Restricting Guns to Further Our Future
In today’s America, everyone has an opinion about guns. It is hard not to give much thought to guns considering how present they are in political debates of the modern era. One widely shared opinion about guns is that children should not have access to them, yet they keep falling into the hands of our youth. According to The Trace, nearly 4.6 million children in America live in a home where one or more guns are kept loaded and unlocked. While there are laws in place that both limit the access that minors have to guns and enforce punishments for guns being stored negligently, these laws are not strictly enforced. In order to keep our country’s youth safe from guns, our government officials should pass stricter gun control laws on a federal level.
Due to the fact that so many children are raised in homes that have at least one gun, state and federal lawmakers should be doing everything in their power to make sure that those guns don’t fall into the hands of minors. According to Gifford’s Law Center, Massachusetts requires firearms to always be stored somewhere with a lock. While a few other states, like California and New York, require the same, Massachusetts is the only state in which this is always the law. The remainder of the United States has no requirement for keeping guns under lock and key. Storing household guns in a secure place is imperative, especially if that household includes children.
I personally have a strong opinion about the importance of keeping guns secure, being as I grew up in a home in which multiple guns were owned. My father was a deputy, and he was sure to keep all of his guns hidden from his children and secured with a lock. It isn’t difficult to imagine what could have happened if those guns would have been easily accessible and unsecured. While some gun owners, like my father, take it upon themselves to practice safe habits in order to prevent possible tragedy, I firmly believe that people would be more inclined to do the same if they were required to by law.
To me, accountability is a huge motivator, and I’m sure many feel the same. Currently, 15 states have Child Access Prevention Laws (CAP’s). Simply put, these laws punish parents or gun owners for negligent storage if their guns fall into the hands of children. These laws hold gun owners accountable for careless behavior. CAP’s are definitely a step in the right direction, however, being as only 15 states currently have such laws, our country still has a lot of work to do.
The main reason why so few states have child access prevention laws is that these laws are enforced on a state-by-state basis, rather than federally. Federal law does not enforce any CAP’s, nor does it require safe gun storage by gun owners. So, what does this mean for the 35 states who don’t hold gun owners accountable for their children accessing them? This means that there is no punishment for such a situation. I feel that the government should take action to ensure that guns are safely stored in every state. This could be done by introducing CAP’s on a federal level, so that safe storage of guns is mandatory in every state. This way, gun owners in all 50 states will be required to take the minuscule step of storing their guns in a more secure way.
The best way to influence a change in our country is to make your voice heard. Guns are such a controversial topic, and people have very oppositional feelings about their place in our society. Websites like Everytown.org collects donations and sells merchandise in order to fund a gun safety awareness campaign. According to their website, these funds go towards mobilizing supporters, educating the public about responsible gun ownership, and pressuring lawmakers into making a change. This organization, and other similar ones, work by spreading awareness and pushing our country’s government to make small changes that will have a big impact. If we all make our voices heard, gun access laws can be achieved nationwide. It is important to hold our lawmakers accountable in order to move towards becoming a country in which our youth are safe from guns.
Sources: https://www.thetrace.org/2017/07/gun-violence-america-children-kids-facts/
https://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/child-consumer-safety/safe-storage/#state
