GUN SAFETY

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As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." Justice Scalia was clear that there are certain weapons which should never be in civilian hands.

 

I've been inspired-to-action after seeing high-schoolers turn into activists after the Parkland School shooting. To begin with, they should have never been in that position but they started a national dialogue which will not be silenced. Their real-experiences, passion and activism have real momentum and it is time to act now before this happens again and again, because we know sadly that it does.

 

I am from Chicago with one of the largest gun incidences in the nation. It is already June and there have been over 2,021 in 2021, 164 more than in 2020 that have been shot this year so far. You just do not know when you will be caught in the crossfire and it simply comes down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We are not safe.

 

I call for establishing a strict national standard for gun licenses and a national background check registry both in-store and online. We should tackle gun-loopholes and every gun buyer should be subject to the same background standard.

 

We need to bring back the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and strengthen it to ban the sale and distribution of certain weapons. Assault weapons are designed and sold as machines of war and no civilian should have access to it. 

 

Another important thing would be to fund community-based programs to end urban gun violence and target “straw purchases” where people buy guns for criminals, which will happen if more states tighten their gun laws.

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