Just for the record: I do not plan on taking away "your gun."

There is something that I just do not understand and that is why the USA has divided into super conservative camps and super liberal camps. It just reminds me that anything extreme is not necessarily the best or the right answer. Anything in excess can turn into something negative. This also reminds me of the theory of when like-minded people get together they tend to just become more extreme in their views of the world. I now believe this is what is happening. People who are alike mainly converse with other people who are like them. We refuse to listen to the other side just because we think we know what is right. We use the Second Amendment as a reason to say that we have the right to bear arms, but amendments like that one need to adapt to the times.

I understand the points of both sides, but we need to meet in the middle. We need to have a more moderate way of thinking for the sake of the country. These extreme ways of thinking are what launched the Civil War and what divided families who may have never recovered from the psychological effects of different values and views of the world.

I think something we can all agree on is that there needs to be better surveillance with the FBI. With the example of the shooting in Orlando, we all see is how this could have been prevented and how so much sadness could have been prevented. The very conservative rant that they believe their guns will be taken away from them but, to be frank, that is the absolute worst idea in the world when it comes to gun control. You can cite research on other countries who do not allow guns at all and how happy-go-lucky they are, but the truth is their society is not like ours and it takes a very long time for a society to adapt to something that extreme.

The very liberal believe we need to get rid of guns all together, and I also see where they are coming from. If regular citizens do not have access to certain weapons, then the death by guns could possibly go down, but for only a while.

Lets go back to a gloomy time called Prohibition. Remember that from history class? Basically, alcohol was prohibited. Speakeasies rose out from Prohibition and all that ended up happening is that now we can consume alcohol. Historically, banning something only leads to a more dangerous society. Look at the War on Drugs! While we try to prohibit the consumption of these drugs it is destroying my home state of New Jersey with heroin being rampant. Mayor Svante Myrick of Ithaca, New York, currently proposed a very controversial fight against heroin with supervised heroin injection sites. His proposal is a very gutsy approach since some citizens have came out to say that handing someone the needle is not helping them with their battle against heroin. Even patients who have been clean for months have spoken out against how this would not have helped them, but only time will tell about this approach since you never really know what will happen.

I propose something crazy called discussion. The answer for gun control is not black or white. We need to stop thinking that way. We need to keep in mind that not every area in this country needs access to certain weaponry. We need to understand that the issue with guns is layers upon layers. We are only looking at the surface of the situation; the only way we can see the other layers is by talking to each other. Farmers and ranchers should get access to certain weaponry because they need to protect their land from trespassers, people in the city should get access to hand guns because knowledge of hand gun safety is important to know, but assault rifles have no point being in the hands of civilians. Just because you can have something does not mean it is best to have it. You can't hunt with an assault rifle you will destroy the meat. So what are you going to do with that? Kill senselessly.

I am what people consider a gun nut. I love my guns. I know how to shoot a hand gun and rifles. But I also know that there is no reason for me to have an assault rifle just because I can. I do have a right to bear arms, but only to a point. Reform is key to this situation but people, please start understanding that you need to talk to people who do not think like you do. I grew as a person by interacting with people who did not practice the same religion as me, are not the same ethnicity or race as me, and who come from different socioeconomic backgrounds. We all have a valid reason for gun control, but it is now a complete reason for gun control.

You might think I forgot about mental health. I did not. As long as the stigma is still out there, it is will be almost impossible to secure better reform on guns. Teaching the next generation that if they experience a dramatic change in their emotions, that going to therapy is nothing to be ashamed of, and that we can reach out to all different populations on a right to mental healthcare -- then things might just start to change. People spend so much time blaming certain religions or ethnicities for senseless killing, but all of this is a domino effect that needs to be stopped before it reaches the end. Gun control is possible, we can go through each layer as a country, but only if we turn to our neighbor and ask them their opinion, respect it, and then reflect on what is really important for not just us but for the sake of our country.