Embedded Files
All too frequently, deaths caused by gun violence can be seen across the United States. Unfortunately, there are many recent examples of this.
The shooting in York County took place on Sept. 17. 24-year-old Matthew Ruth shot and killed three officers and injured two serving a search warrant. Matthew Ruth was accused of stalking a woman. This tragedy unfolded when the officers arrived at the home of the victim only to find the door unlocked and open. The victim and her mother were not supposed to be home. It was at that moment that Det. Mark Baker, Det. Sgt. Cody Becker and Det. Isaiah Emenheiser were fired upon by Ruth, who used an AR-15-style rifle equipped with a suppressor.
Another example includes the Evergreen High School shooting on Sept. 10, where a 16-year-old student brought a revolver and a large amount of ammo to school. He waited until it was lunch to start shooting. But he didn’t stop there. He reloaded his handgun and kept shooting. According to officials, the student fired 20 rounds in just nine minutes. This put two students in critical condition and two others were wounded. As of Oct. 29, officials have not yet released information about how 16-year-old Desmond Holly had obtained the revolver.
On the same exact day as the Evergreen shooting, Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist, was debating at an event in Orem, Utah when he was fatally shot in the neck on live television. The shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had obtained a WWI Mauser .30-06 Caliber bolt action rifle from his grandfather. Relics like these are developed for the military and are not common with shootings.
All three of these tragic events occurred within the same month. Due to events like these and many more from the past, it is understandable why people may fear for their lives when going out, wondering whether someone with a firearm, permitted or not, will open fire on them.
It is the responsibility of the government to do as much as possible to keep the people of this country safe. Even if that requires officials to conduct a background check to make sure that the person purchasing the weapon does not have a history. This history could include criminal charges, mental health issues and civil orders. In some states, a background check isn’t necessary when purchasing from a private arms dealer. Without a standard background check required for all gun purchases, many loopholes are created with criminals ending up with weapons. With weapons becoming all so easy to get a hold of, an increase in gun violence is inevitable.
This brings forth the idea of “Universal Background Checks,” which is a concept in which all firearm purchases must require a background check. This includes purchases at gun shows, private purchases and online purchases. This background check would be nationwide holding all sellers accountable for selling to criminals without a background check. While many agree that this would further solidify the safety of citizens, others argue that this would create unnecessary hurdles for law abiding citizens to purchase a firearm. While this may be true in some cases, sacrifices must be made to create change in this fearful climate of school shootings, homicides, and domestic abuse.
Page updated
Report abuse