Why Are Gun Control Laws Important In History

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Gun control laws have always been an issue in the U.S, and have been argued about in history since guns were created. With a very good reason why, with 48,830 people being killed in 2021 in the U.S. and more than 4000 being killed already in 2024 (https://usafacts.org/). It has been researched that between 1966 and 2012, 292 mass shootings took place all over the world and nearly 13 of those took place in the U.S (research.ebsco.com). Gun control laws have always been debated and have been a problem. To understand why they have been, you need to understand the history of the gun laws and what has happened throughout history to make them such a problem. When the U.S. was created with the amendments, the second amendment ratified in 1791 states …show more content…
Right before the 2000’s started, in 1999, one of the deadliest school shootings occurred. The Columbine High School massacre happened on April 20, 1999. The shooting killed 15 people and injured 21 others. This event shocked the whole world and arguments over gun control laws soared even higher. After this event, in 1999 the “Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999” was passed. This act had almost 26 different titles, one of the many titles was the “Juvenile Justice Reform” the reform said it “Authorizes a juvenile to be prosecuted and convicted as an adult for an offense that is properly joined under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure with a Federal offense that is a serious violent felony or serious drug offense, or that is a conspiracy or attempt to commit such offense. Permits conviction of a lesser offense”(congress.gov). This was just one of the different reforms this Act brought about. There are many more titles in this act, but those are some of the most important. To sum up the act, it basically made it so minors could be released as if they were adults, this made it so that all the juveniles that were carrying out these shootings were finally able to be judged