The topic of gun violence has been heavily debated ever since the creation of the Second Amendment. News stations such as CNN and Fox continue to give coverage to the seemingly antiquated topic. The question that now remains is: How accurate is the information that’s already out there?

According to the Brady Campaign, a group aiming to prevent gun violence, an average of 289 Americans are shot everyday. Eighty-six of them die, 30 are murdered, 53 die as a result of self inflicted wounds, two die accidentally, and one is shot by police.

Many social media outlets will throw out accusations of the AR-15 being used, during or after the event of a mass shooting, without having any confirmation.

Myths about the AR-15 are common. AR actually stands for “Armalite,” the company who invented the AR-15, not “assault rifle.” The model of the AR-15 that is available to civilians is only semi-automatic, and it is illegal to make it automatic.

Contrary to popular belief, the AR-15 is not the weapon most used in mass shootings.  

The weapon used in the Sandy Hook shooting was a semi-automatic Bushmaster XM12-E25 rifle. The weapon used in the Orlando shooting was a Sig Sauer MCX, which was also a semi-automatic.

According to USLegal, a semi-automatic rifle is a weapon that fires a single bullet each time the trigger is pulled. An automatic weapon, or machine gun, is able to continuously fire rounds per trigger pull.

As a part of the Firearm Owner’s Protection Act of 1986, Congress banned the transfer and possession of machine guns, with two exceptions. First, machine guns legally owned before May 4, 1986 may be possessed provided they are properly registered in accordance with the requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934, and second, only the military or a federal or state agency can legally acquire automatic weapons.

So the argument for an automatic weapon is completely redundant because they have been banned for over thirty years. The bill passed in 1986 infringes on the Second Amendment.

Even with all the wrong information out there, it is a fact that guns of any type in the wrong hands can cause massive damage.

While it’s true that a black market for weapons exists, a person with no prior criminal record, who wants to harm others, can legally acquire a weapon.

Omar Mateen legally acquired a weapon, and the results of that were catastrophic.   

Gun crime is a serious problem facing our country. Putting out false information, such as what type of weapon was used, and what you can and can’t buy, will not stop gun crime. It will only create more fear.

If this problem is to fixed, we can’t put out false information. We need to look at the truth of the problem, and work towards laws that can keep guns out of the hands of people that shouldn’t be anywhere near them.