By Charles Louis Dominguez ’14
The Roundup 

The United States has every reason to believe that its current system for gun ownership is in need of major reform.

In the wake of a year that seems to be riddled with gun massacres and violent attacks, gun enthusiasts and supporters continue to subscribe to the belief that gun ownership is indispensable to a properly-functioning society.

This is completely outlandish.

The main arguments against gun control in the United States that I’ve witnessed are entirely dismissive of the issue, failing to address any real problems and effectively precluding any thoughtful, productive discourse.

Our country thus far has failed to take any sort of lesson from countries that have successfully implemented gun control legislation in the past.

Following a massacre incident in 1996, Australia Republicans fought, against major opposition, to institute a gun buyback that reduced incidents of gun violence within their entire nation.

Arizona banned public gun buyback programs earlier this year.

Similarly, stringent rules and regulations in Japan, requiring gun owners to take mandatory classes and tests before purchasing guns have made incidents of violence in Japan remarkably fewer than those in the United States.

It’s often spouted that gun control could never work in the United States due, in no small part, to our increasingly violent culture.

The belief that our culture is irrevocably violence-minded is  a dangerous conclusion.

To believe that it is not worth our time to test new ways of preventing the deaths of innocent citizens is unjust.

Another major argument against gun control claims that gun control legislation isn’t worth the investment because guns will still be purchased and distributed illegally.

When this rhetoric is applied to existing laws—specifically drug legislation—it’s obvious that this ideology is problematic: If we can’t stop 100% of drug use, why bother having drug laws at all?

The consequences of that scenario would be horrendous.

My vote goes towards no guns in the United States, at all.