Q&A: Seniors weigh in on gun safety
November 11, 2019
Julia Campopiano
Senior Julia Campopiano feels safe when people are qualified to have a gun, but she is worried about how easily most people are able to get them. Campopiano believes that stricter background checks should be put in place.
How do you feel about guns?
“Personally if it’s in the right hands then I do feel safe. My dad’s a police officer, and obviously because of that we have a gun in our house so I feel safe with him possessing a gun. But because of all of the violence that’s happened recently, I don’t feel safe when I see someone openly carrying it or someone’s that’s not authorized.”
Do you feel safe in America with the rise in gun violence?
“Honestly, just because of how much it’s increased, there’s a lot of times when I go out of the house and I don’t really feel safe. Especially if I go to an area where I’m in a huge concentration of people, even like the store or the movies or… at school. Because it hits so close to home, I’m starting to feel a little bit less safe. Especially because Texas is passing more lenient laws towards guns being more available towards students.”
What do you think can be done to help towards combating gun violence?
“It needs to be a lot harder to get [a gun]. Because right now it’s a little bit too easy. It’s ending up in the hands of the wrong people. I feel like [background checks] should be a lot more extensive so that we can still have guns, because banning them would be really stupid.”
Garrett Einspahr
Senior Garrett Einspahr sees gun violence in America as an issue, but he doesn’t think it’s as bad as it’s often portrayed to be, so he generally feels safe. Einspahr sees increased background checks and psychological tests as possible solutions.
How do you feel about guns?
“I feel safe with most people having guns. I just feel like there’s some people who you can look at them and be like, ‘Maybe they probably shouldn’t have that.’”
Do you feel safe in America with the rise in gun violence?
“I still feel safe because while it is an issue, it’s also blown out of proportion because of media coverage. You’re more likely to get killed by somebody who’s texting and driving when you’re going about your regular day than somebody shooting you.”
What do you think can be done to help towards combating gun violence?
“I think they need to do a better job of enforcing their background checks, and I think psychological tests would be fine to see if the person is in a good mental state to own a gun. I think at the same time you can’t completely ban guns…I think the FBI and law enforcement needs to take tips more seriously.”