Why is it that the average civilian has access to automatic machine guns?
I understand that the second amendment allows us to own firearms, but shouldn’t there be restrictions on what type of firearms can be purchased by the average person? I know that this is a very controversial topic, probably because the constitution was written in the 1700s, which leaves most of the amendments open to different interpretations. We keep wondering why people who commit rampage killings do what they do, whether it is based on their upbringing or their mental health, but what I think is more important is how these people are accessing these heavy firearms. These firearms were originally made for the military, meant for people to massacre lots of people in a short amount of time, yet society is seems surprised every time when they hear that these weapons of destructions are used to kill innocent children in schools. What I think is the saddest thing about all of this, is that there is no way to possibly get all of these guns back and out of people's homes now. Which is why I think that this topic is hard to talk about because even though it seems easy to say to not allow people to have access to these guns, there are too many people who already do.
I think you bring up some great points, Haley. I agree that at this point it would be extremely difficult to restrict certain weapons. The only way this issue could have been prevented was if certain weapons were distributed throughout the army and ONLY the army. Civilians should only be able to buy certain weapons, ones that are not used in the military. Unfortunately, there is not really a way to do this now without making citizens feel as if their rights are being taken away.
ReplyDeleteAlthough weapons are a huge part of the issue, I believe mental health is just as important. The United States does not spend enough time or money on researching mental health. If mental health was a bigger deal, more people would know how to help these people of need.