On Thurs, Oct. 1, a shooter opened fire in Umpqua Community College in Oregon. At least 10 people have died so far and more have been injured. Witness claim that the shooter, who has since been identified as Chris Harper Mercer, was targeting Christians. He reportedly had heavy body armor and at least three pistols and a rifle.

This shooting has raised many questions; should guns be banned, how can shootings be prevented, or what should schools do to prevent these? Many people have many different answers such as stricter background checks or completely banning guns. I know, however, that banning guns will not solve the problem.

Let me get this straight; I am not pro-violence, I am pro- second amendment rights. Americans should be allowed to arm themselves. Guns don’t t kill people, people kill people. Taking guns away from the few who abuse their rights will not prevent them from killing others. They will either purchase a gun illegally or use another weapon. We should not take away guns from people who use it to feed and/or protect their families.

According to nbcnews.com, one in three Americans own guns. That means 106.3 million Americans own a gun, 212.6 million do not. There are bound to be Americans with mental disorders that own a gun when they should not. Background checks need to be stricter in order to ensure that these people should not own a gun. There should be a psychologist to approve people and absolutely no criminal background.

In order to prevent school shootings, people need to be more educated. People need to understand the viewpoints the others have and work to educate others on those. Background checks need to be stricter, but guns not banned. Military grade weapons should only be available under special circumstances with special licenses.
Psychological help should be made more available to those who need it and there should be armed guards in schools, especially large, urban schools. Students should be better educated on controversial topics, and guns should not be blamed. America can decrease the number of school shootings, we just need to work on it.