According to Gun Violence in U.S compared to the deadliest nations in the world by Richard Florida from The Atlantic City-Lab, if New Orleans(with a rate of 62.1 gun murders per 100,000 people) would rank second in the world. Some people think that stricter gun laws are needed because people who should not be trusted with guns have access to them. Others believe that the government should back off because under the second amendment we have the right to bear arms for self-defense. Stricter gun laws are needed in the United States.Many americans believe that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed, meaning citizens have an individual right under the constitution. In 2008 the court case of The District of Columbia Vs. Heller challenged the D.C. handgun ban,and in a 5-4 decision the court ruled that the second amendment established an individual right for U.S. citizens to possess firearms.These last couple of years we have seen many shootings in the news where the shooter had a mental illness. The government has started to monitor people who have a mental illness and recently 34,500 people were put on New Yorks No-Guns list. The list was started in 2012 after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown Conn., and is being maintained by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. More than 500 people per week statewide are filed into the system. Among the 41,427 people in the system who were flagged as dangerous only 40,678 passed to Albany where the cases are reviewed. A study by The Center of Medicine,Health,and society at Vanderbilt University points out that only 5% of gun related killings are committed by someone with a mental illness.The United States has gun homicide rates in line with the most deadly nations in the world. In 2013 President Obama introduced 23 new executive actions to reduce gun violence, the Unites States has about three homicides per 100,000 people compared to Honduras which has roughly 68 gun murders per 100,000 people. All of the countries have small populations, in cases comparable to large U.S. metros. The number of guns sold for protection has gone up in the last eight years. More than 86% of americans who have a gun the the household say it makes them feel safe. Although americans feel the need to protect themselves, violent crime rates have fallen from 1993-2012.In this essay I have addressed the second Amendment and how it has changed since being written in 1789, the need to own a gun for protection,how the mentally ill should not be allowed access to guns, and how gun violence in america is comparable to some of the world most deadliest nations. Stricter gun laws need to be set in place to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do potential harm with them. Detroits gun homicide rate is 35.9, just less than El Salvadors at 39.9. Sandy Hook, Aurora, and Columbine are all examples of when the wrong person got a hold of a gun. We need stricter gun laws to keep us safe and our children safe.