Gun Control

Gun Control

Erik Orantes

How much longer will it be until we hear of another shooting massacre because the shooter did not need a criminal background check to purchase a firearm due to all these ‘LEGAL’ loopholes? U.S. citizen’s should pass gun control along with universal background checks on ALL American citizens who want to purchase any type of firearm from any gun store along with any private individual selling firearms for many specific reasons.

The United States tops the list of gun deaths such as, murders, suicides, and accidental deaths from firearms (Washington post, 2012). The third on the list is Mexico, south from the U.S. Mexico is being fueled by guns that are being imported from the United States. Cartels take over most of Mexico now and the Mexican police are beyond corrupted. Although many of the guns being imported from the U.S. to Mexico are stolen, a good majority of those firearms are being bought and sold legally on American soil. There are many gaps in the federal law that allows private individuals, who are not licensed gun dealers, to sell firearms without conducting background checks. An ATF study found that 10,000 guns were traced to being bought at gun shows (ATF.com/gunloophole).

There are many American citizens who are against gun control but support universal background checks. Their main argument is that it is our 2nd amendment right to ‘Bear Arms.’ Guns don’t always need to be used to intimidate people, they can also be used for self-defense from criminals. In Tennessee, a 72 year old women who is the owner of a Dollar General store was parked outside of her business when she noticed two suspicious men get out of their car and one started walking toward her car while the other walked towards the back of his car to retrieve something. Little did they know the women had a .22 caliber handgun, drew it out and pointed it at them, ordering them to put their hands on her car while she called the police. One of the men might have...