Opinion

Gun Control Needed After Newtown Murders

Scene inside Sandy Hook Elementary School (Conn. State's Attorney report on the school shooting)
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – Twenty six innocent people died today after a man entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. and began shooting students and adults.
Though police were on the scene within minutes, it was too late. Twenty students died there.
There have been 31 school shootings in the United States since the Columbine tragedy in 1999, but nothing has changed to prevent these shootings from happening.
The killer in Connecticut could legally buy and own guns in this country.
What good reason does an ordinary citizen have to be able to own semi-automatic guns?
Is it possible that some people get an adrenaline rush from being able to own these guns? Maybe they want to be able to protect themselves from a possible zombie apocalypse in the future?
None of these possibilities provides justification for owning semi-automatic or automatic weapons.
I’m reminded of what happened in Aurora, Colorado earlier this year when James Holmes entered a movie theater during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises with an assault rifle and left 12 dead.
What happened today in Newtown is another cry for stiffer gun control.
President Obama has called for more gun control. This is common sense, not a political stand against the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.
Should ordinary citizens be allowed to own guns? Absolutely, it is protected by the Constitution.
There are many good reasons for owning guns. Self-protection and hunting are just two that come to mind.
But these reasons are satisfied by owning a pistol or a shotgun, not a weapon that can fire shot after shot in rapid succession. Someone can easily protect themselves by having a license to carry a simple pistol, or having a shotgun in their home.
More innocent people are dead after another tragedy in this country involving a gun that nobody needs.
It is time for the president and Congress to address this problem. Until something changes, more innocent lives will be lost in tragedies involving guns that shouldn’t be available to everyone.
Aiman Jarrar is a Junior Reporter for Youth Journalism International.