On Dec. 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was adopted. This Bill of Rights includes the Second Amendment, which states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Bill of Rights is still a huge part of our society and is what gives us freedom in our country 266 years later. You wouldn’t take away freedom of speech, so why would you take away the other rights given to us in the first 10 amendments?

After the recent mass shootings, taking away or infringing upon our Second Amendment right seems to be a prominent topic that all the big media sources are going after. But making guns illegal will not stop violence and it will not stop shootings.

In the unfortunate instance of the mass shooting at a Texas church in early November, Devin Kelley had legally purchased a gun. However, because of Kelley’s domestic violence charge, he should not have been able to purchase a gun. But, this information had not been reported to the federal background check system.

According to the Air Force, this was not a secluded incident of a reporting lapse. This specific massacre (and potentially multiple others) could have been prevented had there not been a failure to report his past assault convictions.

Gun laws do not need to be stricter, it just needs to be ensured that the system is fully accurate because of the incidents like the one in Texas. In these cases, mental health is the main issue, not the law regarding guns themselves. Malicious attacks like these are less likely to be made by someone who is mentally stable.

Although it is not possible to identify all those who have mental health disorders, if we can insure that those with severe issues cannot get their hands on a gun and help those who struggle, we may be able to make the situation better and prevent mass shootings.

According to the Gun Control Act of 1968, our country currently bans gun possession for those who have been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to any mental institution.” Those who fall in this category are deemed a danger to themselves or others or lack the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions.

Just because we ensure that people who are, by this law, unable to possess a gun does not mean we will fully eliminate shootings. With roughly 300 million guns in the US, completely eliminating shootings would be improbable no matter what actions we take to prevent them. However, making sure our already established laws regarding guns are being followed can definitely help.

We have the constitutional right to bear arms for our own safety and others’. Taking away or infringing upon this right would be going against the freedoms that our country was founded on.

Read opposing view https://dgnomega.org/5873/uncategorized/head-to-head-a-contemporary-standoff-gun-regulation-2/