As President Obama recently spoke on the heart breaking shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., he did something that, to me, only one other event has done: made me feel chills. Not since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has an event shook me so hard. I remember being in high school in my newspaper class as someone yelled, “Turn on the TV!” No one spoke for the entire class, as we never looked away from the screen until school let out. The shooting in Roseburg on Thursday was the 294th mass shooting -- just in 2015, according to The Washington Post. This number is 294 times too high. President Obama added in his condolences that, "our thoughts and prayers are not enough.” They are not enough. Yes, we can pray for the fallen and help their families, but what can we do as a nation to make sure the statistic does not rise to 295 tomorrow, or next week, or next month? We need a change, and that change has to come from the state and federal level.
As of August this year, only nine states require a background check to purchase any gun, while seven require a background check for only handguns. That means that 34 states do not require a background check to purchase any type of gun. Once a buyer completes the Firearms Transaction Record, a background check is started which looks through three databases, the National Crime Information Center, the Interstate Identification Index and the NICS Index. In minutes, the background check will be able to tell whether the buyer is cleared, or not. However, this only detects criminal action. What about psychological tests?
I believe there should be an addition to background checks, as in a psychological test, where a buyer sits down with the therapist or psychologists to see what state the buyer is in. If the buyer is diagnosed as suicidal, mentally ill or not fit to own a gun, that should be the deciding factor. The state of Oregon does require a background check, but does not require a permit to purchase a gun, handgun, or otherwise.
Currently, only 17 states require a permit to purchase a handgun, or to purchase any type of gun. Oregon is not one these states. To obtain a permit to purchase a gun, one can contact their local police department, where background checks will be started, or some states have a one-time purchase permit in which a buyer can fill out a consent form with the gun store to purchase the gun. All states need to require permits for purchasing guns. Without this, people having access to gun becomes a simple job and is such a prevalent reason why shootings like ones in Charleston and Roseburg keep occurring.
The federal laws for guns are so weak, which make is possible for states to adopt and establish laws for gun laws, which have thus far created for havoc then help for our nation. Guns will always be around and that cannot be stopped. What can be stopped is the paths taken to obtain these guns. With critical laws established that enforce stronger background checks and adding psychological tests, guns will be held by less people who are not fit to posses them. And with strict permit laws that will force a buyer to have a permit in every state, it is possible mass shootings popping up as breaking news on your TV, or an alert on your phone, will be a declining occurrence.
The Second Amendment states that, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It seems more reasonable in a world like ours today, it should be, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed upon, unless one is not mentally or criminally fit to.” Everyone has the right to guns, this is constitutionally true. I am not promoting an end to guns, while I believe guns are essentials, gun laws are even more essential. There needs to be a control on these weapons. President Obama, during his closing words at his press conference said, “I hope and pray that I don’t have to come out again during my tenure as president to offer my condolences to families in these circumstances… But based on my experience as president, I can't guarantee that -- and that's terrible to say. And it can change.”
We as a nation and people have the legal power to change what happens in our backyard, and it is time that we as a people use that power given to us.
For guns safety and gun laws please go to: http://smartgunlaws.org/gun-policy/.
