The issue of gun violence is bigger than just the mass killings that have the public’s attention. Every day, suicides, unintentional shootings, and interpersonal disputes that become fatal due to easy access to firearms are just a few of the ways that gun violence claims lives from communities all over the nation.

There are people that believe that the most popularly advocated gun control measures, even those that are already in place, are already failing to prevent mass shootings in public areas. The country fails to successfully end gun violence by restricting law-abiding citizen’s rights and limiting their ability to defend themselves and others with the use of firearms. People believe that gun regulations make it harder for people to safeguard their homes and families when law officers aren’t present to aid because the police can’t protect everyone at once all the time.

While there is evidence that guns are fundamental when it comes to self-defense since police cannot protect everyone at once all the time, more guns will not reduce gun violence. Stricter gun laws and fewer guns is the solution to decrease gun violence in America. For example, Iowa weakened its state gun laws and was ranked 43rd in gun violence across the country, with 9.1 firearm related deaths per 100,000 people, and gun homicides increasing 23.5 percent between 2019 and 2020. Mississippi also has the highest firearm mortality rate in the country, at 28.6 per 100,000 people, and has the weakest gun laws in the nation.

Gun control is the regulation of the selling, owning, and use of guns, and it is meant to restrict the possession or use of firearms by civilians. A sense of urgency for a response to this issue of gun violence has arisen in the nation among community members and families that have been directly affected by these tragic shootings. Gun control should be applied in the United States to reduce gun violence because not enough is being done to prevent mortality from firearms.

Guns are the cause of most homicides and suicides in the United States, and the only way to prevent gun violence and gun deaths in America is by regulating guns. For example, since 2018, 75 people, including 60 children have been killed in fatal shooting incidents in schools in the U.S. Twenty-seven school shootings, including the ones in Uvalde and Buffalo, have taken place so far in just 2022.

A school shooting is the nightmare of every parent and teacher. Over the past 20 years, the number of school shootings in the United States has doubled, and alone in 2018 and 2019, more than 100,000 American students attended a school where a shooting occurred. Even while many kids are left unaffected physically, studies have repeatedly demonstrated long-lasting effects on students’ mental health and educational paths.

Students and teachers could live in peace and not have to worry about their safety if there were stricter gun control legislation. Schools shouldn’t be something to fear, but rather a place that has a sense of safety, so parents shouldn’t have to worry about leaving their kids there.

Victims of gun violence can only ask themselves: When will politicians use their power to act and enforce gun control to put an end to gun deaths and gun violence and not give the people only thoughts and prayers?

To keep citizens safe, including students, teachers, and parents, there should be more focus on the nation’s weak gun laws and how we should aim to make them stricter and enforce them to make the nation a better and safer place to live. More guns do not top crime. By enacting laws that make guns safer and harder to get, we can prevent killings like the ones in Uvalde and Buffalo, so the rate of deaths caused by guns will be reduced. Gun control stops people from making an uncertain, swift decision permanent.