OpinionsEditorials

Gun ownership not for terrorists

editorial cartoon by Anthony Juarez
editorial cartoon by Anthony Juarez

With the turmoil in the Middle East, North Africa and everywhere in between, the world is a very unstable place filled with unstable people, so limiting who can have access to guns has never been more important.

According to the Associated Press, nearly 250 people on the government’s terror watch list were able to buy guns legally in 2010. There are 11 reasons why the government can deny someone the right to buy a firearm, including being an illegal immigrant or convicted felon, but being on the terror watch list is not one of them.

If you commit perjury or forgery you lose the right to ever owning a gun; however if you are a suspected terrorist and a possible member of al-Qaeda, the government says you are good to go.

According to the Associated Press, between February 2004 and the end of 2010 almost 1,500 people on the watch list tried to buy weapons and 90 percent of them were successful.

The government has every right to prevent felons from buying weapons, but the people on the list are just as, if not more, dangerous than some convicted felons and they should not be able to go into Walmart empty-handed and walk out with a shotgun.

Access to these weapons is about to get much easier, as Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, will add shotguns, rifles and ammunition to the inventory list of 700 of its stores. Of its 4,000 stores in the United States 1,300 already sell weapons.

According to a spokesman, the company has had nearly two years of slumping sales and wants to keep up with its competitors by adding more merchandise.

By the end of August 2010 Walmart already had a profit of $3.6 billion, which does not seem like much of a slump. The corporate giant did not go bankrupt when they stopped selling weapons in many of their stores in 2006, so there is no reason for them to start stocking the shelves again.

It is becoming easier and easier to gain access to weapons, when it really should be getting harder.

Not only are potential terrorists able to buy guns, but if they find it at a lower price, they do not have to worry because Walmart has a price match guarantee.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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