UNITED STATES—I can’t believe we’re having this discussion again. Once again America is at war with the fight over gun control after two people commit heinous acts in San Bernardino, California. The news struck so many of us like a tidal wave. It came out of nowhere and as more details surfaced about the suspects, it raises an issue that has continued to be debated for decades and probably will be debated for years to come.
What can the country do about gun control? We have this constant debate about people who are continuing to earn easy access to weapons and later committing heinous acts. It’s hard to imagine that after 14 people were killed and more than 2 dozen where injured a little over a week ago in San Bernardino. It was as if the suspects masterminded the whole thing, which only worries Americans more because fear begins to creep into our mindset, our lives.
President Barack Obama took to the airwaves Sunday night to address the issue addressing Americans about the issue of gun control, but not really providing much insight in terms of what he plans to do in the remaining months he has in office. Mr. Obama just talked about the issue that everyone else discussed, pinpointing that it has been classified as a terrorist attack on American soil. That is indeed VERY scary. We haven’t had such an attack since 2001, and I pray to God that America never encounters something of that magnitude ever again.
To have no idea what is going on and having the entire world simply speculate as to what is transpiring is beyond scary as hell. It raises an even larger question of rather we will continue to see such mass shootings like this take place in America. I mean at this point, it seems that every 2-3 months there is a mass shooting taking place at the hands of a sole gunman; usually someone who has snapped or someone who wants to instill fear in people. In the last 2-3 weeks, we had the shooting in Colorado and now San Bernardino.
Should we implement a law that prevents a person from obtaining a permit to hold a gun until the age of 30? Could we do more rigorous background checks on those seeking to gain weaponry? Should certain weapons be off limits to Americans? Should there be a limit to how many guns one can purchase or have in their household? I mean I’m thinking of every possible option out there that we can consider.
All options I’ve given would probably be thrown out by those Americans who are advocates for preventing any type of gun control policy being passed into law. However, it raises the bigger question of why we continue to have such mass shootings? Why? Not only because we have mentally unbalanced people and dangerous individuals getting their hands on guns, but we’ve fallen into a situation where the ability to gain access to purchase guns, rifles and other dangerous firearms are easy to come across.
People don’t care nowadays; some are even willing to shell out extra money to those gun shops in hopes of getting their firearms earlier than the typical time frame. If President Obama, members of Congress and state legislatures aren’t willing to address the problem, it’s time for Americans to unite to make decisions on what we can do to get a handle on this issue. This is a serious matter; I’m sick and tired of hearing about these mass shootings that are becoming all too common in the United States.
This is not normal people, we should not become numb to such news, to make matters worse we are becoming emotionally panicked by such incidents. It raises the question on rather something horrific can happen at the school we attend, the place that we work or even worse the city or state that we live in. I’ve always had trepidation about guns simply because they are quite dangerous, especially when they are placed into the hands of people who want to commit evil acts against other Americans and we have no idea.