The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "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." "Well regulated" is in the first few words of the amendment, and it is clear in present day America, guns need to be regulated. To put this into perspective, this amendment was put into place by slaveowners, before most of our country had rights before we had electricity, and before we had the weaponry that shot 13+ bullets per second.
When a mistake is made in life, it is instinctual to look back on it and see what could have been done to prevent that mistake from happening. For example, when you were a child and you tripped because your shoe laces were untied, it was subject that you tied your laces to prevent yourself from falling again. Let's take a look at vehicular accidents that caused countless deaths before laws were put in place.
To lower the rate of deaths by automobile accidents, we added seat belts and airbags to cars, we made age restrictions on driving, we made laws about driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and treated cars with the severity that was needed. On a larger scale, let's look at 9/11 - one of the biggest American tragedies known to date. After the US government was able to understand that airplanes were able to be utilized as weapons of mass destruction, they took it upon themselves to do everything they could to prevent something like this from happening again.
Tighter security including metal detectors and more checkpoints, a longer No Fly List, and countless other precautions were implemented and are enforced to this day. There is no way to change what has happened in the past, but we do have the ability to reform and do everything we can to prevent it from happening again; this ability is what makes America so strong. Obama has given 16 speeches about mass shootings. Time and time again we have to hear the same speech about a shooter who was not mentally stable to own a gun and a list of innocent lives lost due to the incident. This mistake has happened too many times, and yet Americans have yet to take action to prevent it from happening again.
Now I'm not saying that I believe in infringing upon Americans' second amendment rights and prohibiting/confiscating firearms. However, something that has the ability to kill other humans should not be taken so lightly. Intense background checks, mental stability checks, and training should be set in place. The ability to obtain an assault weapon that can kill a large amount of people in a short amount of time is not necessary. But again, I do respect the purchase of guns for sport, hunting, and protection.
I know what you're thinking - even if we enforce stricter gun laws, people will still find a way to obtain a gun illegally. This is true, but it is also a backward way to think. This is analogous to saying "why don't we take away traffic lights? People run red lights anyway." Sounds silly, doesn't it?
The man who murdered 49 people, injured 53 and ruined countless lives of friends and family obtained that firearm legally. A man who was on the FBI watch list was able to, at his leisure, purchase a weapon with no question. Sure you can blame things like immigration, terrorism or his mental health issues, but either way, he was able to get his hand on a gun. This is inexcusable.
This argument should have ended three and a half years ago when those babies died due to a school shooting in Newtown. That doesn't fall under the "shit happens" category. That is something that deserves attention and should have been reason alone to fix our system. But here we are once again trying to point fingers at anything but the gun.
It's time that we as a country stand together and realize that there is something we can do. It's time we start tallying the innocent lives lost due to unfit people getting their hand on a weapon. It's time we start treating guns with the severity that they hold. I, or any American for that matter, should not have to walk into a school, a movie theater, a nightclub, or a house of faith and fear my life be taken by a gun. It's time for a change.
