America’s biggest and most sensitive issue is public mass shootings. These are horrible acts of evil and prejudice that are leaving many American families broken and splintered. America is crying for a solution, and the Senate and House have not provided one yet. The most popular proposal is more extensive Gun Control laws, which can boil down to a ban on “assault weapons” in America. The thought process behind it is simple, if people can’t get weapons capable of mass shootings, mass shootings won’t happen, sadly that is untrue. Assault weapons should not be banned, it would not solve our problem and could in the long term create more issues.

   The definition of “assault weapon” is an entire debate in itself, republicans classify it as a “firearm designed to feed cartridges, fire them, reject empty casings and repeat this cycle as long as the trigger is depressed and cartridges remain in the feed system” which in simpler terms is “a firearm that can be used in a fully-automatic firing mode” a fully-auto AR-15 can fire 400 rounds per minute on avg. Democrats and various laws mostly define an “assault weapon” as “any firearm that can be used in a semi-automatic firing mode or fully-automatic firing mode” the major difference between the two definitions is the inclusion of semi-automatic weapons, which are weapons that are available to the public. A semi-auto AR-15 can fire around 40 rounds per minute on average. Considering the debate of banning assault weapons it would make more sense to assume the definition that includes semi-automatic weapons since they are available to the public.

   One (of the many) major problems with banning assault weapons to combat the issue of mass shootings is that it just won’t solve the issue. The illegal gun market exists, guns are not only sold in licensed stores but they are also sold on the street by your neighborhood dealer (illegally), these guns can be capable of full-auto firing modes. These guns are used in a lot of gang crimes and in a report by pbs.org, Dan Noyes from the Center for Investigative Reporting states that many criminals find it easy to get a gun illegally in fact easier than purchasing a gun legally. Mass shootings and crime rates would rise if assault weapons were banned. All that would occur is guns not being in the right hands (moral citizens that have concealed carry permits or own private weapons for self-defense) which many cases have prevented a mass shooting, and still being able to be acquired by crazed mass shooters and criminals. There are more United States Gun owners that own their weapons lawfully and use them for moral self-defense than there are criminals that purchase weapons legally to commit acts of hate, a ban would hurt America not help it.

   Another fact to consider is the second amendment “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Simply put a ban would be unconstitutional and unlawful, a crime against our freedom as Americans.

   Banning assault weapons is not the solution to the mass shooting issue, instead of placing more weapons in the right hands is the solution. Every single school and mall in America should be defended by officers of the law, that carry lethal and nonlethal weapons. Personally, I would feel much safer with an officer inside my school who is charged with the defense of myself and my peers and properly equipped to do so. Many public places in America have no immediate defense from mass shooters, a police officer three minutes away is not good enough. If the United States government truly values every American citizen’s life they would act correctly on the issue of mass shootings, meaning not banning assault weapons and failing to recognize the ineffectiveness of that legislative act, instead of putting forward more protection for vulnerable public places.