Gun Control Controversy: How It’s Important to Our Country and How it’s Being Addressed

Gun+Control+Controversy%3A+How+It%E2%80%99s+Important+to+Our+Country+and+How+it%E2%80%99s+Being+Addressed

Christian Lopez

Stephen Paddock, age 64, shot 600 rounds into the bodies of 500 people, killing fifty-eight people. The crowd was at the Route 91 Country Music Festival in Las Vegas on the night of October 1st, 2017. The gunman shot from a hotel across the street. According to CNN, Paddock used a military-grade rifle. He used a semi-automatic, but used a “bump stock” to increase fire rate and damage. Paddock had an arsenal of twenty-three weapons in his hotel room. He later killed himself when police blew up his door and entered.

The Second Amendment states: “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.” Since the Las Vegas shooting has proven to be the most lethal mass shooting in our country’s’ history, more discussion about gun control are being held. Adam Lankford, author of the 2015 study, “ Mass Shooters, Firearms, and Social Strains: A Global Analysis of an Exceptionally American Problem” said “for one side, guns represent aggression, violence, and somewhat paranoid and anachronistic perspective that you have to protect yourself from external threats. For the other side, guns represent safety, security, and self-sufficiency — and wrapped up in some of that is often a form of traditional masculinity whereby a man of the house must be physically able to protect his family.” Lankford is expressing that some people use guns for violence and some people have them for protection.

After a frustration caused by a lack of changes to gun laws after a student killed nine people at an Oregon college in 2015, former President Barak Obama said that gun violence is “something we should politicize.” Many agree. On the other side of the argument, the NRA puts out a message about an “intrusive” government that wants to “take your guns,” while its “pro-gun” influences disapproves gun control measures. Other gun rights groups have given $5.8 million to members of Congress in 2016. Ninety-eight percent of it went to Republicans. The NRA spent $10.6 million to support- then- Candidate Donald Trump and spent an additional $19.7 million to oppose Candidate Hillary Clinton.

People have opposed and supported gun control legislation. The country is in peril and some think that changing gun laws will end violence, but some think it will increase the hunger for guns, leading to more violence. This is a significant issue that must be addressed immediately. Citizens of the United States hold the responsibility of making a more secure and happy environment.