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It Is Time to Talk About Gun Control

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By Jonathan SimPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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Sandy Hook. Orlando nightclub. Las Vegas music festival. And most recently, the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Although my articles are usually nerdy and/or comedic, it's time for a very special post about gun control. Because after every mass shooting, we all tweet our "thoughts and prayers," pardon the NRA of any wrongdoings, say now is not the time for gun control, and repeat this when the next mass shooting happens. And this time, I think people have had enough.

Every time something like this happens, Republicans usually go on the defensive, saying that they need to keep their guns to protect themselves, that the Democrats are trying to take away guns, that they have rights in the Second Amendment, and that we need to arm teachers.

Given that it's essentially the same s**t every time we have a mass shooting, something needs to change. We can't go on like this, with people dying in mass shootings and just doing nothing to change it. It's time for action. So, let's take a completely fair, rational look into this.

The Second Amendment

In 1791, Americans were given the "right to bear arms." And while, yes, some of us do need guns to protect ourselves, we need to look at this rationally. Because back then, the common guns were muskets and flintlock pistols, which are nothing compared to modern weapons like the AR-15.

Back then, muskets could take twenty seconds to reload and you could only fire about three rounds a minute. So, the closest thing to a mass shooting back then would look, quite literally, like this:

This was 227 years ago. Can you imagine writing laws now governing weapons in the year 2245? Exactly.

So, while we do have the right to bear arms, guns can't be as free and easy for anyone to get as they were in 1791, because of how dangerous our weapons are now. Let's take a look at the case of the Florida shooter.

The Florida Mass Shooter

The mass shooter was a 19-year-old named Nikolas Cruz. According to Wikipedia, Cruz was a racist, anti-immigrant lunatic, who showed multiple signs of what he was going to do before he did. So the FBI is partially to blame for not doing anything about Cruz when they were tipped.

But my problem is the fact that Cruz was able to legally purchase the AR-15 from some mom-and-pop gun store in Coral Springs. Let me get this straight: a f**king 19-year-old with threatening YouTube videos of himself online, legally purchased an assault rifle.

As a society, we should all feel pretty damn ashamed of ourselves for being this lax with our gun laws.

Was there any background check at all when Cruz bought this gun? Because Cruz had a YouTube channel called "nikolas cruz," where he said, "I wanna die fighting killing s**t ton of people," and he said he wanted to mimic a shooting from 51 years ago.

This information was online, accessible with a simple Google search of the guy's name, and this deranged 19-year-old still legally purchased a semi-automatic weapon. Because what could go wrong, right?

If you don't think I'm being serious about this because of the images, rest assured, I am. This kid should have NEVER been able to legally buy an AR-15. The fact that he was able to legally buy a weapon of mass destruction before he could buy wine is completely unacceptable.

Here's the thing: if our gun laws are fine just the way they are, Cruz should never have been able to purchase an AR-15. Hell, he shouldn't have been able to buy a damn handgun given his history of unstable behavior.

What is the solution?

OK, I want to clarify: guns should not be outlawed altogether, and current gun owners shouldn't have their guns taken away from them. But if no law changes, then we'll just continue having mass shootings and nothing will ever be fixed.

President Trump has chimed in with a solution:

That's good. I don't like Mr. Trump, but I want to be fair to him. If Trump is successfully able to do this, I would be very grateful.

But unfortunately, he also has another solution.

OK, so in a more profane version of what the kids in that high school have said: Bull. F**king. S**t.

We're talking about teachers. And we're talking about educators. Why should they be in charge of shooting people to death every time there's a mass shooting? I mean, if he wants security guards in schools to have guns, that is fine. But teachers? Hell no.

I'll put it this way: that's not their job. Their job is to educate children, and that's what they should be focused on. They shouldn't be paying half their attention to whether or not some maniac is gonna burst into their classroom all of a sudden and start shooting them.

And if this DOES happen, then the shooter would have a very simple solution, wouldn't they? Shoot the teacher first. So, arming teachers is a bad idea.

I believe that military-style assault weapons like the AR-15, which has been responsible for a large number of mass shootings in recent years, should be banned from civilians.

Like, in the rare event when you need a gun for self-defense, a handgun works fine. We don't need people carrying around semi-automatic weapons with them everywhere they go. In fact, a ban like this actually happened. And it wasn't a long time ago, either.

Bill Clinton signed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, which temporarily banned assault weapons. The ban expired in 2004, and although it wasn't very effective (partially due to its loopholes), it shows that as a society, we can get by without these unnecessary weapons.

As for handguns, we need rigorous background checks. Background checks that would have prevented Cruz from getting his hands on a gun. But it can't just end there. I believe that our gun system should be closer to the system for gun ownership in Japan.

Here is the solution for buying a handgun:

  1. Attend all-day class on guns and pass a written test held once a month.
  2. Take and pass a shooting range class.
  3. Take mental and drug test at a hospital.
  4. Pass background check, which checks for criminal history and ties to criminal/extremist groups.
  5. Obtain gun.
  6. Provide police with documentation on the location of the gun in your home, along with ammunition.
  7. Allow annual gun inspection by police.
  8. Re-take gun test every three years.

The point of all this is because it has become necessary. The United States has more mass shootings than any other country.

So, again, I'm not saying ban guns and I'm not saying take guns from law-abiding citizens. I'm saying that if you truly want a gun, and if you truly are a "good guy with a gun," you should be able to go through that whole process with no trouble at all.

All of this needs to be done to reduce the amount of mass shootings in America. We'd be keeping our rights to own handguns, but we'd just be making them harder to get, which is a sacrifice that's well worth the price if we want as few people as possible to get killed by guns.

Japan has nearly eradicated all gun deaths in their country. Who says the United States can't do the same? We can maintain our right to bear arms, as long as we have sensible laws stopping these guns from landing in the wrong hands.

Like the Declaration of Independence boldly states, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let's prove it. Right now, school walkouts have been staged and we are calling on companies on politicians to sever all ties with the NRA.

So, it's time for us all to open our eyes. We don't need guns to be easily purchasable. If you're a good guy with a gun, you should still be able to buy a gun with no problem. And it's worth the extra steps needed if you want thousands of lives to be saved.

And that's it. Share this article to your friends or your worst enemies. And let's call on Congress to stop senseless gun violence. We can do it.

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About the Creator

Jonathan Sim

Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.

For business inquiries: [email protected]

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