In Texas, guns are something that’s not new. For many, guns are tied to things like hunting, maybe even tradition or just personal protection. For others, they’re used with more malicious intent. This raises the question: Where can we find balance between this law and the citizens who need to abide by it?

It’s not a surprise that Texas is one of the most lenient states when it comes to gun laws. In recent years, Texas had made it where adults of age (21+) could carry guns without a permit. Which means, any adult with the money and the desire to have a firearm in possession could have one without any sort of training or license. On one hand, following the second amendment, something like this would make sense to those who support this idea and Texans aren’t one to shy away from that thought.

However, that’s when rights and responsibilities go hand in hand. With easy access to guns, one irresponsible person or underaged teenager would need one liable adult to have access to a firearm. This raises the risk for fatal accidents, and if in the hands of the wrong person things like mass shootings and school shootings are to highly occur. We practice the lockdown drills, we sit there and think of all the what if’s, but we will continue to do this until what feels like no ends meet if the opposing side of this issue isn’t fixed.

Tightening up gun laws doesn’t mean taking away guns from everybody, it means that we simply need people to require training, background checks of owners and a secure place to keep these weapons. While this isn’t an automatic fix, it can pave the way to a safer society with weapons like these. 

Then again, some can argue: “Okay, well people with bad intent can still get guns anyway. What’s the point?” Well, we can apply that logic to day to day laws like stopping at a red light. We still have traffic laws to regulate cars and control the roads, which not everyone follows all the time but they’re still there to keep people safe.

This is a situation that’s complicated. This can’t and won’t be fixed overnight, people agree and disagree with different aspects of this law. But, ignoring this also isn’t an option. Texas can keep its tradition and way of doing things while also making schools and communities safer. We deserve that. Everyone deserves to be able to walk out their house onto a street and not feel like they need eyes at the back of their head.