On Sunday, June 12th, at about 2 a.m., Omar Mateen entered Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was armed with an AR-15 type assault rifle, as well as a handgun, and many rounds of ammunition. The nightclub had an armed officer working for them, but he was unable to stop Mateen, who went on to shoot over a hundred people in the club, and kill 49 of them.
One thing this shooting at Pulse has in common with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Aurora movie theater shooting, and the San Bernardino shooting is that the shooters in all of these instances used a legally-obtained AR-15 assault rifle to kill and hurt the victims. If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, it is a semi-automatic rifle, which began as a military weapon, but then became available for civilian use in the 1960s. The barrel of these guns can be up to two feet long, and the gun is lightweight. Additionally, this gun has become known as a weapon of choice for people who wish to harm a large amount of people quickly and efficiently, like many domestic terrorists.
Omar Mateen was known to be a temperamental, hateful, unstable, physically and emotionally abusive man. He was investigated by the FBI twice in the past four years for connections to terrorism, and was placed on the nation’s Terrorist Screening Database. During his investigations, he even claimed to have family connections to al-Qaeda. Does this sound like the type of person who should be allowed to purchase assault rifles that can shoot 45 rounds per minute? That being said, does any civilian sound like the type of person who should own such an assault rifle? It is literally called an assault weapon, describing itself as a weapon made to harm and assault others. Why do civilians in the United States need these? To hurt others? What other reason would people need to be able to shoot that much, that quickly?
Now, I’m no enemy or opponent of the second amendment. I do not think that guns are always bad, always unnecessary, or always destructive. That being said, I’m also not happy with how our country is handling guns. MassShootingTracker.org takes note on every mass-shooting (shootings involving multiple victims) that has taken place in the United States since 2013. It shows that as of 6/16/16 at 12:00 p.m., 166 days into the year, we have faced 182 mass-shootings. These shootings have killed 288 people and injured another 673 people—in just the first six months of 2016 so far. The United States is home to about one third of all mass-shootings, though the population of the USA makes up only about four point five percent of the world. It is clear to see that we have a gun control problem, and fixing it should be a top priority for the safety of our citizens and of our nation.
One of the only other machines, that are legal in the USA, I can think of with the potential to kill a large number of innocent people in a short period of time is the car. However, because of this potential risk, automobile use is heavily regulated by the United States. Before you can legally buy and drive a car, you must pass several examinations (both written and practical) of your capabilities and knowledge of the machinery, and prove that you are adept at handling cars. Additionally, you must have liability insurance in case you damage your car, or cause damage to someone else, and cars must undergo regular renewals and inspections. Why shouldn’t guns be treated with similar care and caution?
I believe that the United States desperately needs to take more action in the fight against gun violence, by increasing gun control laws. Until we do so, we will not be safe. I am not saying that we should ban all guns, or make them impossible to get. I just think that as a nation, we need to make access to guns more difficult. I believe that people should have to undergo more restrictions, regulations, in-depth background checks, mental examinations, and usage/safety tests before someone should be able to purchase a weapon that can cause catastrophic destruction.
