Let me ask you something, what are the major problems facing our country today? Well, I believe that gun control is one of the larger issues our country has. It's about time politicians did something to restrict people's access to deadly weapons and prevent another tragedy like a mass shooting or at least lessen their damage. I am not the only one who shares this opinion. In fact, 20 out of 23 students I surveyed believe that we need stricter gun laws. Although some would say that placing tighter restrictions on guns would do little to stop gun violence, nevertheless it is up to our leaders to at least pass common-sense gun regulations, because close to half of American believe in some restrictions when it comes to firearms and when the wrong people have access to deadly weapons it can lead to tragedies like at Sandy Hook Elementary or Aroura Colorado.

Now part of the reasoning that there has been no action against gun control is because we need more information and unlike guns, the information around them has been heavily restricted. In fact, “The CDC, the nation's public health agency, has long been restricted (link is external) from conducting the kind of research that will support solutions to reduce gun violence. CDC can track, assess, and develop strategies to prevent gun violence, just as we do with influenza and tainted spinach.” (Gun Violence Must Stop. Here's What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths) if we had the same information on gun violence as we have with other diseases legislators could pass gun laws that work for our unique country. There have been attempts at passing state gun regulations “From 1994 to 2004, federal law also banned the sale of many types of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but the law expired and has not been renewed. A few states have assault weapon bans of their own that remain in place.” (Gun Control Explained)If we are to protect people then we need information on what could work and what would be best effective for us.

Another reason for more gun restrictions would be because the people who are using these guns may have other more malicious purposes for them.: “Between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,237 firearm suicides in the United States, accounting for about 52% of all suicides during those years. [4] When US gun ownership goes down, overall suicide rates drop; meanwhile, each 10 percentage-point increase in gun ownership is linked to a 26.9% increase in the youth suicide rate.” (ProCon.org) if there were restrictions that prevented people from accessing guns they might be able to find help and deal with their problems in a healthy way. Even relationship problems can be turbocharged by guns “A woman’s risk of being murdered increases 500% if a gun is present during a domestic dispute. [11] During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 5,364 US soldiers were killed in action between Oct. 7, 2001, and Jan. 28, 2015; between 2001 and 2012 6,410 women were killed with a gun by an intimate partner in the United States. (ProCon.org) this further proves my point that on the wrong hand’s guns turn from a “defense” to a deadly weapon for themselves and others.

Now even though legislators have been slow to act and are hesitant when it comes to gun control, public opinion has been swaying toward some kind of reform. “53% of all adults surveyed approve of high-capacity magazine bans. [27] 89% of adults with a gun in the home approve of laws to prevent the purchase of guns by the mentally ill, and 82% approve of banning gun sales to people on no-fly lists. [27] 77% of Americans support requiring a license to purchase a gun.” (ProCon.org) now that begs the question that if most people support gun changes why hasn’t there been, and who is stopping the will of the people from being acted on. “This chart, compiled by the Roper Center, provides a summary of public opinion on the issue since 1989. The most recent reading was taken in mid-September by Quinnipiac University and found Americans were evenly divided. Several polls in the last several months have shown a similar divide with majorities of Democrats and those without a gun in their households favoring more restrictions on guns and majorities of Republicans and gun owners voicing opposition.”(Gun control explained) although people have made this a political issue due to the 2nd amendment it’s mostly a safety issue since guns have evolved into insanely deadly weapons capable of killing civilians on a large scale, the safety of the many should outweigh the needs of the few.

The issue of gun control will never have a perfect solution and in reality, will never be completely solved but it is up to us as a country to try. If agencies like the CDC were able to research information on the capability and potential harm of guns we could be more aware and not only protect ourselves but make laws to protect others. If there were more restrictions suicide rates would go down along with murder rates, since they don’t have access to a firearm they could not harm themselves or others and deal with their problems in a healthy way instead of it ending with tragedy. Even though the issue of gun control is split down party lines, most Americans believe in some kind of restriction on getting a gun like preventing people who are mentally ill or people who are on the no-fly list. This issue is most likely going to go around and around in circles but we must try to restrict access to these deadly weapons so that someone who wouldn’t be alive today if we did nothing is, can still be with their loved ones.

Write your bibliography here. MLA style

“Gun Violence Must Stop. Here's What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths.” Prevention Institute, https://www.preventioninstitute.org/focus-areas/preventing-violence-and-reducing-injury/preventing-violence-advocacy.

PÉrez-peÑa, Richard. “Gun Control Explained.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/07/us/gun-control-explained.html.

“Pros & Cons - ProCon.org.” Gun Control, 26 Jan. 2022, https://gun-control.procon.org/.