Instead of being a day devoted to the celebration of a brand new year, there was a devastating tragedy on New Year’s Eve just a few moments before midnight. According to CNN, a group of people got together on Lewis Avenue in Gulfport, Mississippi with the intent of spending a fun evening amongst friends and family. However, this took an extremely disturbing turn when a fight broke out between a few drunk men leading to the death of three. In addition, three people remain in the hospital with non-life threatening conditions and the fourth is struggling to survive on life support.

The party was intended to just be family, but it ended up turning into a more immense affair or block party rather quickly. It began as a fun time surrounding a bonfire as children were reported to be at the scene, yet it turned into a bloody massacre. Police have reported that there were handguns and assault rifles brought to the party and were eventually fired by multiple individuals. As of Saturday, January 1st, no arrests have been put into place and the investigation will continue.

It is devastating to see even more Americans lose their lives due to guns. The gun laws in Mississippi of 2021 allow citizens the right to bear concealed arms without a permit as long as they obtained the firearms legally.

As of January 5th, it has been reported that Mississippi homicides by gun in 2021 have been close to record-breaking as the city of Jackson experienced 152 homicides by firearm. This statistic is not only heart wrenching but should also be used as a wake-up call to all of American society that the United States needs stricter gun laws.

By strengthening gun laws, we will reduce the despicable amount of violence in this country. Some may argue that the use of guns is justified by the Second Amendment in the constitution, however, this is not exactly true. The constitution was written almost two hundred and fifty years ago and was composed when the only guns that existed took as long as five minutes to load one shot. They never could have imagined the advancement in weaponry centuries later.

The rifles on scene at this New Year’s Eve party could have potentially weighed up to thirty pounds and can shoot rapidly up to 2,000 yards away, although the details of the type of rifle are unclear as the homeowners will not speak. However, in general, it should simply not be so easy for any handgun or rifle to be brought to a neighborhood party and should surely not be in the hands of someone who would use such dangerous weapons for a drunken miscommunication.

It is saddening to see so many innocent lives lost in our country due to careless gun laws. The United States is in desperate need of reform as more and more deaths by gun flood news and media sites.