Working to Stop the Slaughter :: College Admissions Essays

Working to Stop the Slaughter    Gunfire kills 30,000 Americans every year. Gunfire disproportionately kills the young. Fifteen to twenty-four-year-olds are far more likely to die in gun murders and accidents than the average American. (Center for Disease Control) People in their early twenties are also more likely to use a gun to take their own life. In 1998, gun violence killed 4,476 18 to 22 year olds. In other words, gunfire kills 13 people in our age group every day. Every day, students like us mourn friends, classmates, siblings, and childhood playmates who died from gun violence. We have volunteered our time in schools where students struggle to learn because of the preoccupying threat of gunfire. Duck and cover has made a comeback. Our generation is learning to cower under our desks- not in fear of Soviet bombs but in fear of neighborhood arsenals. There are common sense solutions that work in Canada and Europe. Our elected leaders compound the daily tragedy when they choose not to act.    All it takes is some common sense. We can start by treating guns more like cars. Guns are exempt from the product safety regulations that govern everything from automobiles to power mowers to teddy bears. The gun industry, like any other industry, needs to take responsibility for the risks it creates. A government investigation helped prompt the Firestone recall. No government agency has similar responsibilities to investigate and respond to defective guns. Gun buyers have responsibilities as well. People who own dangerous products, like cars and guns, have the responsibility to learn to operate them safely and get a license.    Generations of college students have spoken out against injustice. Their efforts forced change. Students took to the streets to call for an end to the Vietnam war. The Freedom Riders spearheaded the civil rights movement. Our age group bears the brunt of the gun violence epidemic. When guns kill 30,000 Americans a year while Congress stands by and does nothing, it is time for our generation to speak up. We need to tell the stories of the people behind the statistics -- the lives full of hope and promise cut short by gunfire.