If you had an opportunity to reduce the amount of death and violence occurring in our country, would you take action? Approximately 93 Americans are killed by gun related violence every day.  Enacting more gun control laws would not only diminish the deaths occurring in our country, but it would also protect our nation. The Second Amendment states, “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” (Gun Control- ProCon).  The purpose of the Second Amendment is for Americans to have the right to protect themselves, not hurt others. In order to purchase a gun, a citizen must legally undergo a background check. Unfortunately, 40% of illegal gun sales are undocumented and do not require a background check. The “gun show loophole” has allowed criminals to obtain guns. There have already been 7,051 incidents regarding the use of gun violence in America just this year; 1,860 of these incidents resulted in death (Gun Control- ProCon). Stricter gun control laws could greatly diminish the amount of deaths and criminal activity that occurs everyday. The United States needs to enact more laws regarding the use of guns because it will prevent violence that occurs daily and save the lives of civilians.

Stricter gun control laws need to be enacted to diminish the amount of violence and death that occurs daily. There have already been 17,267 incidents involving guns in America within the past year. 66.6% of all homicides in the United States involve the use of guns (U.S. CDC). The American Journal of Public Health found that “legal purchase of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increase of violent death.” The use of background checks could reduce firearm deaths by 56.9%; gun identification requirements could also reduce deaths by a projected 82.5% (Gun Violence Archive). Americans already experience enough tragedy everyday. If the United States government required restrictions on gun purchases, our country would be a much safer place.
As a result of our current gun control laws, innocent children are dying. In April 2017, 3 toddlers shot and killed themselves. Two-year-old Sha’Quille Kornega had been napping with her father earlier this month when she discovered his handgun that was kept under his pillow.  Sha’Quille’s father told police he woke up to find his daughter by his bed bleeding and crying with the gun at her feet; she had shot herself in the skull while inspecting the gun. Holston Cole, age 3,shot himself with a pistol found in his father’s backpack. On the 911 call made, Holston’s father was heard pleading for his baby: “Daddy loves you, Holston. Please, please stay with me.” 2-year-old Kiyan Shelton heard his mother’s cell phone ringing in her purse and went to grab it; there was a .380 caliber Bersa pistol in it. Ms.Shelton heard a loud bang and rushed downstairs, where she found Kiyan lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Kiyan had shot himself in the chest with his mother’s gun. These toddlers barely know how to tie their own shoelaces and are too young to understand what the word “gun” means; they were tragically killed by their own curiosity. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group that tracks these shootings, at least 30 people were killed in accidental shootings in which the shooter was 5 or younger this past year (Blinder, Bosman, Healy, Turkewitz). Gun control advocates state that these deaths show the gaps in gun safety laws. Many states leave safety decisions to gun owners. In reality, there should laws that require guns to be locked and stored somewhere safely. The deaths of these innocent children are so tragic because it was preventable. Stricter gun control laws could have saved the lives of these helpless children.

People who oppose gun control laws insist that they deny people a sense of safety and the right to defend themselves.  Some people believe that gun ownership is an American tradition, and stricter laws would infringe on the Second Amendment. Lawrence Hunter, Chairman of Revolution PAC, stated, "The Founders understood that the right to own and bear laws is as fundamental and as essential to maintaining liberty as are the rights of free speech, a free press, freedom of religion and the other protections against government encroachments on liberty delineated in the Bill of Rights."  It is also argued that gun control laws deny citizen’s rights to defend themselves. 61% of men and 56% of women surveyed by Pew Research said that stricter gun laws would "make it more difficult for people to protect their homes and families" (Breck). Nelson Lund, JD, PhD, Professor at George Mason University School of Law, stated, "The right to self-defense and to the means of defending oneself is a basic natural right that grows out of the right to life" and "many [gun control laws] interfere with the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves against violent criminals." Stricter gun control laws do not deny the right to self-defense; it prevents bad people from obtaining guns and hurting others. Don Macalady, member of Hunters against Gun Violence, stated, "As a hunter and someone who has owned guns since I was a young boy, I believe that commonsense gun legislation makes us all safer. Background checks prevent criminals and other dangerous people from getting guns." Background checks and bans on assault weapons are laws that could prevent a criminal from purchasing a gun; this could potentially save the lives of many.

Views on gun control laws are a very controversial topic in our country. Many people fall on either one side of the spectrum or the other. Violent acts and massacres caused by guns are prevalent in our society. The issues of gun control need to be raised in order to resolve this ongoing issue. As a society, it is our job to seek improvement on gun control laws. The only way to combat gun violence is to provide restrictions. Requiring a background check when purchasing guns would prevent a person with a criminal history from obtaining one. Also, requiring guns to be locked and stored safely could prevent accidental deaths of children. Military and government officials should be the sole owners of assault rifles and high capacity magazines. None of these restrictions deny citizen’s safety or infringe on the Second Amendment. Gun related violence is a major problem in our country, and it is necessary to provide laws that will help this issue.