Since 2018 began, there have been about 13 school shootings and about 36 public shootings. Following every shooting, we begin to worry about the problem, but never come up with solutions. The recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, school shootings have once again gained a lot of attention and everyone is talking about how this issue can be resolved.
There have been a lot of talks in schools about school shootings and how we can prevent them from happening again.
At my school we have a club called United Students in which we talk about the struggles in our community. One of the students mentioned that we should have an app or website where we can see who owns a gun around our neighborhood. This website would work similarly to websites that detect sex offenders around different neighborhoods.
By having an app or website like this, people will be able to know who owns a gun and if there has been any criminal history in their neighborhood. We will be able to know and feel how safe we are in our neighborhood and community.
Another solution is increasing the age limit to 21 instead of 18. Many people believe that if the age limit is increased there would be a big difference in our community towards gun violence. Once teenagers turn 18, we have more responsibilities and become young adults. However, just because we are young adults does not mean that we should have the right to own a gun. So why is it that we have to be 21 to drink legally but we have to be 18 to own a gun. It does not make sense that alcohol is more dangerous than a weapon that can kill someone instantly for an 18-year-old.
A final solution offered is the banning bump stock that make legal semi-automatic weapons fire similarly to machine guns. This is probably the only good idea Trump has other than increasing the age limit to own a gun. By banning bump stocks, guns will no longer be able to shoot at a high speeds.
It’s time we take these opinions and ideas into consideration in order to have a safe community and a safer country. We should keep advocating gun control, but in the right way, a way that’s peaceful and noticeable. While walking out of school is helpful, it may not the best course of action. Our schools should support us and fight alongside us students, and this can be done through marches held during the or forming school-sponsored clubs that speak out against issues in a student’s community.