The United States has the most gun violence in the world; since 1997 the United States has had 51 mass shootings. Resulting in more than 200 deaths, due to lack of gun control. My passion is gun control. Three years ago The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place and I realized that something is wrong, that people no longer feel safe. In schools, at work,  at malls, even at movie theatres, the word safe is non existent. Anyone can purchase a gun, the restrictions for purchasing a weapon are minimal to none. Gun control is something that is needed in America, and something that more should know about.

Gun Control is needed because of how much gun violence takes place in the United States. Gun violence is violence committed using a gun, from small arms, to rifles. America is a first world country, so why do we have worse gun violence than many third-world countries? It’s because almost all citizens are able to purchase a weapon with little restrictions. And because of this lack of restriction people are able to obtain weapons that are capable of killing or injuring others. More than 100,000 people are injured/killed by gun violence a year, and about 400,000 take place worldwide, meaning that the U.S. is responsible for more than 1/4th of the gun violence in the world.

Buying a gun could never be easier- if you are a citizen, you can own a gun.There are ten types of people who would be rejected from buying a gun: felons, fugitives, drug addicts, the mentally ill, illegal immigrants, some legal immigrants, people who have renounced U.S. citizenship, people under restraining orders, people convicted of domestic violence, and anyone charged with a crime that could bring more than a year in prison are ineligible. You are able to purchase a gun from a gun shop, gun shows, a pawn shop, through internet sales, and from friends or family. When purchasing a gun from a gun store, and most pawn shops you must go through a background check. In most gun shows background checks are not required. More than 100 gun shows happen a week selling more than 500-1000 plus guns a week to people without checking if they are suitable owners. Lastly internet sales, and sales from friends and family do not need any background checks, meaning anyone could buy a gun.

The restrictions need to become more serious; the senate needs to pass the bills and laws to protect citizens. The senate has constantly voted against gun control. Whether it be the ban on sub machine guns in Chicago or restricting people on the terrorist watch list the ability to purchase guns, the senate has voted against it. With terrorism on the rise gun control needs to become more serious. How many more attacks will take place before people realize that gun control is needed? San Bernardino is a wake up call that no one wants to notice, that the threat may be external but it’s our internal problems that allow these attacks and murders to take place.
How easy is it to buy a gun around the world? Which country has the most guns?  Japan has .6 guns per 100 people, the UK has 6.2 guns per 100 people, Australia has 15 guns per 100 people, Germany has 30.3 guns per 100 people, Switzerland has 45.7 guns per 100 people, and lastly the US has 88.9 guns per 100 people. Looking at the total population of the world, the US being about 5% has about 35-50% of all the guns in the world. The United States of America has  more guns than any other country in the world. How safe do you feel knowing that almost 90% of Americans own guns? Another scary subject is mass shootings, which recently has been more and more common. Again let's look at statistics from around the world, on mass shootings. Japan has had zero mass shootings since 1997, Australia has had zero mass shootings since 1997, the Uk has had one mass shootings since 1997, Germany has had three mass shootings since 1997, Switzerland has had three mass shootings since 1997, The US has had three mass shootings in 2014 alone. Since 1997 the United States has 51 mass shootings, resulting in more than 200+ deaths. These deaths are because of the lack of gun control.

One thing we need to realize is what the second amendment actually says;  "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Have you ever heard the entire line be said before? This amendment has been so misconstrued that people believe that every person should own a gun, but when the word militia is used in the amendment, what does it mean? Does it mean that the citizens should bare arms against an enemy force? No, the militia in this amendment is referring to is the National Guard, the National Guard has the right to bare arms to defend the freedom of the State. People need to understand that the second amendment does not defend citizens right to bare arms.
Gun control is something the U.S. needs. How many more deaths need to take place before we realize gun control is seriously needed? There has been so much death because of the lack of gun control already. The public needs to be educated about gun control, people don’t realize what's going on around them and take action.