We live in a world that is masked with sin around every corner where much of the news today seems to evolve around tragedies.
On Oct. 1, a gunman opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, killing nine people and later, himself.
As a Christian, it is hard for me to understand why someone would want to murder another person. For me, nothing could ever justify taking the life of a person.
In light of the news, President Barack Obama gave a statement encouraging stricter gun laws across the United States.
“There is a gun for roughly every man, woman and child in America,” Obama said. “So how can you, with a straight face, make the argument that more guns will make us safer? We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths. So the notion that gun laws don’t work, or just will make it harder for law-abiding citizens and criminals will still get their guns is not borne out by the evidence.”
The president’s statement was based on a chart published by the National Journal showing gun-related deaths in each state and whether the state has gun laws.
While some states with stricter gun laws may have fewer gun-related deaths, President Obama and the National Journal did not note whether the gun-related deaths were a suicide or homicide.
Suicides by guns are an important issue — they account for more than 60 percent of gun deaths, according to The Washington Post and it is a separate issue from mass shootings that President Obama should have considered before making his statement.
I am a firm believer that our Founding Fathers sought to restrain large amounts of political power and optimize individual freedom and liberty.
While I think there should definitely be stronger screenings involved when purchasing a gun, enforcing strict gun laws could give the federal government more power than it should have.
The Second Amendment clearly states Americans should have the right to bear arms. While some people have psycological and emotional issues and should not own a gun, the federal government should not minimize the right for other responsible Americans.
Ben Carson, 2016 presidential candidate, said in a statement Oct. 6 that the United States should look for a mechanism to keep weapons away from people that have been previously declared dangerous by a mental health professional.
“We need to study all the possibilities, and we cannot do anything that compromises the Second Amendment,” Carson suggested.
This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue. This is a human issue.
Many mass shootings may be random, many seem to be specifically targeted toward specific people groups or religions.
The shooting in Oregon and the mass shooting June 17 in Charleston, South Carolina, that killed nine people during a Bible study, seem to have been geared toward those of the Christian faith.
We may not be able to stop a mass shooting single-handedly, we can encourage stricter mental health screenings and find ways
to help prevent a potentially dangerous person from picking up a gun.
If we as a society can help with assisting the prevention of a mass shooting by being cognizant of struggles those around us may be going through.
It is impossible to control the actions of others but we can act as Christ would and extend grace upon those who may need it.
