Are Guns Toys?

Written by: Lisset Lott

Guns can be bought as easily as toys can, straight  off the shelves. Hundreds of stores sell guns, from big chains like Walmart  simply by  answering  four to five questions about your background on crimes to drugs.Then they send your information to the FBI to do a background check that takes only a couple of minutes.

Even though many people say that they have the right to carry weapons to protect themselves, what is the need for people to buy multiple weapons ranging from small calibers to military assault rifles? For example in the Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead and 53 injured, a man used a rifle and a 9mm handgun. Both were purchased legally. The rifle was a Sig Sauer MCX semiautomatic.

Even in highly secured places in America, another tragic incident happens. At the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida five people were killed and six were injured. A young  man used a 9mm handgun at the airport. The same weapon that was once taken away from him because of his mental state was later given back. This could have been prevented because if someone is admitted to a mental hospital that means that they are not mentally stable enough to have a gun.

The most tragic shooting was when a South Carolina teenager went to Townville Elementary School and opened fire at a playground. One male student was critically injured, with a gunshot to the leg, and another boy was struck in a foot. A female teacher was wounded in a shoulder. This all happened before firefighters took the boy down. All theses incidents could have been prevented if we didn’t allow people to just buy guns.  

Simple background check did not prevent all of these incidents from happening. We have to really check their day to day lives and talk to their relatives to see if they have seen any abnormalities.  Then  we will be able to determine if a person is fit to own a handgun.