Pro-gun control:

I believe gun control is an issue because there is an increasing prevalence of shootings occurring.Last year, I believe there was a statistic demonstrating that there were more shootings than there are days in a year- without making serious edits to the laws that make guns so easily accessible, you can we know that 2020 will not be any different?

I do believe this issue is prevalent in modern society as a variety of movements have aroused, which sparks tensions causing mass violence. I also believe a person’s mental state can contribute to a person’s likelihood of using weapons of mass destruction.

I think a person must undergo serious background checks that would check a persons mental state and whether they had a history of crime. I also believe that a person must be above the age of 27 before buying an armed weapon. Numerous people claim to need weapons to protect themselves from the government; however, I believe that people can protect themselves by knowing their rights, continuing to educate themselves, and staying aware of their political surroundings.

The first time I realized the problem is when I watch a ted talk about school shootings after the incident in the Florida school shooting.

I was concerned about a shooting at Irvington after the one bomb threat the school had received and the ongoing war against graffiti in the school.

-Ojas Brahme (10)

Anti gun-control:

I believe gun control is a major issue in today’s world, given how critical it is to personal freedom and security. The infringements on our firearm rights not only makes millions of people less secure, but also sets a precedent wherein governments can slowly strip away at our other freedoms.

Things such as background checks don’t stop crime. We need to ask why a child is purchasing a firearm in the first place, instead of wondering how to stop them. Those who are mentally ill, those who truly wish to inflict harm upon others, will do it with or without firearms and background checks. The primary danger of background checks is the losing of ground.Our gun laws are not lax in the slightest. All licensed firearm dealers are required to administer background checks. We need to ask ourselves why our gun laws are so strict, and why they are becoming stricter.

To claim that gun control is needed to prevent mass shootings and crime overlooks the social and economic issues that cause violence. There is data that will show low correlation between gun availability and shootings. Since the beginning of the republic, guns have been commonplace in the U.S. , however, the mass shooting phenomenon is fairly recent. What really increased the frequency of mass shootings and violent crime in general was because of poverty and lack of father figures. The reason why so many people are for stricter gun regulations is a combination of social media, seemingly reasonable claims, and a disregard for a deeper understanding of the issue (in no particular order). It is easy to repeat statements like “banning guns stops criminals from getting guns” or “common sense gun control”. At face level, these statements are obvious. Obviously by banning guns, people can’t get guns to commit crimes. Statements like those are easy to say. To explain why banning guns won’t work requires hours of discussion, hours of complex reasoning and many statistics. 

I worry about a shooting at Irvington about as much as I worry about getting struck by lightning. What the anti-gun coalition is doing is terrible. By blowing-up the frequency and magnitude of shootings to a truly false extent, they’ve made entire generations of children afraid to go to school in the morning. What I’m really worried about is there were ever to be a shooting on campus, there is not a single person there that can stop it.