Power and Responsibility

Lina Waseem
Carmel, Indiana
10 December 2015
Power and Responsibility
With great power comes great responsibility. Thousands die every year at the mercy of guns in
the United States. The controversial topic has been in discussion for years. At the hands of guns
there is power to do real damage, can it be handled?
Guns give some people illegal access to travel and harm. it can take around twenty minutes to get
to Carmels neighbor city, Noblesville. The distance is not even ten miles, that is a short
commute for crime. Reported by the Indy Star, in June 2015, mother and son pair Renee and
Richie Perillo were caught and charged in Hamilton County on a felony charge of conspiracy to
commit murder, possession of paraphernalia, carrying a handgun without a license, as well as
criminal trespassing and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. The pair was found with a glock
handgun attempting to murder a Noblesville attorney because she pursuing divorce settlement
money from Arnaldo Trabucco, Renee Perillos current boyfriend. The pair had already been
convicted in May and recently released. The fact that they were able to access guns after being
convicted felons as well as without a license shows the looseness of gun policies.
While some may think that openly carrying will protect them, they are wrong. Open gun
carrying, or visibly carrying a gun can backfire on its original purpose. An Indiana gun shop
owner proved this. The shop owner carried openly and became the target of a gun fight in his
own store. In the first case, the assaulter mislead the first owner and got him to turn his back
around and then snatched the owners open-carried Colt Gold Cup(Guns Magazine) and then
tried to fire. Luckily, the gun was locked. If the theft had been successful, the miscreant would
have gotten away with a stolen gun and the ability to put others in danger without much
conscience as proved before.
Indiana guns cases like these are not uncommon across the US. Gun cases are found all across
the United States, all the time. In a study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), it states

Power and Responsibility

Lina Waseem
Carmel, Indiana
10 December 2015
that guns are used in 68% of murders, 41% of robberies, and 21% of aggravated assaults.
Firearms contributed to these crimes a significant amount of the time and without them,
outcomes could have been less detrimental and in favor of the victims. In another research done
by the Bureau of Justice, statistics reveals that only 11% of convicts obtained their guns from
legal channels. The loose gun laws make it easy for illegal channels to distribute guns to convicts
and criminals for money, in other words: corruption.
The nation should strengthen background checks as well as regulate them more often so firearms
do not fall into the wrong hands and so that if they do, the nation is alerted quicker. Certain
public figures and politicians are representing the people in the fight to control guns. Hillary
Clinton supports tightening gun laws and is viewed as an ally who can finish the push for
tightened background checks that has stalled in President Obamas second term, the Hill
comments. Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence states that
Hillary can educate Americans on the benefits of effective background checks to prevent danger.
We can only imagine the terrors that will continue to happen if nothing is changed about gun
laws in the United States. Loose gun laws are causing the safety of our nation to sink like the
Titanic. The weight of the world rests in the hands of those who could have stopped a problem
but did not. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms but does it protect people
from those who cause harm?
Although restricting guns is protected by the Second Amendment as well as not a good idea, the
United States as a nation needs to come together to stop violence caused by guns. The nation
should form stronger laws and regulations as well as check ups to protect the people of our
country. Guns hold the power to change someones life, which is the great responsibility that
comes with every gun.