Regardless of where you stand on the debate on gun control, whether you support it or don't support it, everyone is entitled to have an opinion. I want you to picture yourself in this situation though: You are in a restaurant with you're family enjoying a meal spending time with loved ones. Everything is going fine when you notice a man walk in, reaching into his waste band and pulls out a gun. He points it directly at the clerk at the register and fires for no apparent reason. Then the man raises his gun towards the panicking group of people trying to get out across the restaurant and begins to fire more. What would you do?
The topic of gun control has been a huge debate for many years now. The main reason for this is the increase of mass shootings the most recent being the attack in Florida. People on both sides of the debate can agree that mass shootings are tragedies, but how can we put a stop to them if there is a way? Going back to the restaurant situation I want to go through a couple different scenarios and see what you think you would do.
First, what if there were more bans and restrictions put on where you could have a firearm and what you could own? Most restaurants already ban firearms from being carried inside. To a person who wants to harm people this is a green light for them because they know that if they go into this restaurant they won't encounter any resistance. So what would you do? Hope the police get there quickly? Attempt to run? Or would you attempt to stop the shooter? Keep in mind you are with you're family.
On October 17, 1991, in Killeen, Texas, a man drove his truck through the window of a restaurant. He then pulled out a hand gun and started shooting people at random. One of the people in that restaurant was Susan Gratia-Hupp. She was eating with her parents there at the time the man started shooting. Some time before this her friend loaned her a gun to carry for protection, even though she was not very interested in guns she decided to carry it. Since she was not legally allowed to carry it into the restaurant she decided to leave it in her car. Susan Gratia-Hupp watched both of her parent die in front of her helplessly along with a number of other people in the restaurant before she was able to escape.
There are multiple "gun free zones" such as restaurants, schools and movie theaters. Although the media mostly shows what horror such as mass shootings guns are blamed for, there are quite a few times when an active shooter has been stopped by legal and responsible people carrying a firearm. In one example at a mall in Oregon an active shooter fatally shot two people but was then met by a man carrying a legally concealed firearm. Once the shooter saw the man he immediately fled and committed suicide.
For the next scenario, what if more restrictions were taken away? No "gun free zones" and people were not restricted on what they can own? Now, you are back in the restaurant. Before the gunman walks in how do you feel knowing there could be people potentially carrying a firearm? Would you carry yourself? How do you think the gunman feels before he walks in if he would do so knowing there could be a threat to him. Say he still walks in. At this point what are you thinking? Would you rather still have a "gun free zone?"
What would you do if you were the one with the concealed firearm? Would you run away and try to save yourself? Or would you be willing to put yourself in danger to protect you're family and your fellow man? With all these questions, there is one that comes up to be most important which is at what cost? Every action has a consequence and this is apparent in these situations. At what cost would it be to go through with gun control?
If you would like to look into this discussion more a You-Tuber by the name of "nutnfancy" made a good video about the subject of mass shootings.
