The United States has a major gun issue. They seem to be everywhere. People can either buy or sell illegal weapons on the street. Americans are regularly exposed to gun violence in their communities. Many citizens are not safe at all in their homes and children cannot even play outside without the fear of bullets flying. Las Vegas is considering changing their gun laws to better the people’s’ safety.
The right to bear arms is in the United States Constitution, however, that privilege is being abused. Anti-gun activists want the president, Congress, and Senate to make changes to the gun laws in each state. Self-defense is a get out of jail free card that is abused so often when there are multiple gun violence cases.
There have been multiple mass shootings that took place in the past six years, each of the shooters never went through loopholes to access guns or buy weapons from the authorized retailers. This is an armed country with dangerous weapons, and people seem to have an easy gateway to some of these dangerous firearms.
For example, the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, on Jun. 12, 2016. Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured more than 50 people. The police were not able to get answers from he before he was killed by officers. Another example is the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newton, Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012. Twenty-six young children were killed by shooter Adam Lanza after he put his bullet in his mother head. Obtaining the guns were no issue for these shooters to carry out their plans.
Does anyone do background checks anymore or is it like a complicated task to do?
- Illinois requires a background check when sailing guns and open and concealed carry of a firearm is prohibited.
- In Florida, the law prohibits anyone to carry an open and long firearm, but people are allowed to carry a concealed gun when they follow the state requirements.
- Connecticut allows residents to carry concealed weapons with a valid gun license.
Non-Illinois residents are granted a limited exception to lawfully carry a concealed firearm within a vehicle if they are eligible to carry a firearm in public under the laws of their own state. Those who own guns in one state should not be exempt from the firearm laws in another state.
President Donald Trump told the public that the Executive Branch will debate the issue on guns after time passes. However, the people’s safety is more important than trying to wait to see what else will happen, a pattern is right on the front lines.
During the recent mass shooting at Mandalay Bay an employee was hit in his back with a bullet and survived. Billy King, 38, used the survival skills he learned while training in the U.S. National Guard that night. He is in stable condition, recuperating from the bullet that entered his back and exited through his chest. King’s wife told The Washington post that a woman next to her got cut down:
King’s wife, Kimberly, told The Washington Post that a woman next to her got cut down:
She got shot in the face. Her lifeless body fell to the floor. I had to close my eyes.
Congress members need to open their eyes and see the bigger picture. They need to acknowledge all the victims that were killed in Las Vegas along with the other mass shootings. Their families’ want answers about gun control laws.
Does another major shootout need to take place for Congress to improve gun laws and tighten control?
The Democratic and Republican parties cannot come to a mutual agreement. Democrats point out that half of Americans want to keep a background check in place for the purchase of weapons, while Republicans think that bringing all this through the Legislative Branch is not the answer.
With all of the citizens and immigrants in America, doing a background check is required to keep the country safe from any harm and safe from the threat of enemies. No one in this country should be able to purchase guns without having a background check done.
Written by Kwjuana Owens
Edited by Cathy Milne
Sources:
The Chicago Tribune: Nationwide WHite House Gun Debate
The Washington Post: Las Vegas Democrats are jumping Straight into the Controlling Guns
New York Daily News: Mandalay Bay Employee Survives from a Shot in the Back after Shielded his Wife
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Maryland GOVpics’s Flickr Page – Creative Common License