Gun control, in my opinion, should be a non-issue. This is simply feel-good legislation being pushed through Congress that will do nothing to solve any of the problems posed by mass shooters. Guns are not the problem – people are. A mentally deranged person who is set on killing people will do so, despite what the law says. Gun-free zones are also specifically targeted by mass shooters because of the lack of opposition they know they will face.
If the threat of getting shot exists, a shooter will not pick that location. There is a reason the Aurora, Colo. shooting happened in the theater it did. It was the first gun-free theater the shooter found.
If only one person had been armed in that theater, the loss of life in that shooting would have been much less than it was. If a teacher had shot back at Adam Lanza, or a student had been armed at Virginia Tech, those shootings could have turned out much less horrific than they were. If one was to argue that an AR-15, an assault rifle, is impractical for self defense, look to shop owners in Koreatown in Los Angeles.
While it was the hardest hit neighborhood during the Rodney King riots, many store owners kept crowds at bay with a single AR-15 or AK-47.
How should I defend myself if I am attacked and my 10-round California legal magazine doesn’t make the cut? If those shop owners had not carried their rifles with standard 30-round magazines, they would have lost their properties and their livelihoods, if not their lives as well. The police cannot always be there.
Assault weapon bans have negligible impact on the amount of violence seen by guns on a day-to-day basis. Long Beach still experiences shootings on a weekly basis despite the state-wide ban on assault weapons. Legislating against something you do not understand is ignorant, and this is exactly what politicians in Sacramento have done and politicians are trying to do in Congress.
Finally, guns are fun and recreational. My current girlfriend used to be deathly afraid of looking at a gun, let alone picking one up and firing it. Now she asks me when we can go shooting again.
It all comes down to education not legislation. Legislate on mental health, not the number of bullets I can put in my gun. Restricting guns is taking the easy way out. The problem is deeper than the tool used.
Brennen Polenske is junior history major.