Following the shootings in Newton, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School dialogue began on the internet in response to the news articles and on social media. It opened up what people in the United States should do concerning guns and their constitutional right to bear arms.
Surprisingly I found some comments to say, basically, that if teachers were given guns to carry this wouldn't happen. Others advocated for them to take guns away completely. Obviously in the U.S. they're not going to take guns out of the public's hands though as it is part of their constitution and is one of their rights as a citizen.
The idea that laws concerning guns could be changed however is possible. One person said people in the U.S. could keep their guns; but, maybe ammunition should be made more difficult to get as there is nothing in the constitution concerning ammo.
Others think that the U.S. should do as Australia did and the government offer to buy back guns then place more restrictions on obtaining weapons. It is still a citizen's right to have one; but, they must go through a variety of exams and background checks before purchasing one.
Another idea was to promote buying a taser over a gun if wanting to protect yourself and your home because although taser's can also kill no one could take it and go on a spree with it.
The saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people," is very true in my mind. People are the ones with the intention and are the ones pulling the trigger. If someone really wanted to kill another I'm sure they would find a way to do it, that's just how it is, "where there's a will there's a way."
Governments do need to do something to regulate firearms though. Does the general public really need automatic weapons or handguns? Probably not, in my opinion, though some could make the argument that a handgun is for the protection of their home in the States.
In my personal opinion only those firearms used for hunting should be allowed and only after completing a course on how to use them as not everyone should be handling a gun. This would not infringe upon anyone wanting to bear arms; it simply provides a standard for those who want to exercise this right.
It is reported, however, there are approximately 300 million firearms owned by civilians in the United States. The question, if laws are changed, would be how to handle this.
Something brought up in the discussion online, however, was that guns aren't the problem. The problem according to this individual was that guns in these situations are being handled by people who are in need of help for an illness. They blamed the mental health system in the United States for not being able to identify and help people before something went too far.
One way people were looking at it was like that of The Onion, a satirical news website, where they began calling a gun, a "piece of metal that launches other smaller pieces of metal great distances, one after another." Thus, posing the question why people feel it is a 'God-given' right to own one as there's nothing really special about it.
Finally an item which a friend told me to read about was bullet-proof backpacks... I'm still unsure if they're actually real or not; but, according to Mother Jones, a politically left-wing American magazine, they have tripled their sales since the shooting in Connecticut.
Honestly what is the world coming to when that becomes the solution? One of the advertisements for the bag was included on the page with a little girl and her backpack waving to someone in the foreground with the quote, "Your child's safety; your peace of mind is our business: Bulletproof Backpacks." The fact that this company is playing on fears in order to sell more products is despicable.
On top of that, when do kids actually have their backpacks with them? Most elementary schools have hooks or cubby holes for the kids to leave their things at, out of reach. Junior high and high schools typically have lockers where youth put their backpacks and books, which aren't even located in the room they are working in anyway.
No matter what has come following the shooting it remains to be a tragic event. I'm not sure what the U.S. can do to rectify the gun laws, but hopefully action in some form is taken because something isn't working. Canada isn't immune to the travesties of school shootings either; but, the solution to gun violence in my opinion cannot be more guns.
