The U.S. is one of the countries with the highest gun homicides rates, while other countries in Asia and Europe have lower gun homicides rates. Sadly, the American people have been living in a country where there has been a lot of senseless and heartbreaking mass shootings.

According to the NPR article “Gun Violence: How The U.S. Compares With Other Countries,” for every 100,000 violent gun deaths, the U.S. has 3.85 deaths. It’s time for the United States to have stricter gun laws such as raising the age requirement to 21 and make people take extensive exams for proof that they’re eligible to own a weapon.

In the United States, anyone is allowed to buy a rifle or a shotgun when they’re 18 years old. How is that you can be 18 and already have the permission to buy a weapon that can kill and injure a lot of people?

According to the article “How do U.S. gun laws compare to other countries?” Jonathan Masters wrote, “Before access to these specialty weapons is granted, one must obtain formal instruction and pass a battery of written, mental, and drug tests and a rigorous background check.

In some states such as California, Colorado, and Connecticut, you can buy weapons without a background check or be examined to see if they’re capable of buying a weapon. However, why do you have to wait until you’re 21 to smoke and drink, but not wait to buy a firearm. Many Americans ask themselves today that question.

Many countries like Japan have strict gun laws regulation when people want to purchase a gun and because of this, mass shootings happen rarely. This isn’t only good for the country, but for the people because they won’t experience traumatic events and for their people to feel safe in their own country. Japan has very strict laws when it comes to guns, but with this comes a lower gun homicide rate.

In the previously mentioned NPR article, Japan has 0.04 deaths for every 100,000 violent gun deaths. If the United States would follow Japan, our gun homicides would definitely decrease.

The U.S has been having mass shootings since 1949, and unfortunately, the United States still has yet to do anything to prevent these horrific tragedies. One major reason the United States won’t do anything is that many politicians receive funding from the National Rifle Association (NRA).

It’s time for Congress to step up and take action with having stricter gun laws. Mass shootings have been a recurring problem in our country and a lot of innocent people have died because of this and still, the U.S has not done anything to try to prevent these horrific tragedies like other countries have done to theirs by having stricter gun laws.

If the United States implemented stricter gun laws sooner, a lot of these horrific events could’ve been prevented. After the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., President Donald Trump said that he is willing to ban rapid-fire bump stocks and extend background checks. Hopefully, he sticks to his words because if he does, it’s a good first step towards a safer nation.