In light of recent shootings, including the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, gun control has become a prevalent topic. On Jan. 16, President Obama released a proposal regulating guns that included limiting ammunition magazines, banning certain bullets, increasing the prevalence of background checks, and keeping law enforcers employed. The Mustang approached students around campus to ask them about their ideas and opinions regarding the topic.

“I do not think it’s okay for more restrictions on assault weapons because then only criminals will have them. Despite that fact, my opinion is that magazines with more than ten rounds are unnecessary for self-defense and should be outlawed in all states like they are in California.” – Freshman Gregory Mears

“Even though my mother is a proud owner of a shotgun, I believe there is no valid reason for just anybody to have access to guns.” – Senior Elizabeth Chapman

“I definitely feel that due to recent activities, there should be more regulation on guns.” – Senior Laura Hernandez

“There should be way higher restrictions… guns should be illegal.” – Senior Jenni Ehlers

“I think [people] should be careful about who they sell guns to.” – Senior Jessi Goralski

“I think people, if they like guns, will get them anyways, but I don’t support everyone getting guns. It’s scary that even kids can get it…. Getting a gun comes with a big responsibility.” – Senior Nicole English

“I think guns should be illegal, and I think there should be higher restrictions.” – Senior Frances Radcliffe

“I feel that the discussion about gun control has to start now, and that no topic should be off-limits.” – Senior Kelly Heard

“I think there should be more restrictions. I don’t think such strong guns like assault rifles should be sold, because they aren’t necessary for hunting. It’s not worth all the people that have died because of it.” – Senior Arin Mallin

“I don’t even think police should have guns. I don’t think anyone should have guns. I don’t think government should have guns.” – Senior Julian Dennis

“I feel like more violence is not the solution to violence.” – Senior Erika Shaw

“I think there needs to be more restrictions on the availability of guns and who can get them. It’s affecting everyday life and our community because of the two recent movie theater shootings in San Diego.” – Senior Alyssa Henkels

“Until I hear a legitimate reason why someone needs to have an assault rifle, I will be a supporter of strict gun control measures.” – Senior Elliot Horen

“Screw the Constitution. I think we need to ban guns everywhere.” – Senior Betty Huang

“There should definitely be better gun control. When the framers of the Constitution created the second amendment, I’m sure they didn’t envision everyone having access to automatic weapons.” –Senior Katie Ehlers

“People should only be able to buy guns for self-defense.” – Senior Chloe Stanners

“I believe it should be required that if you own a gun, you own a safe.  In this way, guns can be controlled more easily and not taken or stolen.” – Senior George Erie

“I feel guns are an essential symbol of the American way and belong here, but I don’t know how I feel about them on campus.  I’m not very confident in most teachers’ ability to defend me with a lethal weapon and I feel like they could just fall into the wrong hands if trusted with a teacher. I think gun safety and safety in general, as it pertains to schools, is a sensitive area that should be improved on; I don’t have any idea or insight on how though, which kind of scares me. Schools are too vulnerable and defenseless.” – Senior Garet McMackin

“I think schools are pretty safe the way they are and guns are already illegal to bring on a campus; so it’s not that gun control is the problem, it’s just who decides to obey the laws.” –Senior Charlotte Dvorak

“I feel like we don’t have that much security around school, but in the area that we live, I don’t think we need a lot of security.” –Junior Shelby Olivas

“There should be better gun control so that events like the shootings at schools would be prevented.” –Senior Victoria Ly

“Especially after all of the news stories currently being published, I feel it’s something our country really needs to enforce. The issue seems to be more prevalent than ever and should be looked upon more seriously.” –Senior Amanda Godfrey

“The availability of high capacity assault weapons is too prevalent. I don’t feel like schools should have armed guards. When there are more gun shops in the US than Starbucks in the world, you know there’s a problem.” – Senior Benjy Malings

“I think that there is violence regardless of whether they have access to a gun or not. There are going to be casualties and aren’t necessarily going to be caused by gun violence. There are always other weapons that can cause the same or more damage to people/society, even though we don’t always hear about these incidents.” – Junior Lauren Shaw

“I highly agree that there need to be changes in our gun control.  I think it is important to uphold the second amendment, but I agree with Obama’s plan. There is no reason we need assault weapons and I agree with a limit on magazine capacity. Something that I really think is important, even more so, is background checks.  Another thing that I think is important is a database of who owns guns because they don’t have that.  I personally have not heard a good argument from anyone or the NRA. I think if they want to be taken seriously they need to come up with a good argument.” – Junior Katie McPherson

“I definitely think that there should be changes. There is no need for US citizens to be carrying automatic weapons, it’s totally unnecessary. However, the law permits that. I think there should be a register for those who carry guns, regular health checkups, and restrictions on where people can buy guns. While I don’t think that solves all of the killings, it would cut the amount of people being killed in shootings.” – Junior Calvin Borchers

“I do not think gun control is a problem or the cause of all of these shootings. The issue is the deeper, underlying psychological problems. If you want to kill yourself, you don’t do it in your basement. People often go out, kill people, make them as miserable as you are, do something crazy, and leave a mark on the world. I blame the media, not lack of gun control.” – Junior Camille Otillio

“I think gun control now is inadequate. We should be limiting the sizes of magazines allowed in guns and put a ban on assault weapons.” – Freshman Armaan Shah

“We could definitely use some modifications in our current gun control policies. The issue is no one knows to what extent or how these changes should be made.” – Junior Sam Hodges

“I definitely think we should enhance our gun control policies. I haven’t heard a real reason as to why assault weapons should be legal or are necessary. I think we should really do more background checks and put a restriction on how many guns someone can buy.” – Junior Kendra Brust

“I feel that even though the regulation can be improved, it will be extremely hard to do so.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try, though.” – Junior Sierra Zounes

“People can find ways to bring weapons and things to school even if we had a high security system. Hopefully people realize they shouldn’t do this stuff though because people getting hurt isn’t where we would want to end up.” – Junior Jyoti Frieder

“I think that guns aren’t as big a deal as everyone thinks. There are plenty of people with guns, and there are already plenty of laws that keep them under control, and in my opinion we are safer by keeping them allowed.” – Senior Lucas Knorr