that has occurred prior to it, it is necessary that our gun laws be revisited and become much more stricter.  The media is often quick at covering the incidents when they happen and everyone swarms social media to state their opinions but even in doing so, gun laws or the lack of gun laws in America remain the same.