Matt Wotus
Features Editor
Newtown, Connecticut. Aurora, Colorado. Blacksburg, Virginia.
Littleton, Colorado. These four towns are the sites of some of the deadliest
mass shootings in United States history. While the massacres in these cities received
the most media attention, there have been numerous others. Shootings such as
the one in Newtown are occurring more frequently, a scary trend in a country
where a ban on military-style assault weapons expired in 2004. The fact of the
matter is, the United States has a problem. The mentally ill and unstable and
those with criminal records are able to have not only guns in their possession,
but incredibly dangerous military-style assault weapons as well. Something must
be done to make this country safer. Capitol Hill must agree on reasonable gun
control laws and their enforcement to stop these mass shootings. The future of
the United States is at elementary, middle, and high schools, and our future is
being gunned down.
In early January, after the massacre at Newtown, President Barack Obama
outlined a plan to curb “the epidemic of gun violence in this country.” The
44th president’s plan involves universal background checks for all gun buyers,
hindering gun trafficking, banning military-style assault weapons, as well as illegalizing
ammunition magazines which hold more than 10 bullets. In an ABC News/Washington
Post poll, 53 of percent of those polled favor Obama’s proposal. However,
support is much larger for individual parts of the proposal. Large majorities
ranging from 88 percent to 65 percent favor background checks, tracking gun
sales, and banning high-capacity magazines. In a study by Johns Hopkins
University, 89 percent of respondents support universal background checks. Out
of these 89 percent, 75 percent identified themselves as members of the
National Rifle Association (NRA), a longtime opponent of gun control. Wayne
LaPierre, the vice president of the NRA, isn’t buying into gun control, saying
on NBC’s Meet the Press, “It’s not
going to work. It hasn’t worked.” However, these statistics show that more
Americans feel the need for it, and frankly, society needs it. We shouldn’t
have to mourn the death of children, teenagers, or adults killed by a rampant
gunman. Obama and future presidents should not have to deliver tearful
speeches, saddened and grieving for the deaths of the innocent.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
