At the time, this was the largest school shooting in America, because 13 lives and 4 guns lay in the hands of the killers; fueling the fire of the never ending gun control fiasco. The debate revolves around the constitution, yet the Second Amendment, while elegantly written in its eighteenth century syntax, is unclear. It states that a “well-regulated militia” has the right to bear arms, yet it lacks mention of a “well regulated individual”. Not only has our country 's weaponry, culture, and definition of a militia changed since it was written, we are now facing an epidemic at a scale that has never been seen before. Mass shootings have instilled our nation with a constant sense of fear, polarizing views with the use of carefully constructed rhetorical tools implemented by the media. “Gun Control” shouldn 't be seen as something to be feared, but rather something that is necessary to keep our nation from spiraling further into chaos …show more content…
The term “gun control” paints a picture of requisition by some unseen, but completely imaginable totalitarian force. It 's a powerful rhetorical tool, and the origin of the term cannot be traced. What is known is that it greatly benefits those against it, and directly hurts those for it. The debate has taken a turn as mental health awareness has grown over the years, and there is something both sides find common ground on. Outrage towards those with mental health issues and access to guns. A study completed by John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research tried to discover the effects of mentioning said mentally ill in connection to gun violence within an article. The study discovered that when a mass shooting was described in relation to “a person with a serious mental illness,…a proposal for gun restrictions to those persons, [or]...a ban to large-capacity magazines” it polarized views to eradicate such things (McGinty). During the aftermath of a shooting – a prime time for news outlets to voice their stance – the public opinion is quickly molded, and wrongfully so. Gun control has become one of the most heated topics to discuss in today 's modern America, yet there is a surprisingly low amount of research that can be found behind it – and an even smaller amount of individuals with it. The debate becomes more Orwellian by the