Bearing Arms

“This has become routine,” declared Barack Obama, president of the United States, referring to the latest shootings at educational institutions in the country, leaving [people] dead, wounded and terrified.

In the majority of shootings, the aggressors come from homes where they were familiar with weapons and had legally acquired them. In the case of the attacker in Oregon, he had 14 weapons; six at the site of the shooting, and the rest in his home.

Each time a tragedy occurs, as with the ones before, the debate over the law that guarantees the right to bear arms is renewed. Those that are in favor shield themselves with the argument that they should be ready to defend themselves, and those that are opposed believe that at the very least background checks and psychiatric controls should be applied to those who wish to obtain [weapons].

What is certain is that there is no doubt that weapons within reach of people who are immature, bitter or have psychiatric disorders is a danger that needs to be avoided. The debate should continue until an agreement is reached that allows for the missing legal reforms [needed] to prevent having weapons within reach of everyone. But the most important [thing] is to work, in all countries, to prevent the real problem: the tendency to resolve differences with violence or elimination of [one’s] enemy.