Gun violence has been a prevalent, recurring problem in America since the late nineties. Not even a month into the new year, 40 gun-related shootings have been recorded, devastating the nation with a death toll of more than 60. Only last year, after the deadly Uvalde, Texas school shooting massacre when current president, Joe Biden, approved a major gun safety law, the first one in nearly 30 years. With such a dire situation in need of urgency, why is it taking so long for action to take place with our many resources present?

The appalling lack of regulations in the country is the effect of political complications between the democratic and republican parties, thus preventing a formal solution to this epidemic. While there is an overwhelming public support for the implementation of stricter gun laws, the pleas of the masses are drowned out by ruling sectors. The repetitive debates in the senate that draw on for years in time has proved itself to be a filibuster; a fallacy presented to the people of America cloaked as a way of solving the problem at hand. This, along with the argument of the second amendment’s grant to the citizen’s right to bear arms, it seems as if the government had prioritized these guns over the lives threatened by its improper usage. 

The image of a rifle, moreover, created the illusion as the very emblem of patriotism, loyalty and a maturity that manhood provides. The gun industry profits off the idea of the tough masculinity that comes with tactical weapons to perpetrate fear and toughness against opposing parties. With how guns prey on men, young boys, and women occasionally, it is clear that the eager willingness to bear arms, albeit completely unnecessary, contributes to finding an end to the difficulty. 

Gun control doesn’t mean the total banning of guns altogether. It could mean universal background checks, requiring firearm safety training, prevention of child access and other small steps that would help minimize the gun fatalities that add up each year. This is why it is distressingly important to vote wisely every election to progress towards the safety and the  future of this country. Without the proper figures to eradicate and reform the government, gun safety will never be fully established.