Due to recent events in our country, people have raised the idea of more gun control for extra security. The idea of increased regulation is supported by our president and 48% of the population, according to CNN.

There are strong arguments for both sides of this hot political topic. Also according to CNN, 7 out 10 Americans believe no change in gun law should occur. I am one of those 7, and I have not seen adequate evidence that more control will help protect anyone.

I believe it comes down to the fact that our youth isn’t comfortable with firearms nor familiar with how terrible the effects can be. We see horrible occurrences, but unless they involve children, we don’t see them as any more than a bunch of numbers. The youth needs to understand the seriousness of these firearms and that they are not just toys in a videogame. We don’t need more regulation; we need more education.

The implementation of stricter gun laws will not increase safety because the ideas on what to implement are much too broad. In America there is too large a population and diversity in that population to allow any restrictions to be effective. It is easier to govern a nation that has general consensus on influential and relevant political issues as well as the same general opinions that would be formed in the relatively same upbringing.

In Finland and Australia, the crime rates are low and the percentage of gun ownership is high because most of the inhabitants of these places are relatively similar in opinion and upbringing as well as morals and priorities. This comes from a smaller population and less diversity such as southern mentality versus northern versus western versus urban.

There are too many large groups in the U.S. that feel differently but equally strong about the same topics. Also, countries with low gun ownership rates have high rates of shootings, so maybe the problem isn’t guns but the people using them.

The money that could be used to implement these useless laws can be used to educate the population more effectively about the devastation guns can cause. Russia has a 0.006 death rate per million people, and their gun laws were just relaxed. However, Italy’s higher 0.01 death rate is not curbed by their strictly controlled gun ownership laws; their constitution doesn’t even recognize a citizen’s right to keep and bear arms.

The problem is that violence is encouraged in our society with our action movies and video games. Rather than waste legislation on gun control, maybe we should use legislation to up age limits for video games.