When will everyone realize guns are not the answer?
Saturday night, two Southern University students and former Saints player Will Smith were shot and killed in two separate incidents.
If those shootings didn’t make you realize guns are detrimental, then that’s a problem.
Sean Payton, current head coach of the Saints, is having a hard time understanding the use of guns, especially after the death of his former player.
“I’m not an extreme liberal,” Payton said. “I find myself leaning to the right on some issues. But on this issue, I can’t wrap my brain around it.
“Two hundred years from now, they’re going to look back and say, ‘What was that madness about?’”
He’s right. Three people lost their lives due to gun violence in our backyard.
Stop and think what the outcome of these unfortunate situations could’ve been if guns weren’t involved.
These acts of violence are hitting closer to home, and that should scare you.
The two female Southern University students were shot and killed at The Cottages of Baton Rouge. The Cottages is fewer than two miles from campus and home to many LSU, Southern and Baton Rouge Community College students.
Without guns, three fewer families would’ve been affected.
According to the Washington Post, Stanford law professor John Donohue believes more guns encourage more crime.
The Washington Post reported, “The evidence suggests that right-to-carry laws are associated with an 8 percent increase in the incidence of aggravated assault, according to Donohue.
“He says this number is likely a floor, and that some statistical methods show an increase of 33 percent in aggravated assaults involving a firearm after the passage of right-to-carry laws.”
Gun ownership is a domino effect. When one person gets a gun, then another person gets a gun and so on.
I understand. You don’t want to be at the mercy of complete strangers. Yes, the world can be a fearful dangerous place.
However, citizens will soon have to figure out how to end the gun trend. Do we want to raise our future children and grandchildren in a place where deadly weapons are more common than college degrees?
According to NBC News, one in three Americans own a gun, and I’m sure that number is much larger when you factor in the number of people that illegally have guns.
So in essence, millions of Americans are roaming the streets with a deadly weapon by their side, and that’s scary.
This then turns into a “shoot first, ask questions later” world.
Now everyone has to be extra careful. You have to make sure you don’t accidentally bump somebody when you’re grabbing milk at the grocery store or you don’t look at someone sideways when you’re pumping gas.
Guns make people bold. They make people feel as though their untouchable. That, in itself, creates confrontation.
We need to stop protecting guns. Nothing is gracious about them. We need to limit gun ownership as much as possible. They truly are detrimental to our future.
Clarke Perkins is a 20-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.