A recent rash in mass shootings has Americans once again calling for a ban on assault-style weapons. This time we should take those calls seriously.

In January, a gunman in California used a semi-automatic Cobray pistol to open fire on a Lunar New Celebration. He modified this gun with a homemade suppressor. This specific gun used is a subcompact variation of a MAC-10 (Military Armament Corporation Model 10).  

In Houston last month, five people were shot outside of a  nightclub. over 50 shots were fired outside where at least 1 AK-47 was used. 

Over the summer on The Fourth of July, shots flew in Highland Park at their annual parade using a Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi automatic rifle, which, according to the manufacturer, is an AR-15 style weapon whose initials stand for military and police. Investigators found three 30-round magazines and 83 shell casings on the rooftop he opened fire from. 

School shooting numbers in the US have soared to 288. Compared to Mexico, the second country leading in school shootings, has 8.  Some of the deadliest shootings involved those that have been recently banned in Illinois due to the Illinois Assault Rifle ban. 

On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, who purchased two AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles, opened fire in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas. Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers and wounded several other victims.

On Feb. 14, 2017, Nikolas Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida with his AR-15 killing 17 people and injuring 17 more. 

In 2012, Adam Lanza killed 20 first graders and six school employees using a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and two handguns – a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm.

It would be ignorant for me to ignore the fact that handguns are used more commonly in gun crime. Yet, the crimes of high caliber and resulted in many lives lost, were committed using assault rifles or high capacity magazines. 

Handguns are more commonly used for your personal protection,  protecting your family in your homes, target shooting or hunting small game.

“An “assault weapon” refers to a semi-automatic gun designed for military use and quick, efficient killing. Assault weapons are uniquely lethal because of their rapid rate of fire and high muzzle velocity — coupled with high-capacity magazines, which attach to an assault weapon to allow dozens of gunshots without needing to reload,” according to Brady United. 

Instant gratification has become a huge problem in our society. You see something, you want it, you buy it, and you receive it in 3-5 business days or take a short drive down the road. 

“Criminologists say the prevalence of mass shootings is brought about in part by the easy access to so many weapons — a unique feature of the United States — as well as by a copycat effect,” according to the New York Times. 

Banning assault weapons has become increasingly more popular.  A  POLITICO/Morning Consult poll days after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, showed that  67% of Americans strongly or somewhat support banning assault-style weapons like the gun used by accused 18-year-old shooter Salvador Ramos.

Federal law doesn’t force any mandatory training of your firearm, all videos on how to use it properly are voluntary. 

According to The Sandy Hook Promise, “From 1994 to 2004, federal law made it illegal to transfer or possess large capacity magazines and certain semi-automatic firearms in the US. During this time, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur than in periods before or after the law’s enforcement.  After the law expired in 2004, there was a 183% increase in high-fatality mass shootings and a 239% increase in deaths resulting from such shootings.”

While it’s easy to assume this ban is a political issue, it is more than that. 

My father, a lifelong Republican, is in favor of the assault weapon ban. Furthermore,  50% of Republicans voted in support of an assault weapons ban.

Our Amendments that we live by in this country are sanctioned by limitations.  All of our rights have limitations put on them to protect our country as a whole. While we cannot run around slurring hate speech without repercussions, we shouldn’t be allowed to run around with AR’s without repercussions.

Why is it so hard for us to put a limitation on the 2nd Amendment?  

When the Bill of Rights was crafted in 1791, I firmly believe they did intend for these caliber of guns to be running rampant through our society. 

In 1791, you couldn’t use a gun without training. 

According to David Grace, “In 1791, loading, aiming, and firing a gun was a complicated process that took about thirty seconds per shot. You simply couldn’t do it effectively without training and practice.”

In 2023, it takes less than three seconds to load the average pistol. 

In 1791, these guns held one round, and needed to be reloaded every time.

“The AR-15, on the other hand, can fire 45 rounds per minute. Modified with a bump stock, it can fire 400 rounds per minute or more. That means that in 1789 if you wanted to settle a score at school, the workplace or at a backyard barbeque, you’d have to bring along about 130 other colonists to get the same job done that you could today with a single shooter and an AR-15,” said the Arizona Mirror. 

Some of the deadliest mass shootings in America- Sandy Hook Elementary, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, El Paso, Robb Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Aurora, and Dayton were all committed using these high powered assault weapons with large-capacity magazines

In DC, there are two gun bills under consideration. One would raise the age or purchasing an assault rifle from 18 to 21, and the other bill would “ban the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

Studies of both the 10-year period of the federal assault weapons ban and state assault weapons bans prove that these laws help to reduce fatalities and injuries from mass shootings, as well as the use of assault weapons in crime.

• When the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur compared to the periods before and after the ban
• Studies also suggest that state level assault weapons bans help to prevent mass shooting deaths.
• In several major cities, the share of recovered crime guns that were assault weapons declined by at least 32% after the federal ban was adopted.

Mental health is rapidly declining in this day and age. According to Mental Health America, “In 2019-2020, 20.78% of adults were experiencing a mental illness. That is equivalent to over 50 million Americans. Over 1 in 10 youth in the U.S. are experiencing depression that is severely impairing their ability to function at school or work, at home, with family, or in their social life. 16.39% of youth (age 12-17) report suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year. 11.5% of youth (over 2.7 million youth) are experiencing severe major depression.”

With this surge we need to have stricter laws on guns. “Approximately 5% of mass shootings are related to severe mental illness. And although a much larger number of mass shootings (about 25%) are associated with non-psychotic psychiatric or neurological illnesses, including depression, and an estimated 23% with substance use, in most cases these conditions are incidenta,” according to Columbia Psychiatry. 

This needs to end now. Assault weapons expand far beyond violence. They are a detriment to society with the mental health crisis, fuel hatred, and have caused immense damage to all those affected. We need to come together and open our minds to what is in front of us.