It has been two weeks since the terrible massacre that took away 32 lives. Many related issues have surfaced since then, for example, racial discrimination, censorship, immigration. However, the issue that I am touching on is gun control. This incident has once again put the limelight on ‘gun laws’ in America.

If you are an American citizen who is 18 years old or older, mentally stable and do not have a criminal record, congratulations. You are officially legal to purchase a gun. This is according to the laws in America whereby its stand is that the possession of guns is for self-defense. This is getting a little too ridiculous. Imagine, as you walk down the street of America, practically everyone that you have walked past having a gun in their possession. Freaky, isn’t it? There is no doubt that a gun by one’s side can bring much assurance to him or her. But is there such a need? Is there such a need for such extreme laws? The lax law of possession of guns has finally taken its toll. With the Virginia Tech shooting in mind, one would reflect back and question, ‘if perhaps the gun laws are stricter, Cho would not have a chance to purchase the guns, preventing the dreadful massacre.’ If guns are banned in the first place, people will also be able to live in assurance that the people around them do not possess such a dangerous weapon. Doesn’t this beat worrying about people having guns as everyone does not possess them?

Finally, in view of the Virginia Tech shooting, Virginia’s governor has said that he might be able to ‘close the loophole that allowed Seung-Hui Cho to buy the guns he used to kill 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus.’ It is sad that something dreadful like the loss of lives has to happen before action is taken. Not only so, at several Boston-area colleges, campus police are renewing calls to be allowed to carry arms in the aftermath of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech. One distinct difference between Singapore and America is that rarely do people die of gunshots which make it a safer place to live in as compared to American whereby guns are rampant.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/28/campus_police_renew_call_to_carry_arms/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/24/virginiatechshooting/main2721802.shtml