Today the United States Senate passed a procedural bill that
will allow the Senate to start the process to consider additional gun control
laws. While it is a long way from
approving any measures, it was a great step towards passing laws expanding background
checks on gun purchases.
The issue of gun control took on a national priority in wake
to the tragedy in Connecticut in December.
Government representatives and citizens from regions across America were
horrified by the crazed actions of a man with a gun and his assault on innocent
school children. As with any inexplicable
situation, people look for answers and action.
Amongst other checks, the law under consideration would
require background checks to be conducted in private sales of weapons including
the transfer of weapons between family members.
Current law only requires background checks to be completed when a gun
is bought from a Federal Firearms Dealer, this does not include private transactions. According to CNN 80-90% of criminals obtained
their weapon from a family member, acquaintance or from a street
transaction.
While many are in favor of tighter gun control and
additional background checks, there are also many concerned additional background
checks may lead to requirements that are too expansive and infringe on our
constitutional right to bear arms provided by the second amendment. They are also not convinced additional
background checks would have prevented the tragedy at Sandy Hook. The National Rifle Association last week
proposed options they believe would make our schools safer. In addition to other security checks and
education, they were proposing the arming and training of teachers and other
school personnel.
What are your thoughts about gun control in the United
States? Even though schools have proven
to be some of the safest places for children, when something like Sandy Hook
happens, we evaluate potential changes, such as arming teachers. Of the two proposals presented, which do you
think would be more effective in reducing gun violence?
Patrick- I think that gun control laws are good for declining them for the use of murder but lets be honest, not like some wacko will find one himself and use it for who knows what. However i do think it is a good way to limit the use of them for bad purposes, now that i think of it there is no good way to use an assault riffle if your using it for the purpose its intended. I do not think that arming teachers would be a good idea, especially those who teach the younger grades. This might scare the kids and lead to further problems. Plus, imagine one of our teachers holding a gun, we would all be so nervous and the bullet would come out 50ft away from where it was intended to go. If this school problem continues however i might reconsider. I think that banning assult guns would be the most effective.
ReplyDeleteRemember i do not have enough education on this subject to prove i am right.
DeleteThomas B- I think better and more extensive background checks should be put in so that you know the person you are selling the gun to is responsible. Definitely not arming teachers. I would definitely go with extensive background checks because if you armed teachers, more weapons are there for someone to use.
ReplyDeletePetie-I think that what the government is doing may just be the closest thing that we can get to being in agreement between the both sides. If you were to just forget this whole ordeal then you would get protests from one side, and if you were to just stop selling guns all together then you would get protests from the other side. I am personally on the side of no guns, as the people who want to buy a gun probably already have one. Yes, we are a free country, but nowhere in the Constitution does it say we have the right to bear arms *Bear tear. It say that we have the right to bear arms if our government becomes corrupt, or we have to form militias to defend our country. It would be most productive if we just stick with what the government is proposing right now, even though nobody says aloud that they are going to go and commit a mass murder. We even have policemen out there who are turning. Nobody knew that the kids who did Columbine where going to do that. If you were to do a background check on them then it wouldn't say 'Plans to commit mass murder'. THey didn't even have a mental disorder (that they were born with) either. I think that what the government is currently doing is the best way to handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteReed- Gun Control in the U.S. is doing a good job in my opinion. I think people should have guns if they are very trusted and at a certain age. It is not the gun but the person behind it. If the government decided to arm teachers, which i can't even imagine, That the teachers should have a source of defense in case of something like Sandy Hook ever happens in Boise. I think they should ban guns in certain states and have a certain age to fire a gun. The government is doing the best they can to prevent it.
ReplyDeleteNikita- I think we need some gun control but a whole lot more of trust. I mean, really, one shoot-out, and I'm saying its not a HUGE deal, but one shoot-out and suddenly everyone in America needs to have a gun in their house. Think about it, if someone comes into your house and starts shooting, do you really think you're going to pick up a gun and shoot them back? And why are you buying a gun if you don't even know how to shoot it? Yes, one MANIAC, may i tell you, came and shot kids (still not a good thing though) and now everyone in the U.S. suddenly needs a gun? Chances are half the people who rushed to the stores and bought a gun either don't know how to us one or would never even shoot someone should they get shot at. So, I think we need to change an amendment or do some serious background checks if we are ever going to get over this. Just because one guy went crazy and shot kids at a school doesn't mean your neighbor is suddenly going to whip out a handgun and shoot people in the street. Have trust in your surroundings, people.
ReplyDeletesorry, i meant to say "I'm not saying its not a HUGE deal...
DeleteRyan-I think it's an interesting idea but I don't know enough to have an opinion. I think arming teachers would be a good idea just knowing that someone in the school could handle a gun would be very comforting. I also think that because it's such a sensitive subject so law makers may act to fast or feel obligated to make the gun control law. I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteNate- Personally, I think that the gun laws about limiting the size of magazines is ridiculous. They should either not consider gun laws, or completely outlaw them. And even if they did, would that stop mass murders? Probably. But even then, we'll still have people axing and shanking each other, and you can't really outlaw tools. I think that arming teachers is a good idea, but you have to keep in mind that they are just that, teachers. Not trained military personnel willing to kill at a moment's notice. And about background checks; those won't help. The guy who killed all those children had NO criminal record. Background checks wouldn't have stopped his rampage. I think that neither of the proposals are very helpful, but arming teachers would be more effective than checking people's record when they buy guns.
ReplyDeleteBut the background check would have shown that he was mentally ill.
DeleteTomas
Grace- Yes I know, guns don't kill people, people kill people. But they still use guns to do so. I personally think neither options would do much to prevent what happened in Connecticut. This guy was crazy, and background checks aren't going to say CRAZY on them. There is no way to determine how to put health on a background check. Well this guy has cancer; does that mean he might take a gun and shoot a bunch of people? There isn't a way to differentiate someone who has the potential to go on a shooting rampage and those who do not. Even if the government did find a way to record those who should not have guns due to health, it won't stop them from going crazy long after they bought the gun. Let's say somebody buys a gun legally from a Federal Arms Dealer and shows all of the required background checks. Yes, this person can buy a gun; he/she has no record of being in jail or anything. A few years pass, in which time a drunk driver gets in an accident with this person's mother. The mother is killed. The person is angry at the world and begins to go mentally insane. But then the person remembers that gun they bought a few years back. The person decides to go shoot a bunch of people. There was no way to prevent that situation because the person lost his/her mind after buying a gun. No person should be able to buy an assault weapon in the first place. They are designed specifically to kill people, not animals. People will use rifles to shoot deer, but no one needs an AK47 to shoot a deer; they are meant for people. Yes, additional background checks will prevent a few people from owning guns who should not. But if someone is going to buy a gun from their friend, nobody will know if they do background checks. There's no way to enforce it. Now if someone does something bad with a gun bought from a friend, they can trace it back to the original owner. But the friend who sold it won't think about his buddy using the gun to shoot people, so chances are he won't even require a background check. I think the whole arming teachers is just a ridiculous idea. Of course the teachers' guns would be locked in safes, but teachers can be stupid too. They might just leave the safe unlocked, figure, "No one will find out if I forget just this once." The safes would be hidden, but kids can be smart and find them. There are only so many places to hide a gun safe in a classroom. What if the teacher isn't mentally sane? Then they have easy access to guns. The whole point of teachers having guns is to prevent less children from being shot and to scare the shooters. But if teachers having guns is a secret, like some people wish it to be, then it won't scare the shooters away! The more guns people have, the more shootings possible.
ReplyDeleteAdriana-I dont really have an opinion about guns. Even if they did do something about guns it wouldnt effect me at all. I do think that if someone wants to buy a gun that they should check their backround like medical records or if they have had any trouble with the police. I dont htink that they should allow teachers to have guns because then that will cause even more problems. What if the teachers arent fully stable. just one little thing could set them on a rampage. Or what if they forget to lock their safe, then anyone can just take the gun out. With Grace on this one i think that the more guns the more problems.
ReplyDeleteNathaniel- Something needs to be done with gun laws, and it needs to happen soon. The government decided to start talking about these laws 4 months after the shooting that moved everyone. That’s about 120 days… Arming teachers will not help, and will only make things worse. In the heat of the moment, it might not come to your realization you have a gun. This won’t help things at all. I mean, the teachers might be having a bad day, and there may be a student who annoys the teacher. The teacher may be so angry that he/she may pull out the gun and shoot. Enforcing more strict background checks will help, I mean, it couldn’t make anything worse. It could help in the short term, but let’s be honest here; this will not stop the shootings for that long. After enforcing more background checks, the government should start talking about stricter rules. They should also ban all assault rifles. Assault rifles should only be used by American citizens if they are in a war type situation.
ReplyDeleteThe Second Amendment stated you have the right to bear arms. In those times, the only guns were the ones that could only shoot once. There were no weapons that could fire multiple shots. Today, there are guns for the common man to buy that fire several rounds per second. The only ones that people should be able to buy are guns ones that have a maximum of three bullets and are not assault weapons. You can protect yourself, and if you miss one shot, you still have two more left to spare. I think this will help a little more because the real problem is the assault weapons. The most deadly mass shootings had assault weapons involved. These laws will never stop violence altogether, but will help a lot in many different aspects.
Justin- I personally don't think that there is anything the U.S. can do about gun violence at this point. If you look at the number of guns on the streets in cities such as New York, Detroit, Chicago, Compton, etc., there really is no way that the government is going to get all of the guns off the streets. And I don't think that any of the two propositions would make a difference. The background checks might help a little bit but most gun trading happens illegally in the streets or is passed down from the family. Arming teachers with guns would be a horrible idea because teachers can be crazy and they can get angry too. Really the issue with guns has gotten out of hand and there is really nothing that we can do about it unless we go to every citizens house and take away the assault rifles.
ReplyDeleteJustin- I personally don't think that there is anything the U.S. can do about gun violence at this point. If you look at the number of guns on the streets in cities such as New York, Detroit, Chicago, Compton, etc., there really is no way that the government is going to get all of the guns off the streets. And I don't think that any of the two propositions would make a difference. The background checks might help a little bit but most gun trading happens illegally in the streets or is passed down from the family. Arming teachers with guns would be a horrible idea because teachers can be crazy and they can get angry too. Really the issue with guns has gotten out of hand and there is really nothing that we can do about it unless we go to every citizens house and take away the assault rifles.
ReplyDeleteKeelie: I don't think that all this stuff should be necessary. If a person is mentally unstable enough to kill people, they will find a way to do it regardless of the consequences. Even if that person was background checked someone somewhere would sell him/her a gun. I think more people should speak their minds about a suspicious person. It's too late when they say Oh I know he/she was weird. Parents need to keep an eye on their kids if they seem weird. I would have to go with background checks, though. I don't see the need of a gun in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteHayley: I don't think the government can do much about the gun law. If they take them away then some people will be angry and just hide their guns. If you allow them then some people may be scared to know that people have guns. The government really can't win with gun control. The government will be upsetting either way they choose to go. Some people may want guns to feel safe and protected. It would be impossible for the government to get all the guns. People will just hide their guns. I personally don't think that we should arm teachers. The thought of being in a classroom with an angry teacher who has a gun sounds horrific to me. Giving teachers guns may make kids feel like that school is so unsafe our teachers need to have guns. Teachers having guns may frighten younger children. This is a major what if but, if a kid takes the gun from the teacher then you have a huge problem on your hands. I sort of understand having guns in LOCKED safes around the school. If you do the locked safe then how many guns are you talking about having around the school. I think that banning guns all together and not allowing anyone to have them in their homes or other places will be impossible. Their will be no way possible to get every single gun. I think that they should get rid of certain guns. They should also limit how many guns you can have.
ReplyDeleteNatalie- In my opinion, background checks won't stop anyone. It wouldn't have stopped Adam Lanza. He got his guns from his parents house. Giving teachers guns might do a little to stop people, but I wouldn't really feel very safe if I knew that a teacher at my school had a gun, but I didn't know who it was. But if both the Rebublican and Democratic parties agreed on any kind of plan to help reduce shootings, then I'd be happy.
ReplyDeleteBailie- I don’t really have any thoughts about the gun control since no one in my family owns a gun. But I do think that something needs to be done to limit how many own guns because I don’t like guns. I don’t care if people own guns though, just as long as they don’t do crazy thing with them. Out of the two proposals I like the one with the additional background checks because even though arming teachers might deter more people from shooting in schools it makes me uncomfortable knowing some anonymous teacher has a gun in the school.
ReplyDeleteTomas- I think that it is stupid that people can have military weapons. I mean for hunting, how do you need an AR 15 to shoot down a deer? I'm ok with people having hunting rifles and shotguns but why do we need assault rifles with 100 round magazines. I mean you could use a pistol to defend yourself. You don't have to kill the criminal. You can injure him badly or make him run away. I don't think that teachers should be armed. Like i said I don't think that we need assault rifles. I say BANISH THEM FROM THE SOIL OF THE EARTH.
ReplyDeleteLily- The gun control in the United States isn't very good and I don't think that we can do much about it. The whole back ground check is a good idea but there is always going to be people who are going to make things very difficult. Arming teachers in my oppinion is some what a good idea. They need protection if some thing really bad were to happen. The teachers need to go through basic training to know what to do if some thing were to happen. They need to keep the gun in a safe where no one can get to it but the teaher. Arming teachers can also be very bad because there will probebly be a teacher who is unstable and is going to make a huge mess. Either way arming teahers will have good ways and bad ways.
ReplyDeleteMegan- Gun control in America in the last previous months has been a true challenge for a lot of people. Even since Sandy Hooks that seems to be all people can be talk about. I think it really is a good idea to do private background checks. I most lively will bring down murder rates and prevent psychos killing people. Although it will be difficult, I think it can work. Giving guns to teachers might be a bit scary at first but in the end I think it will be a step in the right direction. If something crazy might happen at a school arming the teachers might help people from dying. It's really mixed though since the teachers might be the crazy ones. It could go both ways.
ReplyDeleteRylie:I think that gun control is not a significant way to prevent things that have happened like at Sandy Hook's/ I think we should let people have their guns, but they should go through a test to make sure they are mentally sane, so we don't have out bursts. I don't like the idea of arming our teachers. What if they snap at a student and something goes wrong? Or if a student were to somehow find the gun? I think that if we ban assault guns, we may have a less likely chance for something like at Sandy Hook's to happen.
ReplyDeleteLiam~ I think that the first thing that should take place for gun control would be to have deeper background checks. Then in this case we can be sure that the person buying the gun is a responsible one. I think that the most ethical proposition in making schools a safer place would be to increase security measures. Training teachers to fight, and judging teachers (in the place of the hiring principal) based off of their physical shape is not the best for education. Let's say that you have a physically fit teacher who could easily master jujitsu and other martial arts, but education-wise, the teacher is horrible, on the other hand you have an out-of-shape teacher who is one of the best teachers in the district. If the armed teachers proposition was passed the hiring principal would choose the fit teacher. That is why I think that instead of training teachers how to fight we should increase security in schools.
ReplyDeleteJohn-I think gun control is a bad thing and a good thing. I think it's a bad thing because who know's what people could do with a fully loaded gun (it could be a bad thing). I think it is good to have guntrol because if you are ever in danger then you could have gun control to protect yourself in harmful situations. I think arming teachers is a bad annd good thing to. I think it's bad because what if there were ever a jack wagon teacher that is stupid with a gun and having a gun in a class would probally frighten the students. I think it's a good thing if something bad was going to happen at school the teacher could have an gun to protect the students from danger.
ReplyDeleteSydney-I think that this gun control has a good side and a bad side. It's not really going to help prevent all the attacks using guns on innocent people, because people are still going to do these terrible things. It will help with the background checks so that they know the history of the person and if they have gotten into trouble before. I think that they shouldn't, though, have the teachers armed. Some teachers might not how to use guns and what if a child finds it? You never know how that would end. I do think that they should us the background check.
ReplyDeleteAndoni-I think that gun control in the united states is a good thing. We have heard enough tragic stories about young defenseless children's lives being cut short by gun violence.It is something that has slowly been rising in our society.I think that the additional background checks on both private and guns acquired by a federal arms dealer could aid in decreasing the number of mass killings.Although it will not stop all criminals from getting weapons illegally, it will make it harder.Especially in areas where guns and gang violence are a part of life. It won't stop gangs like the Crips or the Bloods because most gun transactions are held illegally and through family.I don't think that arming the teachers in school is a good idea. Teachers are just as subject to go insane and kill their students. I think it would just cause more problems.
ReplyDeleteIsabel- It makes me feel sad whenever people are violently killed. In 2011 Norway, a country with very strict gun laws suffered a massacre where 77 people were killed with a hand gun. It seems we will never be entirely safe from bad people. Background checks will probably keep some of these bad people from getting guns, but not all.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the airport have 50 TSA security guards funneling people through machines keeping airplanes safe and schools can't have one professionally trained person keeping kids safe? Unless a teacher wants to be trained with guns why would you make them responsible for dealing with deadly weapons? If bad people are going to access military style guns either legally or not, I think citizens should have the right to defend themselves with the same. Every day thousands of babies are murdered through abortion but our government isn't trying to stop that. Murder is murder with a gun or a knife.
Lauryn-It upsets me that America has become so violent. If you go to school you get shot. If you go to a movie you get shot. If you even try to run a marathon you get bombed. I thing gun control is a great idea! I think if we did private background checks that a lot of lives will be saved. It is really sad that it has come down to this. No I do not think teachers should have guns. I think some kids would want to steal it as a joke and end up creating mass murder. So I think the background checks would be better. (the shootings are happening in other places then schools) I think America should do background checks to get drugs (prescriptions) because people are getting crazier and I don’t think they are born like that.
ReplyDeleteWes- I think this has slightly gone out of hand, I mean, I like how people are taking action in stopping any more actions of shooting, but still, you can't stop it as people will now buy there guns early so now there is no chance to take them away. I would only feel safe if teachers that were TRAINED in having a gun and knowing all of the issues about it and is not crazy would be the only way it would work. Besides that it would help to increase security in guns but you can't stop everything like it said above 90% of criminals don't even buy their guns from secured stores, so it would be affecting more of the people that are not insane.
ReplyDeleteTodd- I think it is fine how it is but it would be nice to have a better back ground check on who we are selling a fire arm to. Personally I think we are looking in the wrong direction on how to prevent school shootings like Sandy Hook. We need to start to look in the direction on where and who is doing the shooting. I am saying that if we keep stricter gun controls up, we still are not changing the environment the gun may be set in. Like the Newtown shooting it was not the gun but the person shooting that caused this horrible tragedy. If his mom had just put the gun in a safe or even had a lock on the gun this might have never happened. Another idea for this might be to required people to own gun safes in their home. See guns don’t kill people people kill people.
ReplyDeleteRaquel- I personally think that if schools are the safest place for children then why are the teachers armed with guns that doesn't sound safe to me. I would not like it at all if our teachers were armed. Plus I do think that we should ban having possession of a gun who knows if someone could be armed while drunk, high or mentally ill and not know exactly what they are doing at the time and take away the life of an innocent person.Having guns just creates more problems. Maybe we could do like hunting permissions so like if you were to hunt you would have to like check out a gun at Cabela's or something and have a permit and then return the gun after hunting.
ReplyDeleteAubrie- I think that it is a good idea to put gun laws in place in order to be able to keep some peace in the world and I also support the decision to do background checks on the people who want to purchase guns anywhere. However, I don’t want people to be too frightened of someone shooting them since this is typically a rare thing. I agree that schools are some of the safest places for kids to be because most people won’t think to go into a school and shoot someone because there are multiple staff and faculty members that will dissuade people from coming into the school with guns. Even though people have done it before such as the instance in Sandy Hook, it’s still unlikely to happen because of the number of staff present.
ReplyDeleteThe most efficient way of reducing gun violence would be to run more extensive background checks on individuals who wish to buy guns, and then if they ever get arrested or in trouble with the law they would lose the right to own that gun and it would be taken away by law enforcement officials. Even though some people will commit these actions, it is better to try and prevent them instead of not doing anything about making sure only the right people are allowed to own guns.
Sean- Let's face it, you can't get rid of guns, that would be like trying to get rid of a person's iPhone, no matter how much you try, they're just not gonna give up, so I do think that people experienced with firearms should have guns, but people who don't, maybe training, it's a hard debate, I do remember there being a school in England, the head master taught the students how to properly use firearms like the Lee Enfield MK. II, and the military tactics of the 1900's, those boys later on served in WW1, from the start of the war to the end, over half of the 400 and somewhat students survived, let me remind you that WW1 was worse than Vietnam for the everyday life of a soldier, since your friends died every other hour from sniper fire. But I do think that you definitely need a good rifle or pistol for hunting, and self defense. I once knew a friend of mine who thought all you needed was a .22 to take down a bear. And let me remind you that the .22 is THE SMALLEST caliber on earth (besides some specialized rounds) and Thomas, when I go hunting, it IS warfare, one small mess up could mean your life. And the animals have better hearing and sensory than you do, making it harder to hunt them at a close range. I hunt with an AR-15, which fires a 5.56 and a .45 ACP M-1911, both were designed to do maximum damage, and are military issue, the 1911 was designed to take down horses, full battle calvary ones during the Spanish-American war I believe. Also, most people rob houses FOR guns, and a 100 round magazine, does not exist for citizen use in most states, the most is maybe a 50 round magazine, but unless you have a belt fed gun, you are not getting a hundred rounds. I remember a while back a senator said we should arm schools with machetes and karate, either he was being sarcastic, or does not know what guns are, you can't stop a bullet with a karate chop like in the movies, and unless of course you have a LOT of people willing to die running with machetes at an armed person, nope. It's not gonna happen. I will admit that I do love warfare, since it has always made me feel safe, why? The organization and order just fascinates me, the battles, heroic yet scary, and take a look at the Land Kreuser P. 1500 Monster, it was designed to destroy WHOLE cities, and has thick, thick armor, making it impenetrable and virtually invincible. But one thing I will say is that I do not trust some of these Uber gun nuts who dropped out of college to imbreed in a trailer park, I mean- you have an undereducated nut with some highly explosive weapon or machine gun, and they are just firing it off at random, and yes, they do exist in Idaho. I do feel more than often I have been viewed as one, which does hurt me. Now what I want to end on is this;
ReplyDeleteA while back a close friend of mine, colton and I set an air rifle on the front porch (an air rifle is pretty much a powder-less, air powered rifle, with a .22 type lead slug) we saw that it couldn't move well, so we gave it a wheelchair to move around, handed it a few bb's, and carefully watched it to see if guns DO kill people, during the course of 7 hours, the mailman delivered the mail, and our neighbors took power walks, a few cars drove by, and the little girl across the street took her dog for a walk, the BB gun sat there, given all the chances it had, it never killed, nor harmed anyone. Either we had the laziest air rifle, or guns don't kill people. We then made our conclusion, disarmed the air rifle, and went to check on our forks to see if they made anyone fat.
REMINDER: This is just my opinion with various facts backed up, written in a time basis of around 10 minutes, so please disregard all spelling and grammatical errors.
Nekane-well personally I don’t think they should ban guns I think that because I am a hunter and I like to hunt and it’s in the constitution we have the right to have guns and people don’t understand the history with guns some people life was saved for having a gun with them. Well yes we can take classed for self-defense but let’s be honest if u knew self-defense and the other had a gun I think the gun would win but that’s not the point I think but am not for sure if that man that went into sand hook elementary school knew that there were guns in that school he most likely would not have gone in but there is a lot of what ifs and im probably sure. But some people may disagree on my thought on this subject I don’t see the point in banning guns if the presidents security didn’t have guns he would get shot and yes I know many people have been shot with guns I know but look at the important things we need food we use guns to get our meat and we use guns for safety am not saying that we need to shoot if someone walks towards you but if they run towards you with a gun also or something like that then ya self-defense.
ReplyDeleteLiza- I think that the gun regulations would be a good thing. I also think that some of the regulations might be to much. I think that more background checks would be good, but I also think that some of the other regulations are to controlling and kind of going against our rights as American citizens. I do think that we should arm the teachers. The teacher should not let the kids know that he/she has a gun in the room. I do think that we should arm the teachers so that if someone with a gun walks into a classroom with a gun, the teacher could prevent something like Sandy Hook. I think that the National Rifle Association has the right idea and I support most of their ideas. I do think that people should get background checks about their family. That way the person buying the gun will know what equipment to buy to keep the gun safe and out of the wrong hands.
ReplyDeleteclaire- people who would hurt other people with guns would probebly try to aim for schools because they know that there are lots of kids there. I think its a bad idea to give teachers guns because teachers would have to be spiecialy trained to have a gun that would just cause more trouble also kids could get ahold of the gun.
ReplyDelete-Luke It is good that they have gun control in the United States.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they have been talking about banning guns, which I think is a VERY poor decision to make. it will hurt the United States economically, and just because guns are banned doesn't mean criminals cant get their hands on them. They will be sold over the black market, just like some automatic weapons are being sold right now. Back round checks won't decrease gun violence by that much, but it would help a little bit. Arming teachers is a big NO in my opinion. In fact, I bet it would increase gun violence. For example, what would happen if a student were to get a hold of the gun?