By no means do I believe that guns should be completely wiped off the face of the planet, but there does come a point where a discussion needs to happen on what guns should be readily available to the public.
Take a look at some of the statistics regarding mass shootings in the United States and you will find a common trend. Over the course of the last 35 years, 13 of America’s mass shootings featured the shooter utilizing an AR-15. According to Time, six of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history over the past decade have involved an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. Some of the more recent shootings where we have seen an AR-15 in use are Sandy Hook, Orlando, Texas, Las Vegas and Parkland.
In some states, it is truly absurd how easy it is to gain control of an assault rifle. Why is it that in all 50 states, you have to be 21 in order to drink a beer. But when it comes to an assault rifle, you can purchase one at the age of 18.
Something just doesn’t add up, considering an 18-year-old is able to own and use a military-grade weapon, but cannot legally have a sip of an alcoholic beverage.
The weapon is classified as the most popular rifle by the NRA and has up to 8 million American owners. But seriously, what is the dire need to own an AR-15 being a civilian in the United States?
Originally, the weapon was designed for military troops in combat, not for street use. The gun may have been adjusted for civilian use, taking away the fully automatic feature of the weapon, but at the end of the day, it is still considerably more dangerous than a handgun.
In the case of the most recent shooting in Parkland, the weapon still killed 17 people. It is easy to argue that someone using a handgun in comparison to an AR-15 would have killed less people in the same time frame.
AR-15s use box magazines, which can be swapped out fairly quickly. Each one of these box magazines holds up to 30 rounds. In the Florida shooting, it is said by a local sheriff that the gunman had “countless magazines.” Clearly, anyone who is going to plan out an attack like this would be prepared, just as the Parkland gunman was.
The most mind boggling part about all of this is that by federal law, it is easier to purchase a semiautomatic rifle than a handgun. A person must be 21 and sit through a three-day waiting period in order to buy a handgun from a firearms dealer; however, when it comes to a semiautomatic rifle, it can purchased and taken home on the same day at 18 years old.
Following the Parkland shooting, a New York gun owner went viral on social media for destroying his AR-15. The man said that he has the second amendment tattooed to his body, but at the end of the day, he had no need for the gun. The man decided that instead of risking another person’s life, he destroyed the rifle so that a tragedy would never happen with his weapon.
There are plenty of grown adult gun collectors and connoisseurs in our country who properly know how to use these weapons. Those people who are in that category are not my concern. Do they really need to own a semiautomatic rifle? In my opinion: no. Regardless, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and reasoning for wanting that kind of a weapon.
My concern is why a 19-year-old, like the Parkland gunman, can walk into a firearms dealer and purchase a semiautomatic rifle with next to no issue.
