Are gun rights destroying the U.S.? Obama thinks so.

In his last televised address, President Obama deeply expressed his opinion on the dire need to increase restraint on U.S. citizens’ right to bear arms. His opinion is shared with most of the Democratic party, which has been strengthened in response to the San Bernardino attack in California in early December.

One problem that is being addressed is that the guns used by the San Bernandino attackers were semi-automatic rifles that were legally obtained. For over ten years, Democrats have been urging the Republican party to strengthen the restraint of gun rights on a long list of immigrants that are seen as being possible dangers against national security. “What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon?” Mr. Obama said. “This is a matter of national security.”

Most Bob Jones students interviewed felt that some change in policy needed to take place.

Sophomore Ethan Mawhirter stated, “Gun control is a necessary to a point.  I understand thorough background searches, but that’s about it.”

Kemi Anderson, a sophomore, thought it should be more regulated.  “Even if you’re going to use it for good purposes, you should have to go through more training in order to use it.”

Freshman Doug Zhang stated, “Generally, I am more anti-gun than anything, but criminals are going to get guns even if they’re against the law.  In China, the guns are completely regulated to the army, and they’re not allowed to be distributed to the general public.  They’re highly controlled.”

Senior Sara Turner felt that gun purchases should require more training and education.

Politicians trying to make change can’t seem to overcome political obstacles.  Obama and the other Democrats had recently held another vote on pushing out the idea of restraining suspicious citizens from obtaining guns, knowing that this notion would not be accepted by the Republican party. The point of this was to bring up the topic of gun rights to a higher level of attention within the White House.

Republicans refused with the same conjecture that they have been using for the past ten years, and that is that taking the right to bare arms from citizens of the U.S. is a huge violation of the 2nd Amendment of the the Bill of Rights. Some states, however, have already taken it upon themselves to ban the rights of some of their citizens, including Connecticut.

Even celebrities like Amy Schumer are trying to raise awareness about the dangers posed by lax gun laws.  Perhaps the exposure provided by celebrities will be enough to push new legislation through.