As I sit in my living room watching the evening news with my dad, I cannot help but wonder what the future of America has to offer. On Nov. 5 when “breaking news” flashed across CNN, I wasn’t particularly surprised to see that another mass shooting had occurred.

I felt upset with myself for not feeling any sort of emotion, but I could not help it. In this day in age, I have lived through more than 64 mass shootings. Two of the worst shootings in US history happened a little more than a year apart. Is this a scary, or what?

When President Trump shared his thoughts about the mass shooting, he stated that mental health is the issue and guns are not. Sure, mental health is an issue, and I completely advocate for mental health because it is important. But, for me, I believe an easier ways to save lives is to restrict guns sold and their use.

Semi-automatic describes a weapon that shoots every time the shooter pulls the trigger, but automatic describes a weapon that starts to shoot when the shooter pulls the trigger and will continue to shoot until the shooter stops.  

If you take a look at the Las Vegas shooting and many other shootings, automatic guns were used by the shooters. I don’t know what you think, but WE do not need automatic guns!

With 325 million people living in America and approximately 300 million guns it is unlikely that all of these weapons are being used for protection and personal safety. Even if guns are used for protection, we don’t need bullets to be shot like an automatic gun. Controls on which types of guns are available should be something the government changes.

Chicago does have the strictest gun laws but the number of deaths each year are not improving. There is actually an easy solution for this problem. A countrywide law should be made that restricts gun use by only allowing guns for the use of hunting and not personal safety. According to Chicago Tribune journalist Dahleen Galton, states most of the guns that are used in Chicago are brought in from border states, where it is easy to get your hands on a firearm.  Even if a few states jump on the bandwagon, for gun restrictions, shootings and killings will not be on the low until all states join in for the same set of laws.

As a nation, we need to understand that changes have to be made. There is no point in nurturing the laws that our Founding Fathers created because America has drastically changed and with that, the laws should as well.

We should accept the fact that gun control is an issue and work towards making this country safer. Honestly, how many more lives will it take for people to understand that we should have more gun control? There are many ways to protect ourselves and one another, but guns are killing more innocent lives than helping the country in any possible way. It is time that we amend the Constitution.

Read the opposing view https://dgnomega.org/5870/opinions/head-to-head-a-contemporary-standoff-gun-regulation/