Guns in School: Control and Regulation
What actions does our country have to take?
June 7, 2023
Gun control and gun laws are a controversial topic America. The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns.
When it comes to opinions on gun ownership and control the country is divided on whether or not guns should be banned completely, only certain types, or if no bans are necessary at all.
In the Second Amendment of the Constitution, it states that Americans have the right to bear arms. Citizens that believe guns should remain legal have the advantage because eliminating something from the constitution is extremely difficult. There are multiple arguments and points that each side makes when giving reasons why firearms should remain legal or not.
Starting off, one of the main ideas brought up every time is “More gun control laws would reduce deaths.” As of now, the leading cause of death for children in the United States is from firearms and that fact is used to support their argument to change the gun restrictions and laws. However, the counter argument to that is “Gun control laws do not deter crime; gun ownership deters crime.” The main message that it declares is the person using the gun is the killer, not the gun itself.
A study in Applied Economics Letters found that “assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level” and “states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murders.” For each reason there is always a counter argument, making it harder and harder for gun related decisions. People also like to support the decision of making high-capacity magazines illegal because they often turn murder into mass murder.
A Mother Jones investigation found that high-capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012. Adding to that, the death rate in these mass shootings rose by 63% and the injury rate rose by 163% due to high capacity magazines.
How does this affect school shootings? Most school shootings are done with hand guns and about a quarter are done with assault rifles equipped with a high-capacity magazine. A quarter is still major but the handgun usage is an overpowering statistic.
Going off that, however, there’s obviously a counter. Citizens snap right back with “Gun control laws infringe upon the right to self-defense and deny people a sense of safety.” It’s argued that people may feel safer if they are able to carry as well, knowing that if a criminal has a gun they also are able to protect themselves from the criminal.
Now, if all guns were banned or if certain types were banned would that decrease the amount of school shootings? A study showed that the presence of a state or federal assault weapon ban between 1990 and 2014 was significantly associated with a 54-percent reduction in the number of school shooting victims. School shooters that are students usu
ally obtain the gun by a stealing it from a family member at home. In around 74-percent of incidents, the firearm was obtained from the student’s home or from a friend or relative.
However even if a gun banishment was put into law, that brings up “ghost guns.” A “ghost gun” is a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace, which experts warn are becoming increasingly dangerous. Alex McCourt, an assistant professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy said, “When we first heard about these weapons, we thought anyone can get them, even a kid. It’s not a hypothetical anymore.”
There have been multiple alleged ghost gun incidents on school grounds in the past year.
On Nov. 29, a 16 year old at Cesar Chavez High School in Phoenix was shot and wounded by an alleged ghost gun.
On Jan. 21 at Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland, Steven Alston Jr. shot and critically wounded a 15 year old classmate of his. Investigators said Alston, who is being tried as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, allegedly used a “ghost gun.” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones told reporters at a news conference “Three different parts were literally delivered to his home.” Police officials and reporters make it clear that ghost guns are an actual problem because they are so easy to acquire.
A recent shooting took place on March 4, 2022, when an 18 year old suspect wounded two teachers at Olathe East High School in Kansas. Coming from Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe, Jaylon Desean Elmore was charged with attempted capital murder.
So is banning guns the right decision to help protect our citizens and schools, or is keeping our right to own them just as safe for our citizens and is it an example to show the freedom that our country provides?
Should guns be banned in America?
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