“A well regulated militia, being necessary of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The second amendment gives American citizens the right to hold guns. Whether a citizen should be able to carry a gun or not is highly debatable. I support the idea of gun control. I support the idea of gun control because today’s society is not reflected as a well regulated militia, in which the second amendment suggest is necessary for this law to be successful.

Gun violence in the U.S is terrible, which is why we need gun control laws. Evidence shows gun violence in the U.S surpasses any other country by far. The gun-homicide rate in the country is 30 times the rate of Britain and Australia (Zakaria 1). It’s ridiculous to think that our country is thirty times more dangerous than other countries.

Last year, a man murdered 26 people at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Out of those 26 people who died, 20 of them were students in the first grade. How would it feel to know that a school is not safe for your brothers, sisters, sons, or daughters to attend? This incident was just one of sixteen mass shootings in the United States in 2012 (Zornick). They took place at places where you wouldn’t think of like schools, courthouses, movie theaters, etc. It’s sad where something like this could take place anytime, anywhere.
You can never guess what someone’s motives are because people, as a whole, are too unpredictable. Even if we create background checks in order for a person to hold a firearm, this stills doesn’t prevent people, with no criminal record, from deciding that they want to do something harmful to others. A person could also retrieve a gun from someone they know. Adam Lanza, the person responsible for the Newtown massacre, used the guns that belong to his mother, and she legally bought the gun. (Johns and Samuel, CNN).

Why would you ever put a gun in reach of a child? Most people might find themselves saying this. But, it is very common in America. Nearly 1.7 million children live with a gun in their home (Jeannette 1). It would be fine if these children are taught gun safety, but they aren’t. At a Michigan hospital, they conducted a poll that revealed that 18 percent of parents who own guns have never talked to their children about guns. There is no way to expect that a child will handle a situation, where they find a gun in their home, responsibly.

There are arguments that can be made that gun control isn’t a good idea. You could make an argument that guns might leave people defenseless. But as stated before, criminals usually retrieve guns from people who have legally bought guns. So therefore, they wouldn’t be able to get those guns.

Gun control laws need to be created. It would give great help to the United States. The 2nd amendment was created in order to help the United States. But in this age, it just doesn’t work. The people in the U.S are not capable of using guns in a civilized way. Mass shootings are a clear example of this. People are too careless around children. Gun control will be able to stop the violence of our country .