Not even one month into 2023, and the nation is already grappling with serious gun violence incidences. From a 6-year-old shooting a teacher at an elementary school to one in Monterey Park, the city with the best safety reputation, and then another in Alhambra. In these tragedies, countless innocent lives are ruthlessly taken. With a toddler who shot his teacher, to another two shootings that occurred during the Lunar New Year Festival. It is especially heartbreaking as all of these crimes occurred in the first month of 2023, when people should be full of joy and celebrating with their families. Communities have been left aghast, especially given that a toddler committed one of the crimes and that Monterey Park hasn’t experienced such a serious shooting since 2008. While these incidents are still under investigation, we need to plan what prevention measures are appropriate for the future. These weapons have served as both a defender and a supplier, and the main justification for gun control is that it will protect us. Particularly in light of the preceding incidents, there is no correlation between gun control and violence rates nationally or internationally, which appears to refute this claim. This argues that additional precautions should be introduced to the current system for legally purchasing firearms to make it more effective; otherwise, the sale of guns should be completely abolished. 

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” However, to better regulate who owns these firearms, the Gun Control Act was eventually passed in 1968. The act made it legal for people 18 or above to carry a firearm, but the firearm has to be acquired from a certified dealer and the purchaser must have their backgrounds verified. Although there are laws attempting to regulate the responsible use of firearms, crimes continue to occur on a global basis. They may have varied causes, but many of them share one thing in common: the use of firearms. The US is one of the most heavily armed countries in the world, with a firearm in most homes. Data collected by Washington Post have claimed that “with an estimated 120.5 guns for every 100 residents, the firearm ownership rate in the United States is twice that of the next-highest nation, Yemen, with just 52.8 guns per 100 residents. In raw number terms, the closest country to the United States is India, with 71.1 million firearms in circulation.” Americans are 20 times more likely to die by guns than other high-income countries (excluding Serbia, which has a low population). And perhaps most crucially, there is no evidence that areas with strict gun laws are safer than those without any. As seen with this recent case of the shooting of a teacher by a mere toddler: if a 6-year-old is capable of committing such a crime, then the number of people who can do the same or even more capable is not within the count of our fingers.

The concern is: How, in the face of numerous gun control regulations, are people still able to conduct these heinous crimes? It reveals that there are gaps in the current legislation we have. Background checks serve as one illustration. Before being permitted to purchase a gun, people must undergo a comprehensive background check, yet mistakes in such checks allow criminals to get away with it. Errors performed during background checks, such as failing to enter criminal information into the database, could be the cause of some widespread shootings we witness today. Additionally, private sales are performed without conducting background checks, which almost certainly attracts the attention of criminals. Based on FindLaws, “Federally licensed firearms dealers are required by federal law to conduct background checks on prospective buyers, but private (unlicensed) sellers are not. Some states require background checks for private sales, usually through a licensed intermediary, but others have few to no regulations on private gun sales.” This is analogous to claiming that some passengers don’t go through the airline security check.

 It should also be noted that when guns are acquired by parents, they are also accessible to kids. Children could be influenced to use weapons for aggression when their parents have a gun in possession. For instance, in the case of the 6-year-old, he discovered the gun hidden inside a shoebox, which sparked the subsequent crime. The idea is that even though children can’t buy guns for themselves, they are constantly exposed to them and can access them. “Every year, nearly 1,300 children die from guns and many more are seriously injured. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes the best way to prevent gun-related injuries to children is to remove guns from the home,” says Nationwide. The purchase of guns should be subjected to a law mandating training or a license, much like the procurement of a car.

Students at school also feel a growing concern for their safety, especially in light of the two crimes that occurred nearby two high schools, Mark Keppel and Alhambra. A sophomore at Keppel has voiced her opinion about these recent cases. “It’s heart wrenching and painful to hear about this, thinking about all the possible victims. It implies that gun control laws give people more chances of owning a gun without getting into trouble,” she expressed upsettingly. “The crime scene being so close to a place where I’d have to attend 5 or 7 days every week, it makes me stress the idea that there can be more incidents like this to come, even in a place I’m meant to feel safe in.”

Another Keppel student has also expressed her concerns. “It was really a surprise as Monterey Park has been the safest area I’ve known. Keppel needs more security as it is near a freeway and there have already been lockdowns occurring. I could already imagine how scary it would be if it took place at school,” freshmen Kelly Huang stated. “This just gave an answer to why Americans or anyone shouldn’t have a gun unless they are licensed. America has a big issue with gun control since the 2nd amendment exists. Guns are being bought like buying candy at a store. And maybe school should only proceed once the criminal is caught.” 

Furthermore, an MKHS senior and member of the Star Dance Studio who asked not to be identified, was likewise alarmed. “I was a minute away from the site of the scene. I was having dinner and it’s really scary to know how close you were at a shooting,” she said. “Guns don’t really do the community any good as people have their own reasons for owning a gun and might not use them responsibly. Even if you own a firearm, it’s rarely seen as a way to be used as self defense. I think school can be canceled for an extra day to help those who need the time to calm down but too long would cause schedule conflicts.” 

Given these flaws in the existing gun control legislation, it stands to reason that incorrect gun management places us all in danger of threats while safe management can guarantee our protection. According to CNN, “There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, according to an estimate by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey – or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans.” We can never be positive about which of these gun owners are criminals or who might use their weapons in future mass shootings. Considering the number of guns owned, these gun control laws will never be able to restrict how guns should be used. Moreover, it takes days, weeks, or endless months to identify the culprit yet only takes seconds for them to kill innocent lives, as was the case with the mass shooting at Monterey Park. Ten or more individuals were killed, while numerous others were shot and wounded. 

No amount of gun control legislation—one or a million—will change anything. Criminals will always figure out a way to circumvent them, and these latest shootings have proven that. Do gun control regulations provide any benefit as didn’t these recent shootings still occurred? In making decisions that affect people’s lives, our lawmakers must set aside their personal convictions and consider what is best for all Americans instead of individual citizens. A death is a death, thus gun control legislation should either not exist at all, with the sale of firearms completely outlawed, or exist to curb the violence caused by firearms.