Safety and firearms are now coming to the forefront of the national news, sparking up many disagreements. People across the country are saying that firearms need to have higher restrictions, that people should not own them, or at least specific firearms. But other people disagree, saying that it is against their rights as Americans and by attempting to take away their firearms, they are infringing on their rights to bear arms. Like those who are anti-gun, I agree that there should be restrictions. However restrictions that limit the sort of firearm or the caliber of said firearm to any common person who does not require a gun for work-related purposes and those with mental/criminal background, allowing them no access to a firearm no matter how insignificant their condition may be. I propose an extensive gun-safety course similar to a driver’s license certification test. This is because military men and women or police officers must go through extensive gun training, including (and not limited to) how to properly handle a gun, clean it and finally, shoot it. If they didn’t go through these classes, they would never be certified to go out and protect people and the law of the nation.

Those who do need to take a gun class for any job (the military is a prime example), have to take multiple levels. Training such as including marksmanship, proper safety and storage and urban-attack-scenario, as stated by Andrea Goldstein, a former Navy lieutenant who served with expeditionary forces in multiple war zones from the Stars and Stripes newspaper. There are a few things they need to master, and even then they are not always prepared. Giving a gun to a civilian who doesn’t know the proper way to handle it is incredibly more dangerous than to someone who does know how to use it properly. Hunters have specific permits and licenses to go out and hunt, so they understand the dangers of firearms. Anyone trying to obtain a permit has to go through hunter safety courses, and they have to have at least a basic understanding of firearms, which means that they know what could happen if they misfire or the gun accidentally goes off. They know how to safely use firearms and what the collateral damage could be.

People tend to use the Second Amendment to justify their want for firearms and why others shouldn’t try to take away their firearms. The Second Amendment states, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This is saying that people do have the right to bear arms, however, this is outdated considering to the guns we have. The guns we have today have the ability to harm faster than the guns at that time period. The Second Amendment needs to be updated to help regulate the sort of guns the masses can have.

Firearms alone aren’t a problem, but in the wrong hands they are. People should be forced to undergo government-sponsored (sponsored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF]) classes to learn how to properly use them and ultimately reduce the amount of civilian casualties and overall gun violence.