Over the past 20 years, there have been quite a few instances in which a person — or persons — has decided to go on a gun rampage and kill as many people as possible for seemingly unknown reasons. These main incidents include the Columbine shooting in 1999, Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the Aurora Movie Theater shooting in 2012, and lastly the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting also in 2012.

Hearing about all of these mass murders is definitely tragic, and it shows that there needs to be more done to prevent these kinds of horrific incidents. There needs to be some kind of gun ban in which assault rifles are completely banned for civilians, allowing only military personnel and law enforcement access to them.

Handguns as well should be limited, perhaps to one per household, and a psychological exam should be included in the permitting process. People should only be allowed to have certain types of handguns such as the Glock and .44 Magnum Desert Eagle, which are both semi-automatic rather than fully automatic. While these guns can cause harm to people, they hold much less ammunition than assault rifles and can only shoot one bullet at a time.

Guns in general are not safe because they can go off and injure people, unstable people can easily get a hold of them, and there is already enough violence in the world without guns. Even though it is our Second Amendment right to bear arms, that doesn’t mean that it should be encouraged. Right now almost anyone 21 years or older can legally purchase a gun.

Back in July of 2012 in Detroit, an off-duty police officer’s gun went off and killed a young woman as a result. Gun deaths aren’t always caused by malicious intent; they can go off without warning and harm — or in this case kill — people.

It seems evident to me that if you reduce public access to guns, violence in our society will decrease.

The president of the National Rifle Association wants to arm teachers with guns at school. Does this mean that all public places such as grocery stores, gas stations, and office buildings should be armed with guns? Won’t this lead to more gun-related injuries and deaths?

I don’t believe any ordinary citizen should be able to carry concealed weapons, own guns, or anything else that is created to cause damage to anyone or anything. When I look back on the violence that has taken place in society, it appears that guns typically play a big part in the carnage.