Our god gives us the right to bear arms?

The recent Virginia Tech shooting massacre has caused many people to wonder: is it alright for people to will firearms? The massacre, other than the high body count, also raised an issue on national security.

It highlighted the gun control problem in the US. The control is too relaxed for such a dangerous item. There is little or no restriction on the people who are allowed to buy a gun? Even a mentally unsound person like Cho was able to purchase 2 guns which he used to kill a number of people before turning the gun on himself.

The main reason for allowing people to purchase firearms is for the act of self defense. Guns have been used to protect one from a home intruder or other troubles. Even so, guns are also used for a sinister purpose too. People abuse the right and used the guns to commit crimes. It is sad that in the society, there are not many cases of self-defense using guns but many more cases of abuse of guns for killings.

I strongly feel that the gun control should be stricter where only authorized people can buy the guns. A lesser number of guns being wielded will result in a lesser chance of bloodshed. Also, firearms should not be sold so liberally, one have to pass tests which checks a person’s mental state before he is allowed to acquire one.

Another issue is about the security in schools. A school is a place where students go to acquire knowledge. Naturally this place should be safe and free from such terror-inducing acts. We are lucky that here in Singapore, we are relatively safe as Singapore has very strict firearm laws. Mere possession of one is enough for an arrest and discharging one result in death sentence. But, in the US, students may be going to school with firearms with them, not to participate in a mindless bloodbath but to protect themselves from one. Is it not saddening that people have to arm themselves to kill just to prevent themselves from being killed? Where is the morality in humans? On the other hand, schools ought to have better security to at least safeguard the students in case of another incident like this. A number of teachers trained in situation control can help to evacuate students or even be trained to handle the gunmen.

In conclusion, the Virginia Tech shooting massacre has raised another reason for tighter firearms control and an improvement in school security.