Make My Gun as Safe as My Car

Make My Gun as Safe as My Car

Imagine how much more dangerous a car is, rather than a gun? When people started to realize that cars were dangerous when used wrong, they did things to fix the situation. They required the driver to have a license, as well as requiring their vehicle to be registered. Lawmakers also required cars to contain airbags, seatbelts, and padded dashboards. If lawmakers would regulate guns as well as they regulate cars, so many lives would be saved each year. Nicholas Kristof discusses in his essay Our Blind Spot About Guns, the regulations on cars, regulations on guns, how better gun regulations will positively affect the lives of Americans, and his point of view on this topic.

There are many people in this world that will believe this fact: car accidents happen because the driver was not considerate of the vehicle around them. Our Blind Spot About Guns, written by Nicholas Kristof stated: “We could have said, “Cars don’t kill people. People kill people,” and there would have been an element of truth to that. Many accidents are a result of alcohol consumption, speeding, road rage or driver distraction. Or we could have said, “It’s pointless because even if you regulate cars, then people will just run each other down with bicycles,” and that, too, would have been partly true.”

Many believe that if guns, as wells as the owners/users of the guns were regulated as well and as in depth as cars and their owners/users, this world would be a much safe place. Many Americans are scared to go shopping, go to school, or even step outside of their houses due to gun violence. But how many Americans are scared to get in their vehicles and drive 60 miles per hour to go shopping or go to school? Very few; because laws are well regulated when it comes to cars and their owners. Gun violence can be anywhere, but what does the killing; the gun, or the person behind it? Another point made by Nicholas Kristof in Our Blind Spot About Guns is: “Yet as we’ve learned to treat cars intelligently, we’ve gone in the opposite direction with guns. In his terrific new book, The Second Amendment: A Biography, Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, notes that “gun control laws were ubiquitous” in the nineteenth century. Visitors to Wichita, Kansas, for example, were required to check their revolvers at police headquarters.” When it comes to guns, having regulations is key. Similar to a car, it will not stop the person from being stupid, however will be much more difficult to hurt someone in the process of gun violence. Having regulations on cars and their owners helped to save the lives of thousands of people, so why can’t we do that when it comes to guns?

Nicholas Kristof