Gun control has been a recurring topic within the news and political debates for the past few years due to the increase of mass shootings within the United States. Restrictions on the accessibility of guns should be increased considering the escalation of mass shootings within recent years and the danger it causes to American citizens.

Compared to other countries, the United States (U.S.) has experienced the most mass shootings in the world within the past year. Even though the population in the U.S. only counts for a mere five percent of the populations in the world, 31 percent of the world’s gun massacres have occurred in the United States between 1966 to 2012. While some people may look at these statistics and not give them a second thought, they do not realize the effect that loose gun laws have on our nation and our citizens.

Pro-gun rights citizens believe that restricting the ability to buy a gun at any time is in violation of the Second Amendment. However, they are wrong. Putting restrictions on the ability to buy a gun is just like putting restrictions on medications. While there are restrictions and waiting periods to buy guns at various pawn shops and stores, given the statistics and increase in mass shootings, the restrictions and waiting periods are not long enough.

A similar issue was seen in Australia from 1894 to 1996. High profile mass shootings started to occur more often, which was out of the ordinary considering Australia had a consistently low crime rate. The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, decided to take action right away, calling on nationwide gun law reform. The government initiated federally funded gun buybacks, and discontinued imports of both new automatic and semi-automatic guns. Federally funded gun buy backs were able to be carried out due to the special one-off tax that was placed on all Australians. However, the Australian government did not stop there. They destroyed about one-third of the national stock of guns in order to reduce the amount of firearms within the nation. However, Australian citizens were still allowed to acquire guns such as handguns, shotguns and rifles. This law concerning the ownership of guns remains the same.

In the U.S., any citizen has the ability to go to a gun show and buy a gun without having a background check conducted on them, meaning that a person could have a criminal record and still purchase a weapon. For example, a friend of the two teenagers responsible for the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado on April 20, 1999, had purchased weapons at a gun show and supplied the teenagers with the guns used at the shooting a few months before the massacre. If there had been a waiting period on the purchase of the guns, the shooting could have been prolonged or prevented entirely.

Gun activists argue that guns are being bought for so-called “harmless” reasons, such as hunting. Many people within the U.S. also use guns for protection, in case someone breaks into their home or causes them harm. While some people buy a simple handgun or rifle, people resort to buying semi-automatic guns. Semi-automatic guns and rifles have been used in both the Columbine High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting in Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.

It is not legal to discontinue the gun market all together, and in all honesty, that should not be considered as an answer to the issue. However, the lack of restrictions placed on gun usage in the U.S. have led to horrific occurrences that have caused the deaths of around 380 in 2015 alone. Additional regulations such as extended waiting periods to buy a weapon, and the discontinuation of the ability to acquire certain weapons should be put in place. Politicians such as President Barack Obama have been pushing to increase background checks when purchasing a gun, as well as reinforcement on state laws that already exist.

It is important to remember that the people who have died in these shootings are not just statistics, and that the number of shootings that have taken place is not common. Changes need to be made, and our country needs to come together in unison to make our corner of the world a safer place.