Some nights as a child, I would be woken up in the middle of the night by the blaring sound of our house alarm, the machine screaming, “INTRUDER, INTRUDER,” over and over again. I would run to my parents’ room down the hall, and they would pull out their 9-millimeters from the nightstands, their demeanor suddenly serious and protective.

My mom and I would hide behind a chair in their bedroom with a gun aimed at the door, while I, shaking and crying, held the telephone ready to answer when the police called. My dad would take his gun, a flashlight and the most bravery I had ever seen into our dark house to see if someone was there, just so he could protect us.

Thankfully, no one was ever there – we lived in a house in the country with a fairly old alarm system – but it horrifies me to know that if we did not have guns, and someone who did broke into our house, we all could have died one of those nights.

No family should ever have to lose a loved one to gun violence, but families like mine have a right to protect themselves. To fix this issue, we can look to a country like Australia, whose laws have drastically subdued the gun epidemic in the “land down under.” The United States needs to implement gun control laws similar to those of Australia, as it will lower the number of people killed from homicides and suicides. In addition, these laws will also allow responsible people to have a gun, so long as they have a genuine reason.

Implementing Australian gun control laws to the United States does not necessarily prohibit one from owning a gun. Rather, it serves as a built-in vetting system to try to stop unstable individuals from obtaining one. One of the main principles in the Australian gun control laws is that people must have a genuine use for owning a gun in order to possess one, such as hunting, collecting or target shooting.

These restrictions turn away many suicidal individuals from obtaining a gun, which is crucial considering  most suicides occur from firearms. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, two-thirds of the gun deaths in America are suicides, and this number could be drastically lowered if these people could not access a gun so easily.

It is not exactly the same case with criminals. A felon will most likely get their hands on a gun no matter what the laws are. Therefore, adding more laws and regulations will only negatively impact the innocent group of civilians who are now at a loss when it comes to methods of defending themselves against a potential criminal with an AR-15. However, these laws are necessary in order to lower the suicide rate.

This is where the specifics of the Australian gun laws are important because there are a various number of exceptions that would allow one to have a gun. For those who take self-defense seriously, all they have to do is simply join a gun range, and they can legally possess a gun due to the allowance of target shooting. These people can abide by the law, while also being able to protect themselves and their families if need be.

After implementing their new laws and regulations, Australia’s gun death rate and the rate of suicides and homicides unrelated to guns dropped by a whopping 50 percent. Not only were gun deaths prevented, but the number of suicides completely unrelated to guns dropped as well.

If the U.S. implements these laws, so many lives would have the potential to be spared. Each of these people are not just numbers – they are someone’s child or someone’s parent.

The United States should implement gun control laws similar to those of Australia so that suicides can be stopped and criminals can be hindered, but devoted, law-abiding citizens can have the opportunity to defend themselves if they ever find themselves in such a dreadful situation.