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Gun Control and Protecting Ourselves

 

            Firearms have come across a long way since their ancestral history. Their first appearance was in 1364, but it is nothing compared to the firearms we have today. These primitive weapons, called "hand cannons," were the first step in the creation of guns (History and Evolution). The next generation are called matchlock, but it wasn't until 1498 when rifling became available. Rifling allowed the manufacturers of the guns to create more accurate guns. Advancing through time, the invention of the flintlock guns, the colt revolver, machine guns, and then in 1935, Smith and Wesson rocked the handgun world with the introduction of the .357 Magnum cartridge and their prestigious Registered Magnum revolver to fire it. For centuries, and continuing through today, men and women have used firearms as the most effective weapons individuals can wield (NRA Museum). .
             Monday, March 5, 2001, Charles "Andy" Williams, a student of Santana High School, went on a killing spree. He was being bullied and felt like he was being abused even by the teachers. He took his father's .22 caliber revolver and went to school with it. Williams went into the boys bathroom where he encountered a freshman and fatally shot him. He would continuously exit the bathroom, shoot other students, and enter back into the bathroom. Eventually, the police charged into the bathroom where they saw Williams kneeling with his weapon in his hand. He tried to commit suicide but couldn't. Overall, he killed two students and injured thirteen others. He went to court and was tried as an adult. His sentencing was fifty years in prison but had to serve in juvenile hall until eighteen (Charles). .
             On December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School took on a hard, tragic fall. Adam Lanza, 20, went to the elementary school wearing black fatigues and a military vest and carried three guns from the house -- a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle made by Bushmaster and pistols made by Glock and Sig Sauer (Sandy Hook).


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