In the wake of the deadliest shooting in United States history, many seek to mourn, while Present Obama looks to further gun control. If there is one message that he has sent recently, it is that he wants guns out of the hands of American citizens. His plan would prevent mass shootings, in an ideal world. But A) we do not live in an ideal world, and B) people will still kill other people. So I am going to start with the three things that President Barack Obama may have forgotten.
First, a number of mass shootings while he has been in office.
First we must ask, what is a mass shooting? The FBI's definition of a mass shooting is, “a number of murders (four or more) occurring during the same incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders." So let's look at the numbers. Per Jeffery Phillips of WeAreChange.org, As of December 7, 2015, there have been a total of 162 mass murders under President Barack Obama, and we should compare that to the prior four presidents.
President Reagan: 11
President Bush: 12
President Clinton: 23
President Bush: 20
So what does this mean? Both Clinton and Obama have had the strictest gun control policies of the last five presidents, and with the two, we see huge spikes in a number of mass murders across the United States. Sure, guns are the most common weapon in murder, according to infoplease.com, in 1965, guns were in use in 57 percent of murders, but why has that number grown almost 25 percent in 50 years? Is it a result of "gun control?" We have had a massive increase in "Gun Free Zones" since President Obama took office, however, that does not help, because according to crimeresearch.org, since 1998, over 96 percent of mass shootings have happened in "Gun Free Zones". Why? Because if you pull out a gun in a gun free zone, who will be able to stop you? Answer: No one. The only people who take guns into these gun free zones are criminals and those who intend to do harm onto the people there. If this data is not enough for you, then look at the L.A. Times' report on the largest shooting since 1984. Six of the 12 largest shootings have been under President Obama and his gun control plans, and two of the top three! He is taking guns from innocent people, and in turn, taking away one's right to defend him or herself.
Second: Criminals will always be criminals. Drugs such as cocaine, heroin, meth and even marijuana in most places are illegal, however; people are still able to get their hands on these drugs. No matter what we do as far as gun control, criminals will still be able to get guns illegally, most of them do anyway. Taking away registered guns does nothing to prevent mass murders in which guns are used. If anything, it will only increase the amount, because as seen in gun free zones, no one will be able to oppose the shooters.
Third: There will always be other ways to harm. According to infoplease.com, the second most used weapon in murder is a knife, then blunt force objects, then one's hands or body parts. For the most part, these cannot be controlled, maybe "Knife Free Zones" can be implemented, but people will still find ways of murdering others. According to The Washington Post, the bomb used at the Boston Marathon was a pressure cooker, a very simple design, something that anyone could make. Bombs can be made using bleach and ammonia, simple household ingredients.There is no real way of controlling these items, so without guns, more of these methods may be used.
As awful as it is to say, people will kill and be killed regardless. The largest "mass murder," if you will, was 9/11, and no one thought anything like that would happen. People will harm and kill, and ISIS will not stop. So please, do not disarm innocent Americans in the process.
