October 1st, 2017. 58 dead, 413 wounded. A man opened fire on the Las Vegas Strip.

February 14, 2018. 17 dead, 17 injured. A former student opened fire on Stoneman Douglas High School.

May 7, 2019. 8 dead, 1 harmed. A bullied student opened fire on Highlands Ranch High School.

Time and time again, America has shown that we, in fact, need more gun control in our country to keep everyone safe. A common response to this is “guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” which is true, to an extent. However, hundreds of mass shootings that happen each year use guns. Yes, it is true that people pick up those guns and shoot others. But if those people didn’t have access to a gun, we would have a significantly less dire situation. More in-depth background checks should be implemented, where they check ALL of your history, not just criminal records and restraining orders. The  Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was implemented to ban all transfer, manufacture, and possession of semi-automatic assault weapons. It expired in 2004 and was never renewed. We need to reintroduce this policy to our modern day society excluding law enforcement use  because according to americanprogress.org, assault weapons, semi-automatic especially, have repeatedly been used to commit some of the worst mass shootings in modern U.S. history, such as the Sandy Hook Shooting. Another policy that should be initiated is that of being allowed to have as many guns as you want, but you must keep them locked up at all times unless in use. While there is no solid way to enforce this, if children get ahold of their parents’ or anyone else’s gun and hurt themselves or others with it, the owner of the gun should be held responsible for their actions and face criminal charges. Another aspect of gun control should be that all people applying for gun ownership should be required to take a basic mental health screening to ensure they are stable enough to be in possession of a gun of any kind. No gun will be confiscated from someone unless they are a danger to themselves or others. While multiple gun-rights advocate groups such as the NRA claim this would be infringing on their second amendment rights, this would not fit the criteria for imposing. The second amendment states that “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” notice how in the first sentence, it emphasizes “a well-regulated militia” this is clearly stated that it does not mean unlimited rights, where it is true every citizen is allowed firearms, but only for it being necessary for safety and security. In addition to this, the preamble of the constitution states to “ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare.” this also enforces the idea that guns should be used as a bare minimum for defense, not as an everyday part of our lives. Guns are a crucial part of our country’s security system, but outside of that and sport, they have no place. According to Procon.org, Guns are the #1 cause of homicide, #1 cause of suicide, #1 cause of legal intervention deaths, and the #12 cause of death overall, with a 33.9% gun death increase annually. Many of these homicides by guns are accidental, which is why, going back to an earlier conclusion, guns need to be locked up while at home and while they aren’t in use. CNN.com cites that the U.S. leads the world in child gun deaths every year, and the rates are increasing still. Children every day find guns in their homes, out in the open, and hurt or possibly kill themselves or others because of it. Marjorie Sanfilipino, a professor at Eckerd College with a PhD in psychology, proclaimed “we put gates around pools to keep children from drowning. We put safety caps on medications to keep children from poisoning themselves. Because children are naturally curious and impulsive, and because we have shown time and time again that we cannot ‘gun-proof’ them with education, we have the responsibility to keep guns out of the hands of children.” Now others may claim that gun safety education will eliminate or reduce the amount of gun deaths per year, but this is not a viable claim. While gun safety education may help prevent accidental deaths, gun safety lessons will not stop someone from killing intentionally. We need action. Parkland Shooting survivors David Hogg, Emma Gonzales, Jaclyn Corin, and Alex Wind  experienced firsthand the violent aftermath of someone who should not have had access to a gun. Over and over, history continues to repeat itself. We continue to dismiss it, ignoring the epidemic of gun violence that is overtaking our country. We need to take action now, and implement more gun control measures so we can secure the vision our founding fathers had for us in the beginning, to ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare.