Gun control: A controversial topic that has been around for years, is once again in the headlines after the tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on Oct. 1. President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats are taking this opportunity to share their views on why gun control laws should be more heavily enforced and how Americans should get rid of their guns altogether.
Let me explain why this is not a logical or even possible option.
First, a majority of guns that are used in crimes, specifically mass shootings, are not registered legally. These guns are found in the streets, on the black market and sold to criminals by other criminals. The owners of these firearms have not gone through a background check or even taken a gun safety class. In today’s world, a criminal can just as easily get an illegal gun as go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of milk.
Democrats want to make it impossible for the good citizens of our country to get a gun the legal way. What does this mean for most law-abiding Americans? Criminals all over this country will be armed and dangerous and the average American citizen will be unarmed and unable to defend themselves in a crisis.
Being able to carry concealed weapons on campus would bring a sense of safety and security to all students and staff. You have to ask yourself, what if there was a shooter on campus here at FGCU? Would you feel safe if you knew that you could help disarm the shooter because you had your gun with you or  someone around you had a gun? I know that I would, and many fellow students feel the same.
The campus security in the Oregon shooting was not allowed to carry guns on campus. Officers were only equipped with pepper spray, which doesn’t hold a chance against someone with a gun. Texas lawmakers have recently passed open carry and campus carry, which allow guns to be concealed in certain areas on public college campuses. I think Florida should follow in Texas’ footsteps.
The idiotic laws that President Obama wants to put into effect would take waway our Second Amendment rights as citizens of the U.S. However, the truth is, as long as the Second Amendment remains in our Constitution, no one will be able to take that right away. They can try and make it harder to own a gun, but the end result will be the same.
I believe that there is no direct correlation between gun-control laws and gun violence. If the government wants to get rid of guns, its focus should be on the streets and the places where guns are obtained and sold illegally. The focus should not be cracking down on the already law-abiding citizens of this country who have the right to own a gun and who went about it the right way. These are the people that will help society and protect fellow Americans in a crisis.
Instead, the government should crack down on the individuals who cause gun violence and work toward removing illegal guns.