Eleven-year- old Emily Holcombe was one of eight family members at church on Sunday, Nov. 5, when she suddenly and tragically died. She will never go to high school, prom, or college, all due to one unjust act of hate. Due to ongoing tragedies in America such as the recent Las Vegas concert and Texas church shootings, conversations on ways to reduce gun violence have once again resurfaced. Since the second amendment protects American citizen’s rights to bear arms, many argue that stricter gun policies are unconstitutional. However, the second amendment can still be practiced while introducing restrictions on guns.

The Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, leaving 59 people dead, and 546 injured. Meanwhile, the church shooting in Sutherlands Springs, Texas, just weeks after the massacre in Las Vegas, left 26 dead, around half of which were children. These catastrophic incidents are not to be taken lightly, and they only further exemplify America’s need for more gun regulations. Now more than ever, America must initiate change in its laws before more damage can be made.

Since the second amendment was written, guns have drastically evolved. When the Bill of Rights were ratified in 1791, people mainly used muskets and flintlock pistols. These weapons lacked accuracy and could shoot just one round at a time, as opposed to the AR-15 weapon today, which can shoot 30 rounds at a time. The AR-15 weapon is a popular, semi-automatic gun with high precision and speed, which also happens to have been in recent mass shootings. The Sandy-Hook shooting, Orlando shooting, and now the Las Vegas and Texas incidents all involved the AR-15 gun. Though many people use this gun responsibly, it is hard to overlook such alarming facts without questioning its legality. There are other weapons available for hunting and protection purposes that are not as deadly. Thus, the U.S. should not sell such lethal weapons that puts the lives of innocent citizens at risk. Sophomore Meghan Murphy stated, “There has been a lot of violence recently, including the Vegas shooting, and now the shooting in Texas, and I feel it could have been preventable if guns weren’t so easy to get. I understand why people use guns, but I think that there should definitely be more restrictions on what type of guns people can buy.”

Common sense gun control does not mean the government will outlaw guns but rather put limitations on the type of guns available and how easily attainable guns are. Background checks in the U.S. are currently not as strict as they need to be. Devin Kelley, the shooter responsible for the Texas church massacre, had a history of domestic violence, yet he was still sold a gun because the Air Force failed to submit his criminal record to the FBI. Had Kelley’s record been in the database, it is unlikely that he would have obtained a gun, meaning that the Texas church shooting may never have happened. Background checks, as seen through Kelley’s situation, must be enforced with seriousness and details to help ensure that people who obtain guns are responsible. Additionally, many states have “gun show loopholes,” which allow people to purchase firearms at gun shows from private dealers without participating in any background checks. Sophomore John Malinka added, “Using guns has been a big part of American culture, but there is a clear issue on who can buy guns and gun restrictions. Many places like New York and New Jersey have strict gun laws, so I feel by making stricter laws for a more widespread area, it will help to reduce gun violence.”

It is also important to note that the U.S. has one of the biggest gun issues in the world. Sophomore Maria Russotti stated, “Other countries that have stricter gun control seem to have less gun violence, so we should think about increasing our gun control as well.” America has both the highest number of guns owned by citizens and the most amount of mass shooting compared to other developed countries. And, unsurprisingly, America also has some of the least restrictive gun laws compared with other countries. According to the November 7 New York Times article (nytimes.com) entitled, “What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer,” the U.S. has about 270 million guns in circulation, and it has had 90 mass shooters from 1966 to 2012. For comparison, no other country has more than 46 million guns, or 18 mass shootings. Thus, the biggest explanation to the country’s disturbingly high numbers of mass shooters is directly correlated with the also high number of guns owned.

The U.S. cannot continue to ignore a clear need for more gun regulation. Too many tragedies have occurred and will continue to happen unless something is done. Guns today are capable of inflicting far more dam- age than our founding fathers could have ever envisioned when writing the second amendment, so we cannot continue condoning atrocities due to laws written during different times. As guns evolve, laws must too.