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Mass Shootings

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Over this past decade, an increase in mass shootings has raised a concern in the control of firearms. With the ever-growing number of shootings, the death rate due to firearms has intensified. Thus, the controversy over gun control has caused society to push the government to re-evaluate the regulation of firearms in the United States. Hence, in order to keep and provide a safe environment for American citizens without fear of death by firearm, the government should regulate firearms.
According to the Second Amendment, it states, “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” (Lund and Winkler). With that said, most civilians do not possess firearms …show more content…

For one, in 1999, there was a school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado (CNN Library 2016). The assailants were two students, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17. The shooting occurred on April 20, 1999, when Harris and Klebold entered Columbine High School and shot and killed 13 students. In addition, the shooters injured an estimated twenty more students (History.com Staff 2009). Once, they had used the firearms to hurt their fellow peers, they used the firearms on themselves and committed suicide. This massacre became the worst high school shooting in American history. Although, the motive behind the shooting was never determined, this shooting was a factor in the growing controversy over guns. Due to the shooting, 800 gun bills were introduced (Fuller 2014). Yet, only ten percent of the bills were passed. Instead of campaigning for the strict regulations for guns, many people began to campaign for easier gun access. This was to ensure that civilians would have access to guns for self-defense purposes. In spite of this, this also made it easier for criminals to purchase …show more content…

The comparison between the two states show how drastically gun regulations can influence the death rate by firearms. In the state of Wyoming, firearm sellers are not required to check gun owner backgrounds. Therefore, gun owners are not obligated to register their guns or have a gun license. That is to say, there is little to no gun regulations in Wyoming giving it the number one spot in the highest gun-related deaths. On the other hand, Massachusetts has the laws that regulate the possession, sale, and use of firearms and ammunition. Once the applicant has sent in their application for a guns permit or license, the applicant must wait 40-days in which the authorities may deny or grant them permission to carry a firearm (“Concealed Weapons”). As stated by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “Massachusetts is a “may-issue” state for the issuance of licenses to carry firearms, meaning that the local licensing authority has discretion in determining whether or not to issue either license type to an applicant” (“Concealed Weapons”). In this case, Massachusetts is significantly stricter than Wyoming and any other state in the country. Thus, with its strict gun laws, it has the lowest gun related death rate and is ranked as fifty on the charts of gun-related deaths (Hendry 2015). This further justifies

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