By Eloise Miller '24 and Anna Levi '24
Imagine going to school one day, entering your classroom, seeing your friends. A few classes roll around, and you soon hear an announcement: it’s the principal letting you know the school is in lockdown. A shooter has entered your school. You start to hear doors shutting closed, gunshots, screams; “get under your desk,” “lock the door,” “turn the lights off.”
Unfortunately, this is an event that has occurred more times than we can imagine. 180 times, over the past 10 years, to be exact. As students, we hear talk of school shootings very often, whether it’s in the form of a drill, talks and even news articles.
But why is this so common? Well, it’s apparently our right as Americans to do this, as outlined by the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is the Second of 27 Amendments to the American Constitution, originally authored in 1787. These Amendments dictate the ways in which we, as Americans live our lives, and have changed over the years in countless positive ways, such as giving women and people of color the right to vote. That being said, some of the Amendments are noticeably outdated. Particularly the Second one, which states that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In simpler terms, this amendment gives Americans the right to own and bear firearms as means of self-defense.
The Second Amendment is outdated, and must be revised in order to make America a safer and more ethical country. As previously mentioned, the Constitution, and subsequently the Second Amendment, was written in 1787. That’s over 225 years ago, at a time when America was not yet a nation. The British held power over -----. Clearly, the amendment was written to allow citizens to protect themselves, but most shootings are meant to harm and hurt others. This amendment was written over 200 years ago, when life was different. Weapons were less deadly and there was only one sheriff in town.
Some people might say that we should be allowed to carry guns and other weapons, in case anything happens, that it is our right to feel safe. But, if we were to live based off of “in cases”, we wouldn’t go outside anymore. Anything can happen out in the world, but we can’t let fear guide us. In addition to that, it is pretty difficult for someone to feel safe knowing that others are carrying guns, and could enter their school, or workplace at any moment and kill innocent people.
It is understandable though, how some might only feel safe and comfortable when they have easy access to a firearm. This is totally valid, as according to the U.S. Department of Justice, over 1.03 million home invasions occur in America a year. That statistic alone - even excluding other times when one might require means of self-defense, such as when walking home alone at night - would justify why someone might want a firearm. However, keeping the Second Amendment exactly the same as it was written 225 years ago is not the answer to keeping Americans safe. But, when you take into consideration all the other statistics; the 180 school shootings that occurred in American schools over the past ten years. Every year, nearly 1,300 toddlers die by gunfire. An estimated 25,000 Americans commit suicide using a firearm every single year. Something is wrong here.
Something’s been wrong ever since the very first reported school shooting in 1764. But how can we right these wrongs? How can we as a nation heal from such tragedy caused by firearms, and how can we bring back the hundreds of thousands that have pointlessly died in this country thanks to one outdated passage? We can’t. But what we can do, and must do, is promise that we won’t allow firearms to be sold so regularly anymore, by repealing and replacing the Second Amendment with common sense gun laws.
The first gun law that needs to be passed nationally in place of the Second Amendment is a national permit to purchase, or PTP. This is a policy that requires prospective gun purchasers to obtain a permit and pass a thorough background check. Studies associate the PTP passed in Connecticut in 1995 with a 40% decrease in homicide by firearm, and a 15% decrease in suicide by firearm across the state. Furthermore, similar studies associate the repeal of the PTP in Missouri with a 14% increase in the murder rate, and a 16% increase in the suicide rate across the state. The numbers speak for themselves.
While replacing the Second Amendment with national PTP laws won’t solve all gun violence, there’s no doubt that this country would be made significantly safer. On a smaller scope, there’s plenty we can do as teens to make America safer. Firstly, we can send letters to eligible voters, or canvass for people who support stricter, and more effective gun laws, or who are willing to modernize the Second Amendment. And finally, when we’re able to, we can vote.
The Constitution was written over 200 years ago, times were different, and so were we. But humans and arms have evolved, firearms are much more powerful and deadly. So, why can’t we change a passage written on a piece of paper, which was written to ensure we remain civil, but has done the opposite? Times have changed, and so should we.
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