I wanted to write in light of the recent terror attacks in Las Vegas. This attack is one of the worst in recent American history, and it brings up the question: should we restrict or ban guns completely? I don’t think so.
Many people will point to this attack as a clear sign that this is the time to act on gun control. But I believe that restricting guns will cause little to no effect on the violence that happens in this country. Evil people will find a way to kill whether they have guns or not. If the shooter at Las Vegas did not have a gun, I believe he would have still used a different method to kill, such as a knife or a car, which has happened many times before.
The point is whether someone has access to weapons such as guns or not, they will use any means necessary to complete their evil mission of harming others. It does not matter if we restrict guns or not, evil people will still be evil. We are just taking away one method of creating violence so they can use another one.
If we take away guns, then when someone uses a knife to kill, should we take away all knives? I don’t think that restricting gun ownership will fix the problem of evil murderers. The way to fix it is by fixing people. If we fix the people of America, teaching them correctly, maybe we can ensure this kind of massacre never occurs again.
Can we be sure it will never happens again? I don’t think so, whichever path we take. But taking away law abiding citizens’ guns will not fix the problem of evil people who get their hands on guns. We will only create a sea of sitting ducks with no way of protecting their lives or their families. Gun control isn’t the answer to stopping mass shootings, but making sure we educate our fellow Americans hopefully will.
(Editor’s note: This op-ed was sent via email as a letter to the editor. You may submit your own letters to the editor by contacting rzentler1337@pointloma.edu)
Grace Gaines