By Amelia Lipcsei
The Buffalo supermarket massacre, the Virginia Tech attack, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting—time and time again, citizens from all over the United States have to face the devastating effects of gun violence. A country with one of the highest total gun deaths, the United States should be placing more emphasis on finding solutions to lower these tragic numbers; however, gun violence, like many other crucial topics in America, has instead become a controversial political issue that seems unsolvable, with neither side granting the other any leeway.
Imposing stricter gun laws appears the obvious choice in solving the horrific issues that stem from firearm usage. The majority of developed countries have strict gun laws imposed, and these laws often keep death rates down. In fact, after the 1996 firearm massacre in Tasmania, Australia created a series of rigid gun laws, which included the removal of semi-automatic rifles, pump-action rifles, and shotguns from civilian possession. These laws caused an accelerated decline in fire-arm deaths and kept the country almost entirely free from fatal mass shootings. Gun laws work. Even simply implementing stronger background checks could become a way to lower gun death rates. A 2016 study done by Lancet found that “implementing federal universal background checks could reduce firearm deaths by a projected 56.9%; background checks for ammunition purchases could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and gun identification requirements could reduce deaths by a projected 82.5%.” Enforcing background checks makes purchasing guns slightly more difficult, lowers the unnecessary amount of people that have access to guns, and serves as a deterrent for people who plan to abuse their gun privileges, all of which could help reduce gun violence.
Unfortunately, with the current political climate of the United States, gun laws have become a controversial issue that remains largely stagnant. Yes, everyone should be able to protect themselves. Yes, everyone has rights granted to them by The Constitution. Yes, people should have access to items they deem necessary. However, there are certain extents to these ideals. Nobody needs to have access to guns that have the ability to kill tens of people. Everyone should be willing to endure a background check to have access to a deathly weapon. Gun restrictions work: history has proven this time and time again. The enforcement of further gun laws isn’t meant to impose on your rights, and it won’t; it’s meant to act as a way to help keep everyone in the United States safe from the thousands of deaths that occur from gun violence every year.