In response to the recent tragic Las Vegas shooting, the question is raised: are the U.S. gun regulations safe? The United States spends millions each year on international violence, but could a more thorough background check before getting a license save lives around the country? The loose gun control laws that the U.S. has at this moment led to a sickening amount of innocent fatalities and injuries.

In 1,735 days, from January 1st, 2013 to the day of the Las Vegas shooting, October 1st, 2017, there have been 1,516 mass shootings. That’s about 200 short from one mass shooting every day. The U.S. is one of the most developed countries in the world, yet the amount of mass shootings occurring in the nation stand no comparison to the shootings in other countries.

According to an article by Lois Beckett, a writer for “The Guardian,” “Americans own an estimated 265m guns, more than one gun for every American adult… But the new survey estimates that 133m of these guns are concentrated in the hands of just 3% of American adults”

In spite of all the unnecessary deaths, some will argue that they have the right to bear arms, which is true, but what does that really mean? Does that mean that everyone, no matter their mental capacity, should be able to buy a gun? No. The second amendment means that those with a proper mental and physical capacity should be able to use to a gun. Even then, it should not be used for mass shooting but for self defense in times of need.

In Texas, people do not need a state permit to purchase and don’t need a firearm registration for a long gun or a handgun. Even background checks aren’t required for private sales. This means that regardless of a person’s abilities and qualifications, anyone over the age of 21 is allowed to buy a gun.

Just like a driver’s license, people should have to take a test in order to receive their gun license, and that gun license should be required for every purchase. Along with that, deeper background checks should be done before each purchase.

Parents should be able to send their kids out to the mall, school, movies, concerts, beaches, or anywhere else without the fear of the possibility that they will never see them again. It’s time for a change; it’s time for gun regulations that will save lives, not end them.

1,516 mass shootings in 1,735 days: America’s gun crisis – in one chart https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/02/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence