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Guns are one of the major causes of inhuman devastation in the history of mankind. Although guns are widely used for protection and for maintaining peace and harmony in the society, they have equally been misused leading to massive loss of lives and property. Misuse of firearms is a matter of great public concern today. In the United States, we find heavy human loss because of the use of assault weapons and the mass destruction caused by guns. Now we like to leave no stone unturned in banning guns for the welfare of individual, society, and the nation as a whole. Although misuse of guns costs the lives of thousands of people every year, we are not able to get enough support in favor of strict laws and policies for regulating the manufacture, sale, transfer, and modification of firearms. People have been arguing with one popular question: “Are guns killing people or Are people killing people?” We have a big controversy about this, but I would say it is not the people, the government, nor the individual who is killing people, but it is the existing laws and policies that need to be revised that are inhuman to the life of the nation. It would rather sound wise to limit the use of weapons that can cause mass destruction.  Guns must be banned in America because they are responsible for mass killings, legally obtained, and current laws and regulations are not working adequately.

Most murderers use legal guns to kill people. Every single mass shooter used legal guns in our country. It is the major problem we have been facing every single day in our country. We do have lots of evidence of mass shootings using legal guns. As a result of the weaker regulations for obtaining a firearm, people are able to use firearms in public areas . Examples of these are the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and the shopping mall in Portland, Oregon. Such incidents can cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year. Besides this, the traumatic sufferings of those who survived the aftermath and the pains of those who lost their loved ones are very deep. The guns used in any of the mass shootings so far in America were legally purchased from the store.

Too many guns used for crimes were legally obtained. These heinous crimes can stain the image of our country. Another tragic incident we had back in 2012, occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where the shooter took the young lives of twenty children. The shooter used  riffles, which were legally bought by his mother. The shooter took the lives of twenty six, including children, school teacher, his mother, and himself. The rate of murders using guns and other assault weapons is increasing every day. People with bad minds are killing innocent people using legal guns and assault weapons. Banning guns would definitely save the lives of the people in our country. Guns are illegal in our neighboring country, Canada, and because of that people would say Canada is peaceful and safer than America. If we ban guns, I am sure we will be as peaceful as Canada and other countries. Most of the crimes in our country are related to guns. Even minor arguments between any two people can escalate, eventually leading to an exchange of bullets. Meanwhile, guns are considered the most dangerous of all weapons, for they can take several lives even within a fraction of a minute.  There is no other weapon which kills more people than gun. The capacity of one gun can kill more than twenty people at one time.

The poor constitutional amendments have resulted in failure of the government to provide safety and security to its citizens. People who advocate against gun control always refer to the second amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” as their logic. I know it is written on the second amendment, but it is not working as it is supposed to work. If it is not working then it is our right and duty to change it to address our own need. The constitution was made a long time ago. During those times, there were no sophisticated weapons in the possession of general citizens as are today. The development of technology, today anyone, regardless of their background, can own guns with high capacity of bullets, semi automatic rifles, and magazines. These assault weapons have claimed several thousands of lives in our country.

Guns have been used for mass shootings. Most massacres used were legal guns to kill innocent people. Too many guns used for crimes were legally obtained. The laws we have now are not working properly to control these kinds of crimes. Thus, it is very important for all mindful Americans, to take the initiative in the direction of formulating strict rules for people to obtain arms.  Unless we rise to the occasion, the doomsday is always around us.

(Author Biography: Jeewan Adhikari is a student of Computer Science in the United States of America.)