Guns laws, or gun control laws, are one of the most argued about issues among people in the U.S. There is a constant argument of whether the federal government needs to strengthen the laws already in place, or to go to the extreme, and get rid of guns altogether.
A graph done by CNN shows the polling numbers of citizens who support, are against, and are undecided on the subject of gun control. Since the early 90’s, the population polled has gone from 70 percent supporting to slightly under 50 percent.
A lot of that decision has fallen on the mass shootings in public, especially schools. From the 20th century onward, the amount of school shooting has increased by large margins. The ten-year gap between 1900-1910, only 13 death were recorded from schools shootings. From the 2010’s to April 23rd, (last updated recorded death by cause of school shooting.) 110 people have been killed in a school shooting.
One of the more attention focusing school shootings was that of Columbine High School in 1999. The aftermath of the shooting brought up the conversation of gun laws, school safety, and anti-bullying initiatives.
Another reason as to why the public has started supporting restrictions on guns is due to the media. As a mass shooting starts developing, news outlets jump on the story and it turns into an all-day frenzy of constantly being updated with little to no new information. Constant updates on the situation can lead people to be on alert. That fear has the influence to sway that person towards the side of gun restrictions.
Adding on to that, most of what is initially reported during a mass shooting ends up being wrong as new information surfaces itself. Take the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting for example, opening reports identified Ryan Lanza, Adam Lanza’s brother, as the active shooter. Reports also said that Lanza’s mother worked at the school, when in fact she volunteered there in her free time. The media is not to blame here, as the public’s demand to know more is greater than the need to know the truth.
Reports of shootings are becoming more and more common in the news cycle. This is troubling, not just for the increase in shootings, but because the public’s ability to gain normalcy to a situation. Instead of reacting with panic and fear, people will recognize the situation and the thought would leave their mind as fast as it came in. The point isn’t to react with fear or panic, but to recognize that there is a problem with the guns in this country. To solve it we first need to admit there is a problem.
The answer is not as simple as taking away guns, or restricting gun use. Without possession of firearms there will still be mass murders. Explosives will fill the void left by firearms, and bombs are much more dangerous than guns are. The Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 killed 169 people and injured 675. The bombing took out a section of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The death count exceeds, by far, the largest school shooting. Explosives have even been deadlier when it comes to schools. In 1927, a former education board member took out his wrath on the Bath Township but rigging the school with explosives. Blowing up half the school with the initial blast, he then drove up in his truck, also rigged with explosives, and detonated. In all, he killed 45 people, and the Bath School Massacre is the largest mass killing at a school. It should be mentioned that the shooters at Columbine also used explosives as they held up the school.
The answer lies in gun safety. There is a common misconception that gun safety is the same thing as gun control. That is wrong. Gun safety should be the ability to be taught how to safely handle a gun, and what the course of action is when a gun is threatening a person’s life. This course of action is needed because of the accessibility of guns. People who are not educated on gun violence will use their preconceived notions, and will fear guns. Like it or not, guns are a part of our lives. Instead of putting off the issue that we have with guns, let’s fix it.
To bring a gun into a school, and then unload bullets onto the students of that school, clearly shows a lack mental stability. That is an aspect that is hard to control. What can be controlled is what students, and or regular people in public, can do in the event of a mass shooting. The normal protocol consists of locking the door and staying away from the windows. This strategy is reminiscent of when school kids were told to hide under their desks to protect them.
When it comes to gun control, people who are uninformed or have a bias before they check their facts are in no way helping in finding a solution to gun control. The U.S. has the highest deaths by guns rate per capita in the world, and gun fatalities are the third largest cause of death. The fighting going on between gun owners and those who feel guns should be more restricted is becoming more distant every day. Education through gun safety can be the way to bridge the gap.
