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Okay gang posted here as it was in the UofGa newspaper. Below is the original article and below it my daughter's proposed response. Anyone have any other suggestions for where she can find stats will be appreciated!!!
Editoral....
Editoral....
Start of my "I should be allowed to carry" Daughter's response..The suspected shooter was considered mentally unfit for the military and community college, yet had no problem purchasing a semi-automatic handgun. He also obtained a 33-round magazine, which gave him additional time before reloading.
I cannot imagine how being able to legally acquire what is essentially a slow-moving machine gun has anything to do with individual freedom, let alone self-defense.
The gun debate should be seen and treated as a public health challenge. Banning automatic weaponry is obvious, as these weapons are designed to kill many â€" and to kill them quickly.
Waiting periods, improved background checks and the ban of oversized magazines are also crucial.
As gun advocates so often say, “Guns don’t kill people; people do.†This is true, but guns sure make it easier.
Alan Reese
Senior, Savannah
Music performance and Music theory
I completely agree with Alan Reese (Reconsider our Gun Laws), anything that can kill lots of people at once should be banned. In fact, I don’t think he went far enough in banning harmful weapons. My weapon of choice weighs about a ton, causes over six million injuries and 40,000 deaths annually, and is essentially a faster version of a tank- my car. If guns kill people and those must be banned, cars, swimming pools, bicycles, pets, and modern medicine should also be outlawed, because those kill people too. Silverware should be outlawed because it makes people fat. All of these arguments are obviously preposterous, as is Alan’s argument.
Let me explain the difference between an automatic weapon and a semi-automatic weapon, because some people evidently are still unclear as to the difference. An automatic weapon is one that fires multiple bullets when the trigger is held down. These types of weapons have been banned since 1927. Semi-automatic weapons will fire one shot when the trigger is pulled. Comparing a semi-automatic gun to a machine gun is like comparing my car to a tank. It’s a gigantic stretch.
Evidently Alan did not do his research. Chicago, Washington D.C., and England all have implemented bans on handgun ownership. The city of Kennesaw has an ordinance requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in their homes. Can you guess which city has the lowest rate of gun crime? Yeah, it’s Kennesaw. After the handgun ban was implemented in Chicago, the number of murders committed with handguns rose 40%. In Washington, D.C, it was 73% higher. England, 52% higher. It makes sense- gun control laws keep weapons out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. It makes it much easier for criminals to attack people because they know the law-abiding citizens will not be armed and there is little to no risk. If Jared Loughner had walked in, armed, and noticed about 50 other people who were also armed and could easily subdue him, do you think it would have happened the way it did? I sincerely doubt it.
