Graves and Roses

By Aditi Jha

Since 2013, 35,876 people have died due to gun violence. 1,831 unintentional shootings, 20,196 suicides, 1,081 killings where officers were involved and 12,768 killings of defensive use, suspect killings, children, teens, officer deaths and mass murders. Since 2013.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and 1 teacher at Columbine High School. Legally or illegally. With or without permission. It’s too easy for 17 year olds to get guns. At least that’s what Dylan Klebold’s mother Sue Klebold says. Eric and Dylan committed suicides in the cafeteria a little after the murders.

In Alaska, you don’t need a permit to carry a concealed or unconcealed gun. Same with Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont and more. An estimated 393 million firearms are owned by U.S. civilians. The thing is, why are guns allowed? Why are they encouraged and bought, even throughout all these school shootings? The shooting of Sandy Hook Elementary, 26 dead. The Las Vegas shooting in 2017, 60 dead and 411 wounded. Orlando nightclub shooting, 49 dead and 53 wounded. The Virginia Tech shooting, with 32 dead and 23 injuries, 17 from gunfire. Guns are restricted in some places, but why not all? That’s what I’m going to tell you about now.

The second amendment to the Constitution doesn’t give you an unlimited right over things related to gun ownership. On the 9th of June, 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that “the right of the general public to carry a concealed firearm in public is not, and never has been, protected by the Second Amendment.” But for pro-gun people, the second amendment does protect gun rights. It 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.” The people who are for the use of guns believe that more gun control laws would “infringe upon the right to bear arms”. Antonin Scalia, a Supreme Court Justice stated after the District of Columbia et al. v. Heller case; “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home.” Again, the McDonald v. The City of Chicago ruling of 2010 stated that the second amendment is an individual right. Gun rights lean red when it comes to politics, and Republicans often believe that the Democrats are going to take away their guns with more gun control laws. But background checks just check whether the person buying the gun has a criminal record, known mental health issues or underage. If you are a law-abiding citizen, then the gun control laws will not affect you. And if a citizen is prevented from buying guns because of some of the above, then should they really get a gun, and aren’t the gun control laws meant to prevent firearm misuse? Even catching a flight to the airport takes a lot of security checks, so why should buying a weapon not?

572, 537 gun deaths took place between 1999 and 2016. 59% of those were suicides, 37% were homicides and 2% were unintentional. A study discovered that the second leading cause of death for children was by guns. Background checks means that before a person buys a gun, they get checked as to whether they have a criminal record or are underage. Background checks universally would reduce gun deaths by around 57%, according to a study taken in 2016. Background checks for the purchase of ammunition would reduce gun deaths by 81%, and identification requirements for guns would save a whopping 83% of people killed by firearms. According to the NRA, guns are used for self-defense 2.5 million times a year, and that the police can’t protect everybody 24-7. 61% of men and 56% of women that were surveyed by Pew Research claimed that more gun control laws would “make it more difficult for people to protect their homes and families.” But then again, wouldn’t the gun control laws make it so that the people who could possibly be threatening their homes and families don't have possession of firearms? Explain that to Professor Nelson Lund, who 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 live”, despite clear evidence. Even though the NRA provided that evidence, guns are rarely used in self-defense and out of the 29,618,300 violent crimes committed between 2007 and 2011, only 235,700 victims protected themselves with threats of use or use of firearms, which proves to be the least used defensive or protective behavior.

5 women every day are murdered with guns. If a gun is present at a domestic dispute, the woman’s risk of being murdered increases by 500%. More women were killed by guns in the United States from 2001 to 2012 than soldiers killed in action during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from 2001 to 2015. Added to that, criminals often steal and use legally owned guns, so even if you do own a gun legally, between 2005 and 2010, 1.4 million guns were stolen from homes in America, a yearly average of 232,400 times.

3 billion dollars are generated in hospital charges every year due to the 100,000+ amount of people shot in the U.S. Along with the death rate, more gun control laws would also stop costing so much financially. A study by the AJPH estimated that Medicaid and Medicare were being financially assaulted with 2.7 billion dollars of gun injury help over the span of nine years. More gun control also leads to fewer suicides, because out of the 270,237 suicides committed between 1999 and 2013, 52 percent were done with guns. When gun ownership goes down, suicide rates drop. Female gun-owners are 35 more times likely to commit suicide within 12 years of buying the gun than women who didn’t own guns, because the idea that a weapon that could be so easily used to end your life is within your reach is easy to think about when you’re not in a good mood, or having suicidal thoughts.

The presence of a gun is likely to make a conflict more violent. Countries with restrictive gun control laws like Switzerland and Finland have lower gun homicide and suicide rates than America. With all of this, the main argument for gun-rights advocates is still “They’re going to take away our guns.” Whether Republican or Democrat, for guns or against guns, life is short. Try to make the best decisions for yourself, for your country and for the world.