Additional gun checks could prevent loss of innocent lives

    Labor Day weekend was a busy one for the New York City police department. Over the span of Friday to Monday, 52 shootings left 67 people shot and 13 dead. One of the incidents involved 32-year-old Leroy Webster and 29-year-old Eusi Johnson.

      The two men were engaged in a fight that escalated to gunfire. Denise Gay, a 56-year-old retired aide was sitting on her stoop with her daughter and was shot in the head by rounds from their gunfight.

    Across the nation, in Carson City, Nevada, a man opened fire outside an IHOP restaurant, killing five and injuring seven. Eduardo Sencion was targeting five military members who were eating at the restaurant. Sencion was never taken into custody because he took his own life in the parking lot.

      Now is not the time for us to react with torpidity. This isn't an argument over the 2nd Amendment or what place guns have in the culture of our country.

    Guns are an important tradition, and when used responsibly can be something that families and persons can use positively. But in order to be responsible, we occasionally have to make things inconvenient.

     There are varying gun laws in all 50 states. Some states recognize each other's laws, while others do not. Most states don't require a permit to buy a gun and don't require registration of the weapon either. In order to drive a car or motorcycle, to SCUBA dive, to sell Real Estate and even to marry, you must obtain a license. What further harm could there be to require one to obtain a license to buy and operate a gun? 

     If such a law would be passed, current gun owners would be protected by ex post facto law, and no completion of a license would be needed.

     But anyone in the future who is in the market for a gun would have to provide a certificate of completion of a licensing class.

    Anyone privately selling guns would be legally obligated to check for licenses.

    There will always be illegal guns out there that are involved in violent crimes, so let's get a grip on as many of these powerful weapons as possible.

     An average of 34,000 Americans die from gun violence every year. This number is way too big for any of us to be comfortable with.

    Cracking down on gun laws and making a few extra steps in the process of acquiring a firearm could have meant the difference in whether or not Denise Gay's daughter had to witness a bullet fly through her mother's head.

Collin is a senior majoring in English. He enjoys writing on topics such as nutrition, society and the environment. Collin also enjoys writing long fiction.