Did you know that 94% of people support universal background checks, 86% support a ban on the sale of firearms to those guilty of violent crimes, and 60% support gun control in general? Yet, there has been little legislation in the way of gun control. With other countries in the world who have stricter gun laws having much less gun related deaths and mass shootings, we need more gun restrictions in order to curb the violence that this country is afflicted with.

Gun control can be defined in various ways. In general, it is the restrict of guns through various means, like making them harder to get. But, there are many different methods. We can stretch out waiting periods, ban attachments that make guns more dangerous, and restrict who can buy them. Other countries have these regulations, and have had far fewer gun related deaths than we do.The US has double the amount of gun related accident deaths than the runner up, Finland, and 12 times the amount of deaths in England and Wales. Americans are 51 times more likely to be killed by firearms than people in the UK.

    For every 100 people in a given area, there are 90 guns. The US owns the most guns in the world, with the runners up having mandatory military service. Meanwhile 310 million guns are available for purchase in America, almost 7 time the amount the country who took second place, India. While this doesn’t count the amount of guns that are illegally traded, this should be cause for concern. How to we prevent tragedies from occuring when guns seem to be everywhere. Especially as in the later part of last year, the two deadliest mass shootings in US history were within a few months of each other. The frequency and deadliness of mass shootings is rising, and the decreasing of regulations, it makes for a dangerous future.

In politics, gun control is a controversial issue. However, it seems to be one of the few places where this is so. 94% of people support universal background checks, and 60% support gun control in general, the highest percentage in history! In one poll, people were asked if they supported various types of gun control, such as a ban on assault rifles, mandatory wait periods before buying a firearm, and stricter ammunition regulations. When it comes to assault rifles, a gun that was used in the tragedy at Las Vegas, 64% of people support a ban on them. And yet, there has been a lessening of restrictions on gun control. After the Las Vegas shooting, there was talk of banning assault rifles and bump stocks, a device that allows a gun to be fired more rapidly, but after a month or two, such discussions fizzled out. This is likely due to the influence of pro-gun lobbying groups, such as the NRA. Every year the NRA spends $3 million on lobbying, and with an active membership, they are much more politically active than their opposition.

Gun control is a controversial issue in government, and the degree to which we restrict guns affects the number of gun related deaths we have every year. While many support gun control in some form, Congress has failed to improve gun restrictions, and has actually been decreasing gun control. It remains to be seen how this will affect ordinary Americans, but the data leading up to now seems to show that it is unlikely that less regulations will lead to less gun related tragedies.