Essay On How To Prevent Gun Control

It seems that the same news headline appears every few months or so, but tells about a different school with more lives that were taken victim by a man with a gun. It is only when people hear about the lives that were lost, that community and government listen. However, after a few months or years when the incident has passed, another shooting arises. The same scenario has been going on for years, and is happening more often. While the topic of gun control is a controversial topic amongst all political parties, it is agreed that school shootings are completely preventable; it is a problem that can be solved, but it needs to be viewed as a legitimate problem to everyone before it can be solved . Although I haven’t experienced the terror of hiding in my school when there was an armed man roaming
the halls, I don’t have to in order for school shootings to have impacted me. While there are many shootings that happen around the country, I can recall the ones that have impacted me took place not too far from where I live. The day I turned one year old has always been associated with the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. It is the mass shooting that inspired other violent men to enter schools with the same ideas that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had in mind. I was too young to remember what happened, but reviewing the local news coverage and many documentaries about the incident painted a picture of the terror and despair that the community, which was only thirteen miles away from my house, must have felt.
Another shooting in 2013 occurred even closer to my high school, and had a stronger impact on me. I recall the day I was in art class when the school, and the entire Douglas County School District, was put on lockout. Later, all the students were told that there was a local school shooting six miles away. Police officers blocked off the house the perpetrator lived in, which I often passed on the way to my mom’s house. The place where he bought the gun was in a popular shopping center I go to every week. I listened to one of my friends cry as she explained how she heard gunshots in the hallways and the fear she experienced that day, not knowing if she would get out of Arapahoe High School alive or not.
It is difficult to understand the reasons why people would be so merciless to shoot at innocent staff and students, and it’s impossible to tell what type of person would be in class one day, and behind the gun the next.
The government has taken several steps to prevent further shooting incidents, but it is obvious with the increasing amount of incidents nationwide, that those actions are not enough. The most important step to preventing a school shooting would be to find a way to help any troubled or socially-rejected students. Bullying and rejection is what leads outcasts to feel hatred and anger towards their peers, and for revenge to be sought out. Mental health services should be available to help students sort out their internal conflicts. Just as important is keeping dangerous weapons from being available to the perpetrator. While many Americans own a gun for self-defense or for sport, there needs to be stricter laws to be put in place within every state for any person who wants to own a gun. Requiring a background check and a valid permit to purchase any type of firearms ensures that the gun owner will know how to use a gun safely and for responsible
reasons.