Should there be more gun control in the U.S.?

Take a second and think about what has been happening with the guns lately: How safe do you feel? I believe that there should be more gun control, because more and more people are misusing them. Too many people are getting killed. They are getting into the wrong hands.

Having more gun control will help with this, including guns being handed to felons without a second thought. Felons can get guns over the internet and from pawn shops without a background check. Having more gun control will help with the mentally ill getting guns from stores without even checking to see if they are mentally capable of having guns.

Guns today aren’t being used the way they are suppose to be used. We should all think about how we are using them and see what is happening. We should have more gun control because it will keep us safer. Although we, as Americans, are guaranteed Second Amendment rights, gun laws should be more restrictive so that guns don’t fall into the hands of felons, the mentally ill and chronic drug and/or alcohol abusers.

We have to do a better job keeping guns away from violent offenders. It keeps us safe and should keep the guns out of the wrong people’s hands. If we have more gun control there will be less school shootings, no more mass shootings at concerts like the one in Las Vegas. There will be more restrictions on automatic guns. Automatic guns are the culprit of most of these shootings, they hold a lot more bullets and you don’t have to caulk it over and over again it can shoot bullets over and over.

Having more gun control may limit people from getting these dangerous guns and killing tons of people. If we used guns like they were made to be used for we wouldn’t need more gun control, but since we misuse them in such an outrageous ways, we as Americans need more rules to keep us safe and in line. We should be using guns to hunt or target shooting. Then, when not in use, unloaded and put in a locked safe with a key that only you know where it is kept. Keep the ammo locked up, too. More gun control is important for this generation and many more to come.

There are more than 30,000 Americans killed with guns each year, more than 100,000 shot with guns each year, and Americans are more than 25 percent more likely to be killed by a gun, according to the journal affairs on “America’s passion for guns” website.

We should also require stringent background checks to keep firearms out of the hands of mentally ill individuals. A mental ill individual is more prone to shoot someone than someone who is sane. We shouldn’t let mentally ill person be able to have to a gun. There were 120,000 between 2001-2010 from individuals in possession of a firearm and have a mental illness. Individuals with the mental illnesses, ADD, anxiety, depression aren’t in the same category as someone with either bipolar or schizophrenia, etc. These people shouldn’t have guns. People with depression shouldn’t have guns because they may use them to commit suicide.

We should keep guns out of the hands of chronic drug or alcohol abusers. Being on drugs or alcohol brings your chances to misuse a gun a lot more than someone who is sober. In some states they allow firearms in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. This seems like a bad idea. Gun violence increases when the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In conclusion, I think we should have more gun control because it will help us be safer and better off with more restrictions. Having more gun control is a good idea because to many people are getting killed any there are to many mass shootings that are taking lives of innocent people around the world.

Gun laws are important to the safety of America nowadays. If having more gun laws keeps all these innocent people safe then we need more. Overall, I believe that having more gun control is highly needed.

SAMANTHA BOBBY

Sandpoint

Lake Pend Oreille

High School senior