We should not have to worry whether or not we will be shot or whether a loved one will be shot every time we step out of our house. We should not have to watch the amount of people shot increase by 315 every single day. The amount of people that are shot every year is approximately 6 times the population of Monaco.
It is obvious that the average civilian in the United States should not own a gun. Although, we should have self defense, we wouldn’t need to protect ourselves if an average civilian did not own a gun.
So many more people would be alive if average civilians did not own guns. According to a thought experiment on “howstuffworks” conducted by Christian Sager on January 19, 2017, 11,000 more people would be alive the year guns weren’t allowed. Moreover, over one mass shooting happens everyday. That does not even look into the amount of people who have committed suicide due to the fact that a family member has passed away. Imagine one of your closest family members or friends has passed away. You would feel sad, at least you should feel sad because if you do not you are just lying. Guns do not just hurt each person shot, it hurts everyone around them and it does not stop there.
Furthermore, owning a gun makes killing yourself too easy. 5.1% of suicides are successful from cutting yourself. 7.4% of suicides are successful from poisoning yourself. However, 96.5% of suicides are successful from firearms. A lot of the times, we forget to think before we do something and think about all the people who are now dead because they were not sure whether they wanted to take their life or not but still did take their life. 13% of Americans have major episodes of depression. That approximately means that in each household of 7 people there is at least one person who has major episodes of depression. And, 90% of the United States live in a household with at least one gun. Think about the statistics. Can the government really trust us with guns?
Every single person should be able to protect themselves. In fact, from 2007 to 2011, 29,618,300 people have shot firearms to protect themselves. Texas Church Shootings, 25 people dead they did not have guns to protect their lives. However, less than one percent of gun owners use their guns for self protection. The majority of people own guns for that useless reason. If you already think there is some gun control, the gun control is weak. According to an article on Independent by Emily Shugerman on the 28th of September, a three-year old finds a gun in a household in Dearbook, Michigan and shoots two other toddlers. This is what happens when you keep guns in your household. Moreover, this is an example of the weak gun control in the United States.
All of these statistics show that the United States obviously needs stricter gun control. Average civilians should not own guns. I would suggest you to not buy a gun or at least not keep a gun in your household. Think about your family and friends and what harm keeping a gun in your house causes. I very strongly believe having a gun in your house is a terrible idea. Although, you may think having a gun is good for self protection. Think about, how easy it is to kill yourself and if an average civilian is not allowed to own guns there would be nothing to protect yourself from. Take my word for advice.