The Pros And Cons Of Gun Control In America

As of March 5, 2018, there have been 12 school shootings this year alone. That’s about one school shooting every five days, but yet there has been no change made to prevent travesties like this. Gun control is a very controversial subject in the US. There are only two sides to the debate: those who want gun control, and those who don’t. Especially in light of recent events, more people are starting to realize that gun control is necessary now more than ever. There needs to be more gun control in the US. There’s no way around it. Americans need to make sure that they let the government know that we need gun control, and the government needs to act on it. The gun violence problem in America, more specifically in urban areas, is overwhelming.

The US should take some regulations other countries use into consideration. For example, Japan has some of the lowest death by firearm rates in the entire world. They have very strict regulations that limit people from even purchasing powerful firearms. The New York Times writes, “Under Japan's firearm and sword law, the only guns permitted are shotguns, air guns, guns that have research or industrial purposes, or those used for competitions. However, before access to these specialty weapons is granted, one must obtain formal instruction and pass a battery of written, mental and drug tests and a rigorous background check. Furthermore, owners must inform the authorities of how the weapon and ammunition is stored and provide the firearm for annual inspection” (New York Times). If a country such as Japan, with a similar population to the US, can have gun control, then why can’t the US? It’s absurd! Like Japan, the sale of all guns should be completely outlawed. Yes, it may take a lot of time to get rid of all guns, but you have to start somewhere. The amount of people that own a gun in the US is absolutely insane, and there’s a direct correlation between gun ownership and deaths by firearm by country. Unsurprisingly, the US tops the list in both of those statistical categories. Even if the US didn’t outlaw guns, there are still other options, such as the route Australia took. In 1996, in an incident known as the “Port Arthur Massacre,” a madman armed with a semiautomatic rifle went on a six hour killing spree, murdering 35 people and hospitalizing 23 others. In the wake of this tragedy, Australia enforced harsher gun laws to ensure that nothing along these lines never happens again. Jonathan Masters writes, “The National Agreement on Firearms all but prohibited automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles, stiffened licensing and ownership rules, and instituted a temporary