Decision time on gun laws

As a senior at Monte del Sol Charter School, I am writing about an issue that is a concern to me, as well as to all students in the United States. In the wake of a year that’s on track to be the worst in U.S. history for school shootings, gun control debates have seldom been as loud as they are now.

With students across the nation, from Parkland, Fla., to Santa Fe High, speaking out asking for some sort of response from the government on the issue of gun control, we first need to understand what rights the Second Amendment protects and what can stand to be changed.

The Second Amendment states that, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This statement protects the rights of citizens to have guns and to organize an army against a corrupt government, if need be. What the Second Amendment is not clear on is what type of weapons are acceptable for public usage, since it was written when the most rounds a weapon could fire per minute was about three, not several hundred or even thousands like the weapons often used in mass shootings, such as the AR-15.

This conversation has captivated the country, from the president to the media to schools, and has everybody asking, “Where should we draw a line?” and, “What guns are OK and who should be able to get them?” The entity that could solve this case is the Supreme Court, which, by definition, determines what laws mean and how they should be enforced.

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case District of Columbia v. Heller. In the case, the Supreme Court determined that the Second Amendment protected the right of the people to own guns, but the right was not an absolute freedom. The court didn’t go any further to describe what limits may be appropriate, so there was never any change to the law.

In the aftermath of the bloodiest school shooting since Sandy Hook, amid outrage over lax gun laws, and with the most determined students and young people this country has seen in a long time taking the lead in talks, the time to make a decision is now.