For months now, citizens have been viewing news headlines like these- The Truth About the Florida School Shooting, 7,000 Shoes Outside Capitol Represent Children Killed by Guns, and Kentucky school shooting: 2 dead and 15 more shot at Marshall County High School. And the list goes on. Gun violence is a very real issue in America. We simply have to face it. Countless numbers of innocent women, children and men have lost their lives to guns, and it is time to see what we can do to solve this issue.
Last week, my family hosted an Austrian exchange student, and he informed us that in his home country, there is hardly any issue with gun violence. No school shootings, no mass murders, nothing. Receiving this information left me astounded. It was so difficult for me to imagine what it must be like to live in a country without the fear of someone at my school possibly being the next mass shooter.
Though Austria is thought to have the most relaxed gun laws in the European Union, the country still faces few issues with gun control, recording only one mass shooting back in 2013. Only around 3000 people in Austria own guns, compared to America’s 8900 people.
Austria is not the only country in the European Union that does not have a problem with gun violence. The highest gun ownership in Europe is in Switzerland, with 4600 owners, which is almost half that of the U.S. Additionally, the U.S. has more than 70 mass shootings, while the highest number in European countries is seven. Knowing these statistics, it is pretty clear what needs to happen here in the U.S. to stop this absurd issue.
This was the moment I confirmed my view on gun control. From this knowledge, I could confidently say that guns need to be banned. There is no valid reason that justifies innocent people being killed. The European Union is doing something right, and the U.S. needs to follow in their footsteps.
