Gun Violence

A very controversial topic that is still being discussed in the news right now, is the right to own a gun in America. Our second amendment says that we as Americans have the right to bear a firearm. Today, this is being questioned, because of the many recent gun violence cases happening all over the country. I may be a little late on keying in on this topic, but it is only because everyday while watching the 5:00 news, another life has been taken by the use of a firearm. And I wonder how this would change if we outlaw gun laws.

I believe that we should rethink the amendment, not abolish it entirely but restructure how and who can buy guns in our country. There has been to many happenings in the past where a man,women, or young adult even, with a mental disability or suffering from a mental illness, has gotten their hands on weapons that have the ability to create terror in society. And it seems like time and time again things like this has happened. For example: The Newtown shooting, Aurora movie theater, Navy shipyard, Columbine, maybe the first shooting in a school Debbie Dan in my hometown Winnetka and unfortunately several more. 

Today in Chicago, our Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to ban gun laws, and regulate gun sales in the city, to ultimately protect the young lives. In this article from the Chicago Tribune, it describes what the city of Chicago and Emanuel are trying to do. When Rahm spoke about how the process had been going and what he planned to achieve, he said, "“There are a number of gun laws that have existed in the city of Chicago that we have lost in court,” Emanuel said. “I'm not interested in litigation for the purpose of litigation. I'm interested in getting public safety for the people of the city of Chicago. The court set up a set of boundaries.” From this quote, we can denote that previously there has been many efforts to create stricter laws, but they seem to disappear over time, so now he is focusing on the publics safety.

Although it is swaying from our first liberties of being able to bear arms, i think we really need to reconsider if this should be an average Americans right. Because it might ultimately be jeopardizing our publics safety in the long run.

"Government's first duty is public safety."

Arnold Schwarzenegger