Would you like to live your life in wonder? Not knowing if it’s safe to send your child to school. Not knowing if someone would come in and start shooting everyone. Not knowing if it’s safe to go to work. Not knowing if it’s even safe to go to public places. There should be stricter laws (or no guns at all) in order for this society to function more efficiently.

In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people at Virginia Tech. In 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 27 people, mostly children, at Sandy Hook Elementary school. In 1991, George Hennard killed 23 people at Lubys Cafeteria. In 1984, James Huberty went to McDonalds and killed adults and children. As a result, he killed 21 people. In 2012, James E. Holmes killed 12 people and left many wounded at a movie theater. Many innocent people, including children, were killed during these shootings for no reason at all. Because the wrong person had a gun and people were at the wrong place at the wrong time, the criminal caused many families to grieve by killing and injuring their loved ones. (1)

The first step to stopping the wrong people from getting their hands on guns is through background checks. Background checks help make guns harder to buy for criminals and mentally ill people. If criminals or mentally ill people can’t buy a gun, imagine how many lives we’re saving. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2010 - Statistical Tables, it states, “Since the inception of the Brady Act, over 118 million applications for firearm transfers or permits were subject to background checks. About 2.1 million applications, or 1.8%, were denied.” This shows that the background checks have reduced the chance of dangerous people from getting guns. If background checks didn’t exist there would have been way more shooting massacres. (4)

Also, there are irresponsible gun owners and curious children. Parents may buy guns and leave it in the house in a “hidden” spot. But, leaving it around the house is very dangerous because children can kill themselves by accident. One day they may discover it and not tell their parents that they know where it’s at. Then, another day their child may aim and shoot at the parent. Furthermore, emotional teenagers may find it and use it. In some cases, they will use it to shoot themselves. According to one of the Boston Globe Editorials, Guns and suicide: Strong evidence for controls, it states, “19,362 Americans killed themselves with a firearm in 2010, compared to 11,078 who died in firearm homicides, according to federal statistics.” That shows that guns have a huge connection with suicides. It’s better if guns are eliminated. (2)

In addition, guns aren’t for everyone. We know that guns aren’t for mentally ill people or criminals but, they’re also not for the depressed, evil, jealous, unstable people either. Whenever a certain emotion overwhelms you, you never know what you’ll do. Therefore, people with these certain type of emotions can cause serious damage while handling a gun. They can not only hurt the ones around them but, they may hurt themselves too. Thus, access to guns while being in a state (such as jealousy, evilness, depression etc.) isn’t a great combination. If anyone bought a gun in a state like one of those listed above without any mental illness or criminal history, the seller would assume they’re responsible enough to handle a gun when they’re not. An example is Seung-Hui Cho, he had hatred in his heart but, he didn’t have a mental or criminal history. This caused gun sellers to believe that it was “okay” for him to purchase a gun, and look what happened. Therefore, guns cause many problems and should be removed from society to avoid problems. (3)

Many people say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. They’re right that guns alone can’t take it upon themselves to just shoot someone without anyone pulling the trigger, but they make killing easy. Therefore, if we take away guns or restrict them to only certain people then, less gun homicides would occur. In addition, if they don’t have a gun they would probably try to use other objects such as a knives, which won’t kill the person instantly and they would have a better chance of survival. Also, criminals wouldn’t be able to kill people in large numbers.

As you can see, guns cause many problems in this world. It causes problems ranging from background checks not being able to see “everything”, like the persons intent on buying a gun, to accidental deaths. That’s why gun control laws should be regulated. Eliminating guns (or greatly reducing them to only officers or jobs that require it), will help the society function more gracefully.