Today, the United States holds the most expensive military and possesses one of the world’s most efficient police enforcement. This result dates back to 1789 when our Founding Fathers assembled and collectively agreed on the documentation that would shape the history of the United States -- the Constitution.
In this long, articulated piece of writing, lies an amendment that has been arguably one of the most contested out of all 27 amendments. The 2nd amendment explicitly states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The amendment was established when the United States recently claimed their independence from Great Britain and there was little policing, resulting in a scattered and disorganized system. In a time of high danger, it made sense for the colonials to possess military level weapons in order to defend themselves.
The establishment of modern-day police departments in America provides citizens protection from crime at such a high rate, it decreases the potential rate of crime due to strict enforcement of the law. So is it in the nation’s interest in 2018 to formulate a new interpretation of the 2nd amendment and set restrictions on what type of guns can be owned by civilians?
In the 21st century, mass shooting has become normalized due to the frequency in which they are occurring. For instance, on April 16, 2007, Seung-Hu Cho, a Virginia Tech student committed a mass shooting killing 32 college students. A month before, Cho purchased a 9mm glock along with 50 rounds of ammunition. Cho was openly-known as mentally ill and received evaluation two years prior for suicidal remarks.
Continuing on, December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, a former student known to be mentally ill, gunned down 20 first graders and six school teachers in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator was wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. As time has passed, mass shootings have become more common and even more brutal.
In 2016 and 2017, we witnessed the two most deadly mass shootings ever to take place on United States soil: the Pulse nightclub mass shooting and the Las Vegas mass shooting. The Pulse nightclub shooting accumulated 49 casualties, in which the gunman was wielding an AR-15 type assault rifle and a handgun and the gunman in the Las Vegas shooting was responsible for 59 deaths and was found with 42 guns including several semi-automatic assault rifles.
This brings us to just a week ago, on February 14, 2018, where we have once again experienced another mass shooting resulting in the death of 17 high school students at the hands of an AR-15.
It is time for America to stop resulting in xenophobia and racism as the roots of these mass murderings and realize the true cause of these tragic events: heavy-militarized weapons. In these events, regardless of their mental state, each gunman had no problem acquiring heavy power weapons (if not multiple) in a relatively short time. The total restriction of firearms is unconstitutional but the ownership of semi-automatic rifles (which can become nearly automatic with bump stocks) is excessive for civilians.
In my opinion, there should be a limited number of handguns legal to civilians, more extensive background checks regarding one’s medical and criminal records, and a longer waiting period in which buyers can possess these weapons.
However, some may insist by implementing these regulations, their constitutional rights will be violated. The counter-argument for that is the founding fathers did not envision the evolution of weaponry to become this much of a danger to the greater good.
Making semi-automatic assault rifles and high-powered handguns illegal is the answer to lessening the frequency of mass shootings. The fewer guns that civilians have in their possession, the easier it is for law enforcement to instill social control.
