PRO: Gun control saves lives

JENNIFER TANZIL Reporter

“Idon’tthinkPierceisreadyforan active shooter situation. I think the layoutofthiscampushasanegative effect.It’saveryopencampusand Ithinkthatmakesthecampusfeel insecure. I also think the windows arewaytoohigh,andthisgives offalotofvisibility.-Luis

Aguilar, PsychologyMajor

Gun control has been effective in decreasing the number of shootings in the United States. These laws don’t aim to take away anyone’s Second Amendment right to own firearms. Instead, they decrease the sale of assault-style rifles and make it more difficult for people to purchase firearms. These measures could prevent the next devastating mass shooting. Shooting deaths of any quantity are tragic, but they could be more tragic if gun control laws weren’t in place.

Lee Spieller wrote in their research journal, Gun Control in America: A Global Comparison, that “a combination of the ready availability of guns and the

“Ifeelalackofprotectionhere at school. I don’t think there are manyproductsinplacetoprepare us if there were an active shooter. It’sjustsocommonnowadays.I thinkhavingconversationswith students,facultyandstaffabout activeshooterswouldhelp.Ithink weshouldgeteveryone'sopinions and worries heard in order to make solutions.”-Kailyn

Stewart,Business AdministrationMajor

Quotes gathered by Reuben Santos

Photos by Hunter Hammerot willingness to use maximum force in interpersonal conflict” is the most important cause of high U.S. death rates from violence. Guns being easily accessible in parts of the U.S. contribute to the high number of gun-related deaths. Without guns, it would be harder to commit these crimes. Say, a disturbed individual who wishes to inflict harm on a group of people would have a harder time doing so using a knife as opposed to an automatic rifle. Laws banning the sale of such firearms and stricter background checks are necessary in preventing shootings.

Countries like Australia, Canada and Switzerland have set an example as nations who are virtually free from mass shootings due to their tough federally mandated gun control laws.

Mass shootings are almost exclusively an American problem due to the prevalence of a gun culture. The federal government has left it to the states to impose their own gun laws to prevent such incidents and other gun-related violence.

In states where gun control laws are lenient, gun violence is most high. Mississippi and Louisiana are the states with the most rampant gun violence, according to the Pew Research Center.

These states were given a grade of F by Giffords Law Center's assessment of gun laws by each state.

Meanwhile, in California, where over 100 gun laws are in place, the number of shooting deaths per capita is less than the national average of 13.7 deaths per 100,000 people.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), California’s firearm mortality rate is among the nation’s lowest with gun deaths averaging 8.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

Dr. Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis, said in an article titled California Has Toughest Gun Laws in United States and Fewer Deaths that the lower gun ownership numbers in California is instrumental in the lower rate of firearm violence in the state.

This is in part because California requires extensive background checks and banned the sale of military-style assault weapons. But it wasn’t always this way.

In 2005, California had around the same rate of deaths by firearm as Texas and Florida, according to an article from David Lauter of the LA

Times Since then, California implemented stricter gun laws, leading to a 10% decrease of gun deaths. Today, California has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths in America.

On the other hand, Texas and Florida, states known for antigun control, saw an increase of 28% and 37% in rate of gun deaths, respectively. It’s not necessary to even look at other countries because the same statistics go for U.S. states as well. Where gun laws are prevalent, gun deaths are less. Other factors contribute to the number of gun deaths aside from gun control laws, but at the end of the day, it’s better to have some regulation than no regulation at all.