With billions of people on Earth, with already and more being born each year, the human population is ever more crowded with bodies and ideas that are increasingly harder to manage. For the unforeseeable future of the world and all of the turmoil that will surely come with it, I'd like the right to own a gun to protect myself and those I love. I think we can all agree that violence is terrible, but we need to discuss realistic personal safety during this day and age where nuclear threats and mass violence are daily occurrences.

The fact is, guns are commonplace and the people who want guns for illegal purposes will get them. They can acquire them legally or illegally and use them to their advantage. If someone comes into my home with a firearm, I should have a way to effectively protect myself. When you ban guns entirely, you might make it harder for somebody with bad intentions to get their hands on one, but you by no means stop them entirely. You do, however, stop the average law-abiding citizen from acquiring one. Had I had enough faith in law enforcement and their ability to stop crime, perhaps my views would be different. But law enforcement simply can't be everywhere, no matter how ardently they wish they could.

As it stands, and living in such a large city as Orlando especially, I simply do not feel safe. I do not feel safe jogging at night, and I do not feel safe walking from my the store to my car. I do not feel safe behind my flimsy apartment door, or at the local park where I've already been followed once. I do not feel safe as a woman who is more easily overpowered and far more susceptible to abduction, rape, and homicide. And I don't feel safe because it's not safe, and it should be our right to reasonably protect ourselves from harm. A little can of pepper spray isn't necessarily going to save me in the face of these oppressors.

Everyone hates this saying, but it's true: guns don't kill people, people kill people. People like the shooter in Vegas are mentally unstable, probably as a product of our culture. Banning guns won't stop these types of mass murderers; they need only sharp knives, bombs or even a large car to kill multiple people. Use your imagination.

Laws won't solve this problem. Banning guns won't solve mental health issues either, which are in dire need of attention. And no, somebody with a gun probably won't be able to stop these mass murderers simply because they have a weapon on them, but guns can help prevent gun crimes that I am more likely to experience. I deserve to feel safe. And I don't feel safe fighting somebody coming at me with a gun with a mere knife.

The world is crowded and unsafe and has been full of guns for many years now. It's full of many unstable and violent people. And the people who are good deserve to be able to effectively defend themselves and others against these people.

Of course, I am by no means saying that gun control should laws should be flouted or unregulated, but banning guns entirely just doesn't sound like a safe move.