The world we live in today is unkind to many and filled with avoidable hardships. That's not to say that we live in a world without hope. I'd like to think that my ideas are progressive and forward-thinking. There are many things that come to mind when I imagine a better world: universal healthcare, gun control, equality, environmental protection, and unlimited access education. For this post, I'll be discussing the most immediately relevant issue that I think is the perfect first step to bettering our world: gun control.
Gun control is a touchy subject, especially now in America. There are two facts that I think everyone in this debate can agree on. The first is that we should work together toward a future where there will never be a mass shooting again. The second is that American citizens have the right to bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment. After that, the disagreement begins. My ideal world doesn't take away guns, but it does have stricter background checks, rigorous mental health evaluations, and limits the selling of assault rifles. When discussing gun control, I feel that there is one prevalent thing to point out: when America's founding father's drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the 1770s, the guns they reference, muskets, could only hold one bullet at a time and took twenty seconds to a minute to load and reload. In today's America, gun magazines can hold more than 20 bullets/rounds and takes mere seconds to operate, not minutes.
There was an analogy that I heard a while ago that resonated with me. The analogy compares guns to cars. Both are machines that have potential to be dangerous and result in someone's death if not handled properly. As car crashes became more common, and death rates increased, laws were added in the hopes of saving lives. To operate a car, people have to pass numerous tests like eye exams, written exams and "behind-the-wheel" exams before obtaining a drivers license. Speed limits were added to improve road safety and reduce the number of road traffic casualties. Seat belt laws were enacted to prevent life-threatening injuries or death in the case of an accident. Having insurance is necessary before you are allowed to drive a car in the case that you injure someone while using the car. I understand that the analogy isn't perfect. It's difficult to compare an automobile to a gun, but I believe that it gets the point across that new rules don't have to be an issue as long as you follow them. If you're the perfect example of a gun owner then more in-depth, frequent background checks and mental health evaluations shouldn't matter, because you will pass. These regulations would be put in place to raise red flags regarding people that should not handle guns.
Life is full of lessons, but if we don't learn from those lessons we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
Hey Arianna,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your willingness to talk about a pretty controversial yet equally important topic of gun control. Something is definitely wrong with the culture of guns in our country and I think you intelligently highlighted why the "right to bear arms" is antiquated. Going forward, I would like to see what kind of program or mock legislation you would create to start tackling this incredibly complex problem. If you go down the mock legislation route, I think being able to pinpoint your most important goals would be crucial, AKA if you could regulate or make anything illegal what would you do? Also if you went down the program route, what kind of organization could you make to help educate or directly curtail the gun violence in our country?
-Daniel
I definitely agree with you and I think that you bring up a lot of valid points that I hadn't considered before, such as the fact that the laws should be updated with the times since so many things have changed. I am interested to see how you will turn concept into an organization because there are so many different directions that you could go with. Would you try to get someone in your organization to get into legislation so that they would be able to have more of a say or would your organization aim to spread awareness more? I do agree with Daniel that for your pitch you will have to be more specific about what exactly you want to see change.
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