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The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

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Gun Range Not Necessary for Niles

Gun+Range+Not+Necessary+for+Niles

I was raised in a very liberal home, and as I’ve gotten older, I have only gotten more liberal. My stance on guns has always been very consistent with the far left.

After the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting, I became much more educated on guns. I looked at gun laws in other countries, and saw how stricter laws on guns had a strong correlation to fewer murders.

Soon, a gun range is going up less than a mile away from my high school, on 6143 Howard St. After this school year, our buses will be housed on the same land as the range.

Now, I know there’s the whole, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people!” thing. My issue with that is that guns make it that much easier to kill people. Yes, I know there are other ways of killing people, but guns are an easy way to go about it.

I know that it’s our second amendment right to have guns. That’s all fine and well — if you feel the need to protect yourself, I can understand and respect that.

But I don’t understand our need for a gun range. I can’t see how that would affect our society in a positive way. It won’t make our economy stronger, and it won’t help people protect themselves. We live in a very low-crime neighborhood. Isn’t that why people move to the suburbs in the first place? We aren’t fighting to stay alive. Crimes here are few and far between, and when there is a crime, it typically isn’t high profile.

I can’t understand why people need to use the gun range. There aren’t people invading your home at night trying to kill you; this isn’t The Purge. If you lock your doors (and windows too), you shouldn’t be that scared.

If you want to keep a gun in your house, it doesn’t affect me too much one way or the other. But it does affect me when the people in both my and surrounding neighborhoods are practicing shooting guns. For the time being, I don’t have much say in where I live — and I’d prefer to live in a safe neighborhood. My parents moved out of a somewhat dangerous neighborhood before having children for the sole purpose of keeping our family safe. And now that doesn’t seem to matter.

Some people have tried to convince me that it’ll be used for police officers to practice. With the constant stories of police brutality, I have a very deep-seeded distrust of police officers. I personally believe that the police should be demilitarized, but I know that probably won’t happen. Police — especially those in Skokie, Morton Grove, and Niles — should definitely not be practicing their aim. If anything, they should practice being compassionate or at least decent human beings.

I don’t have much trust for police officers in general, and I especially don’t trust police officers with guns. In positions of unchecked authority, that authority will always be abused, as it was displayed several years ago in the Stanford Prison Experiment. The experiment has been copied over and over with slightly different variables, and the results always turn up the same. Thus, I have no reason to trust police officers who have been practicing their aim.

As stated before, Skokie and its surrounding neighborhoods will not benefit from the range in any way, shape, or form. No one in this area of Illinois needs to practice their aim, and people from high-crime neighborhoods in Chicago don’t need it either. The gun range won’t help our economy either — if anything, we should focus on the failing small businesses in downtown Skokie. We won’t see a drop in crime, and we won’t see less police brutality. If anything, these statistics will only go up.

I would encourage everyone reading this to study police brutality and gun law statistics. I’m sick of seeing people dying because of police. I’m sick of seeing people become hashtags on Twitter. I’m sick of people supporting the police no questions asked.

I think the people in favor of the gun range should really sit down and think and hard about what, if anything, will be improved with its use.

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  • A

    Anti-Liberal, Anti-Stupidity, Anti-Bernie, Anti-HillaryNov 16, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    Horribly written piece, plain stupidity. You opinion is trash. Thanks for trying though! #UneducatedFool #LiberalLogic

    Reply
  • A

    AlumOct 8, 2015 at 8:41 AM

    I’m fairly anti-gun, but I don’t understand why parking the school’s buses near a gun range matters. Students never go to the bus garage. Even if students did go near the gun range, it’s not any more or less safe of a place to be than anywhere else.

    Reply
  • A

    Awad Ali-amarOct 6, 2015 at 10:01 PM

    Yes its Fun. Just like you like reading and going to bands for fun and I don’t think that as fun you should be free to have other things to do.

    Not sure if you know this. A gun range already exists less then a mile from Maine West and it has not affected anything at all anywhere.

    Getting to your points:

    — I can’t understand why people need to use the gun range. There aren’t people invading your home at night trying to kill you; this isn’t The Purge. If you lock your doors (and windows too), you shouldn’t be that scared.

    ——————————————

    Ever see what happens to windows when door are locked and thieves still want to get at something?
    ——————————————————————

    You yourself said you have no issue with people owning a firearm. People owning a firearm should know what they handle like feel like and sound like and make sure they hit a target and not a by stander.

    Bear with me – Lets go out on a limb. If you or someone you loved were in a life or death situation lets say being held hostage. and there was police sniper that could save you but it needed to be with one shot. Would you rather have someone who practices at a range safely or someone you barely uses but just knows how to squeeze the trigger. I know its all a fake probably over hyped situation that only happens in movies. But I think we know your answer. That goes for anything Would you rather have a pilot with one hour of flight time or 1000? See the range is for practicing. The fact that the shooter practiced should not prevent the range from operating more then the knife that a kid got stabbed with stop the manufacture of knives or facilities that create that product from being nearby.
    —————————

    –If you want to keep a gun in your house, it doesn’t affect me too much one way or the other. But it does affect me when the people in both my and surrounding neighborhoods are practicing shooting guns. For the time being, I don’t have much say in where I live — and I’d prefer to live in a safe neighborhood. My parents moved out of a somewhat dangerous neighborhood before having children for the sole purpose of keeping our family safe. And now that doesn’t seem to matter.

    And to answer this. Yes. If a neighbor has a firearm you actually DO want them to know how to treat a firearm.(which is what they learn at a range and in a safety course if you take that) Define safe neighborhood. Chicago was 100% antigun till recently. Still pretty much the murder capital of the US. Would you say safe is one of those areas that are “gun free zones” Like the ones 1month old babies get shot at?

    Regarding laws in other countries.

    Again, Im going out on a limb here cause its probably never going to happen in the US unless everything gets taken away then who knows..

    If lets say a terrorist group or a bunch of people were to come lets say to a town in texas, most likey well armed cause everyone has a weapon in Texas. They would not fare as well as they do now going around killing raping and doing what they want. The have absolutely 0 resistance from residents who have ZERO WEAPONS cause the GOVT took them.. Who has the weapons STILL when govt takes them?

    Australia who has taken everyone’s weapons away. Last week,Just had a shooting near a daycare.

    Switzerland everyone is required to learn to use a firearm. invasions and crime there are almost a non issue. chicago has had a weapons ban till at least 2013 and still leads the nation in murders. those guys definitely dont goto a range with all these stray bullets hitting innocent people.

    Russia – 2004
    over 300 hostages were killed. IN A SCHOOL. Truth is. No one can stop anyone with the intention to do harm. If they have it in their mindset. they will do whatever.

    Guns are made to kill like alcohol is made to basically incapacitate you.
    alcohol related deaths are actually as high if not higher then gun fatalities.
    I could probably go on but you get my point. Ranges are for practice. People practice. Walmarts all over you don’t have to go! You dont have to go practice religion if there is a church near by. like you said. No one is out to get you anyway so why do you care if anyone has a weapon. Like you said. “this isn’t the purge”

    Reply
    • A

      Awad Ali-amarOct 6, 2015 at 10:14 PM

      also. your article it biased by default. if you are reporting you really shouldn’t be biased. simply stating you do not like cops makes you biased. oh and who are you going to call if you need help? oh wait. the cops.

      Reply
      • S

        Sarah GovisOct 7, 2015 at 8:05 AM

        I don’t trust cops, & it’s biased because it’s an opinion pieces. Thanks for trying though!

        Reply
    • S

      Sarah GovisOct 7, 2015 at 8:07 AM

      There is a terrorist group in the U.S., it’s called the KKK. Also, going to see band concerts doesn’t hurt or kill people. Thanks for trying!!

      Reply
  • C

    Colin LinehanOct 6, 2015 at 11:07 AM

    Having worked as a firearms instructor from before I was a student and throughout my time at Niles West I can speak for the shooting range. Why would someone want to go to a gun range you ask? Well for one thing it is a lot of fun and is a competitive sport. In high schools in other states it is as much a part of sports as football or basketball. A gun range is also a way to promote gun safety. As far as the economic factors go the range I work for pays more in taxes every year than the local Walmart. I think that says something about what one small business can do for the economy.

    Reply
    • S

      Sarah GovisOct 6, 2015 at 6:35 PM

      “It’s fun” ? That’s the sort of thing I want to speak out against. I don’t think that’s a positive thing. The Oregon gunman practiced at a gun range with his mother all the time. Shooting guns isn’t supposed to be fun. It’s something you should do as a worst case scenario. I hardly think ranges promote gun safety — there’s absolutely no backing to that claim. Walmart is a terrible company that I never shop at, and I don’t support at all. Plus, I said that we should be focusing on the small businesses in downtown Skokie because they constantly fail and it’s mostly composed of family-run restaurants and the like. Those actually have positives for the economy and the city. But thanks for sharing your opinion!

      Reply
    • A

      Awad Ali-amarOct 7, 2015 at 9:59 PM

      really doesn’t hurt people. hmm I’ve been to concert where people have been carried away on stretchers. but then again. your opinion is the only one that matters. You do know. you could have one(an opinion) and still be 100% wrong. but I’m sure thats not the case with you. as for you not trusting cops thats your choice and up to you.
      But no thank YOU for playing, this opinion piece was so horribly written out, if it actually made sense I would actually think you were writing for “The Onion”.
      thanks for trying!!!!!LOLOLOLOL

      Reply