There is a large death total that is substantially swelling, and a large portion of that is caused by gun violence. An average of 32 Americans are being murdered by guns every day, which adds up to 11,520 people being killed every year by guns. This is a number that should not exist is a country as civilized as the United States. A number like this will continue to increase the more technologically advanced we get, the more ways we find to utilize more firepower, and the more lax we get on gun-control laws. The only way to stop this impending crisis is by getting rid of guns for good. The only way that gun violence will diminish is if there are no guns to cause the violence. Owning a gun gives power and power will drive a person to pull the trigger when he/she encounters a person that they feel will harm them. Having power will also drive a person to think that they can treat others in a negative manner, just because they have the firepower to defend themselves if anything were to happen. They could also harm that person, which unfortunately happens in most cases. Guns drive people to pull the trigger because they have the ability to, unless we had stricter gun laws. Gun-control laws should be enforced to ensure the safety of the citizens in the U.S.

Many people own guns today. The ownership of a gun, and the power that goes with it, can highly intimidate a person to use it against someone. David Gilson says, “The states with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest gun ownership rates” (Gilson). The reason for such high murder rates is caused by the large number of guns. If getting a gun is so easy, anybody with anger problems is a real threat. A average person who gets angry towards another person would most likely try to calm down and get over it. On the other hand, a person who gets angry and has a gun will lose control and shoot that person, which will injure and even kill the person on the other end. All it takes to kill someone is a struck nerve and a small trigger. The only way to lower the murder rate is to get rid of guns by enforcing gun control laws.
Many people believe that guns keep burglars away from homes. As Peter Tucci stated, “Burglars are less likely to target occupied homes or businesses in countries with high rates of gun ownership than they are in countries with low rates of gun ownership, probably because they do not want to get shot” (Tucci). Just because the country has a high rate of gun ownership, that does not mean that the house that they are trying to rob will have a gun. Most burglars will plan their heist and will know if there is anybody home or not. Even if there are people and a gun in the home, there are still people who are willing to take the chance and still go for it. You cannot use the gun-rate of the country to predict one house.

Owning a gun gives the power of being the one in charge. This power will make a person act negatively towards another because they have a gun. If anything were to happen, the gun would be the first response. This is not good for a civilized country. If there is a problem, people should be able to talk it out, not shoot it out. David Gilson states that, “Drivers who carry guns are 44% more likely than unarmed drivers to make obscene gestures at other motorists, and 77% more likely to follow them aggressively” (Gilson). There is no doubt that drivings provokes anger. This anger is let out when someone on the road speeds up to get in front of you and cuts you off or they come out of nowhere and steal the turn you were just about to make. These incidents unfortunately happen to many people everyday. Having the possession of a gun during this time amplifies that person’s anger. There have even been cases when a person took out a gun and started shooting at that car or motorcycle. One example would be on the  4500 block of Canoga Street at Ramona Avenue. On this day two cars had a conflict and it ended up with the passenger being shot and killed by the run-away car. That person that is shooting at the car has no idea who is in it. The car could have been full of young, innocent, and unsuspecting children. Many people, especially children, could be hurt because we allowed them to. Not having strict gun-control laws allows events like these to unfold when they should not have. This kind of amplified violence would have been prevented if we had more gun-control laws.

Opponents of gun control argue that guns are used for self defense. It is true that guns can be used to defend yourself, but what are you defending yourself from? You are most likely defending yourself from another gun. If guns were strictly against the law, you would not need to defend yourself from a gun, because that gun would not be allowed to be carried by that person. Even if you used guns for self defense, what use of a gun would be under the self defense category?

Many people believe that guns are the answers to their problems. This is not so. Guns are actually the exact opposite. There is no good outcome in front of the trigger. When used offensively, a gun harms someone. When used defensively, a gun still harms someone. In fact, 600,000-1 million of guns are used defensively every year. This is also almost the same as the as the number of crimes committed with guns (Klerk). The reason for this is because the use of a gun against a person can be a crime. People can commit crimes by killing someone with a gun. They could say that it was self-defense. Maybe the attack was self defense. How do the laws that can not be changed relate with the large number of different cases? Who gets to decide, if nobody saw what actually happened. The lives of the shooter and his/her family could dramatically change by one person. A gun can change many people’s lives forever. This is exactly why gun laws should be significantly more stricter and limit the gun possession to little to none.

The only way to stop the highest crime rate in the country is by creating and enforcing stronger gun control laws. Every day that guns laws are not enforced is another day that many people will die. Most of those people will be teenagers and children. Over the past 10 years, over 28,000 children were killed due to gun violence. Everyday we are losing possible future doctors, lawyers, and people who will help others. If these laws are not created and enforced immediately, the whole idea of being free in America will no longer exist. Everyday, we are getting more advanced in technology and firepower. If we do not do something, this country will be turned into a “kill or be killed” one. Everybody will soon have a gun. And the moment one shot is fired, everyone will reach for their gun and open fire; which will make the U.S. at war with itself. All of this could have been avoided just by a few small signatures on a sheet of paper.

Works Cited
Gilson, Dave. "Evaluating Mother Jones' "10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down" - Crime Prevention Research Center." Crime Prevention Research Center. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. .
Gilson, Dave. "Evaluating Mother Jones' "10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down" - Crime Prevention Research Center." Crime Prevention Research Center. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. .
Tucci, Peter. "Why I’m against Gun Control." The Daily Caller. N.p., 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. .