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Gun violence on a massive scale is specific to the United States. Alex C., Alicia F.R. and Mei Mei B. share insights and data about this issue that affects citizens in all states.
Source: Gun Violence Archive
The legal age to buy guns should be 21
By Mei Mei B.
Guns are a piece of machinery that can be very lethal and require a lot of responsibility. This is why guns should not be able to be purchased by people under the age of 21 because other things that are not as dangerous as guns can’t be purchased at that same age. For example to buy alcohol, you need to be 21. People under the age of 21 are less likely to have proper gun training, and most school and mass shootings are done by people under the age of eighteen, according to NewsNation.
The first reason is you should not be able to buy guns under the age of 21 is that you are not allowed to buy or legally consume alcohol at this age, so why guns? If anything, guns can be much more dangerous than consuming alcohol at a young age. Even though alcohol can be dangerous for your brain growth and having it when driving at a young age, guns are still more dangerous to you and other people.
The second reason is that younger people are less likely to have proper gun training, and not having proper gun training when wielding a gun can be very dangerous. Not having gun training when owning a gun is not just not safe for the people around you but also you.
The final reason is that seven out of ten school mass shootings are carried out by people under the age of 18, according to NewsNation. This means that they were given access to guns by parents, guardians, or they bought them in states where it is legal to own a gun under 21. If this law wasn't in place, innocent people's lives could have been saved.
A plea to end gun violence
A plea to end gun violence
By Alex C. and Alicia F.R.
Guns have affected many people around the United States. There have been far too many shootings, and there is still no real plan to deal with access to guns. As children in school, this concerns us. No one should have to feel scared for their lives at any time during school. If there were more gun laws in the United States, this country would be safer.
According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 149 mass shootings in the US (as of mid-April 2023) with gun violence claiming lives in every state in the country. There has been an astounding 13,398 gun-related deaths as of April 2023. These deaths include homicides, accidental deaths, mass shootings, and suicides. As you can tell, this is a huge problem in the US. From a child's perspective, it is considered terrifying. We are lucky that we haven't had to experience this awful thing, but many other kids in the USA have.
This issue hit close to home when there was a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. There were 21 people killed and 16 injured. This year, a six-year-old shot his teacher on January 6, 2023 in Virginia. If there were more gun restrictions ,this situation could have been avoided.
Other countries have succeeded in making more restrictions on guns. For example, in Canada for every 100 residents, 35 have firearms. In Canada, there are more gun laws, and they don’t struggle with the same high numbers of gun deaths. In Canada, it is illegal to possess an automatic weapon such as assault rifles and machine guns, according to the OLR Research Report.
The United States needs to do more to eliminate gun violence. We can’t just sit here watching it go on. As you can see, this matters to us. Neither of us want to feel unsafe during class or at any time, and we shouldn’t have to. We are children. If it matters to us, it should matter to the adults in Congress who have the power to change these laws.
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