Gun Control. Or Rather, Lack thereof.
FireArm Violence
Terror. It’s on the rise, and some say it’s an immigration or refugee issue. Others declare it a mental health issue. In some cases this is true, but more often than not, the issue is due to the ease of access to military grade weapons in this country. The world is no utopia, and as this is the case, crime cannot be stopped completely. Many use the threat of crime as a justification for the right to arm oneself. A fine ideal to be sure, but does one really need a sub-machine gun to defend oneself? Do they need an assault rifle for defense, or would the baseball bat by the side of the bed suffice? The truth is, guns do not mean instant protection. In fact, a study found that over the span of 2007-2011, a period that saw an estimated six million nonfatal violent crimes per year, 99.2% of victims did not defend themselves with a gun (CNN). Consider that the United States is a country with approximately 112.7 guns per every 100 residents. Weapons of this nature, in this quantity no longer offer security, they only provoke violence. Guns are the weapons of terror, and in a country that saw 10,945 firearm homicides in 2014, increasing gun control is an action long overdue (CDC).