The issue of gun control is more salient now than any time in recent memory. The spate of recent mass shootings is more that shocking, it is completely unacceptable. While varying solutions exist (more guns to stop the mass shooters, better mental health care) many feel that stricter restrictions on the sale of weapons in the United States are more than necessary. They are dire. This year alone, there have been more mass shootings (described as incidents in which four or more people die from gun violence) than days. In response to the outrageous amount of times one has to turn on the news and see another massacre has taken over the headlines, the New York Times editorial board has penned a plea to lawmakers and Americans to institute stricter regulations on the purchase of firearms.
The editorial writes that instead of focusing on why one might commit these actions, how they were carried out, the psychology behind someone whou could behave this way, etc., "The attention and anger of Americans should also be directed at the elected leaders whose job is to keep us safe but who place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms."
The article goes on to describe the morality behind a system in which one can easily purchase weapons that can kill citizens with complete ease and efficiency. "It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection."
The article concluded, "Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership."
