Twenty-six young lives could have been saved. Twenty-six innocent lives were taken from this world by the hand of a psychopath. Twenty-six families, a small Connecticut town, and our country will never be the same. The tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT that took place on November 30, 2012 will not be the last tragedy of this kind if we in the United States of America do not take drastic steps to prevent them. Many people have brought up the subject of gun-control as a solution. However, maybe the guns are not the main problem, but more so the mental health of the people in control of them.

The Huffington Post published an article written by a mother of a mentally ill 13-year old boy who had threatened to kill her on multiple occasions. She stated that if her son had access to a gun, his mental illness would cause him to put others in danger. In many cases, the people we hear about in the media who go on killing sprees have obvious mental instabilities that previously may have gone undetected or undiagnosed.

I think any rational, sane person would agree that any human being who could kill 20 first-graders, or kill anyone for that matter, is not mentally stable, and therefore should not be permitted to own a weapon. On the other hand, most would agree that it would be unfair, not to mention unconstitutional to take away guns completely, as the second amendment provides that all people have the right to bear arms. After all, a gun is only as dangerous as the hand that pulls the trigger. So what can we do to keep Americans citizens happy and safe? Require anyone who wishes to own a gun to pass a thorough psychological examination.

When a gun is put into the hands of a crazy person, the rest of the world is put in serious danger. If the United States government was to do psychological testing on anyone who wanted to own a gun, and those who were deemed mentally unstable were not permitted to own a gun, we might save many innocent lives. The examiners would have to be licensed mental health professionals able to diagnose and detect mental illness or instability.

Although this solution would help to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill persons, it wouldn’t stop murders all together. Like now, if a crazy person is intent on committing murder, there are surely still illegal ways for them to obtain a gun to carry out their evil plans. However, if the testing saves one innocent life – it would be worth it.

The issue of mass killings at the hands of mentally unstable people has been a huge concern since the Columbine shootings in April, 1999. Since that time there have been thirty-three mass killings up through the Sandy Hook massacre. Imagine how much different our lives would be if Ryan Lanza had never gotten his hands on a gun. If only his mental illness were detected and diagnosed through testing, the lives of twenty-innocent children and six brave educators could have been spared. Hundreds of young children wouldn’t have been traumatized by witnessing the slaughter of their friends, and the country wouldn’t know the pain and fear of realizing that there are people out there with access to guns, who are crazy enough to commit such a horrific crime. If only…