I will say it loud and clear: I am against guns. I have never shot a gun and I have no plans to do so in the future. I honestly don’t see the need. They are dangerous and unnecessary, most of the time. Because of that, I think it should be difficult to get a gun. In fact, there should be even more intensive background checks and many classes on how to use it safely.
Throughout my life I have always associated guns with death. Growing up in Chicago, hearing about homicides on the news was too often an occurrence and I knew I never wanted any part in that. During New Year’s Eve parties spent at my friend’s house, we passed time guessing “Firework or gunshot?” A friend in my physics class was quiet in class one day; apparently as she stepped on the public bus to get to school that morning, a bullet went by where she stood seconds earlier. I never saw any benefit to owning a gun; I only saw pain.
When Illinois became the last state in the union to pass a Concealed Carry law last year, I wanted to cry. I was always so proud that we had resisted passing one for so long, and I wasn’t sure what would happen with a concealed gun law. Even though there are still many places where guns cannot be brought into under the new law, knowing that nearly anyone could be carrying a gun on them as they go about their day is frightening.
I understand that there are currently background checks. There are courses people need to go through, and in theory, the system works. But someone along the process of people properly and safely getting their license to carry, people are also getting guns illegally. For every person that gets a gun license legally, how many people could possibly have access to that firearm? Children who kill themselves or other people from playing with loaded guns must have gotten it somewhere; where was their carrying license?
While I understand that “the right to bear arms” is written in our Constitution, I feel that it was written in such different times that it is not always applicable in the same ways as it was in the late 1700s. We are not in a war for our freedom as an independent nation. The times are different and I think laws should be interpreted accordingly.
While some people may argue that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” you can try knitting without needles, and maybe you’ll come up with something, but at the end of the day, knitting needles really speed the process along. Yes, other things can kill people, but a gun lying on a table can’t shoot until a human picks it up and fires. Boom.
