We must demand that buying a gun isn’t easy
There are more guns in America than there are people. According to the Small Arms Survey, “Although the United States has just 4% of the world’s population, its civilians own almost 40% of the world’s guns.” Every year about 45,000 people are killed by guns in the
U.S. American families and communities are forced to deal with the shootings. We are constantly mourning. Parents are scared to send their children to school. Every day America is plagued by gun violence. My family considered moving to Portugal to get away from all the gun violence in the U.S.
I don’t want it to be so easy to buy a gun, and I don’t want so many gun deaths each year in America. Last year almost 20 million guns were sold. It is easier to purchase a gun here than it is to get a driver’s license. It can take up to a month to get a gun in Japan; you have to go through a series of tests and sign a lot of paperwork. In America, you can purchase a gun within hours.
Different states have different laws. Some states require you to be 18 to purchase a gun, and some states say you have to be 21.
In Texas, it took only five clicks on a computer screen for an 18-year-old boy to buy a gun. I understand why people might want a gun for hunting, but someone could lie and use it for something else. People should use a bow and arrow for hunting, and police should only use guns when necessary.
Gun violence is not a problem we can stop overnight, but politicians can pass stronger laws, and we need to demand that buying a gun shouldn’t be so easy.
— Anisha Ayyalasomayajula,
fifth grade, Boulder
County with the expansion of Gross Reservoir to supply non-potable water for Denver’s lawns. There used to be water restrictions along the Front Range. If Boulder continues on the densification road to allow additional and larger ADUS, water could be more of a problem. Combined with water usage for building and maintaining the CU South campus, perhaps the City of Boulder should reinstate mandatory water restrictions.
— Roz Lynn Dorf, Boulder