Before I begin, I would like to state that the following is an opinion, and opinions are things that every human being has in reaction to the environment they are surrounded by and the education they have received along with personal experiences.
The other day, there was an article posted on Facebook titled, "Pennsylvania police fatally shoot 12-year-old girl at her home" and I shook my head. I remembered so many other stories -- San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, AME Church in Charleston, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, and so many more. They all break hearts, hurt communities and ruin families. These stories have become marks in the history of gun violence, and I think it's time to question: are these moments of inhumanity just going to be bookmarks of the past? Will these news articles become history studied by American youth in high school -- or will we finally do something to change it?
Mass shootings have become this ridiculous norm in America. In 2015, there were more shootings in the country than there were days in the year. That's ridiculous. I don't care if you "believe" in the Second Amendment. I don't care if you own a gun or not. One thing has to be agreed on -- none of those shootings were necessary. Not one person who died in those awful moments woke up and thought, "Today I will be shot and the only reaction I'll get is a tweet from my Congressman and maybe some justice served -- and I'm okay with that."
Are we supposed to be okay with the idea that at any moment someone can just pull a gun out and we react with, "Well, they have a right to that?"
I'm still not quite sure what my views on guns in America are, but I do recall a conversation my public speaking professor had with my class sophomore year. We were talking about guns and he said, "Keep the guns, put a limit on ammunition." And that's when I realized that bullets can be a problem; they're what come out of the gun that cause the pain.
Why do we still have bullets? It seems that the main purpose bullets are serving these days are to take the lives of citizens. What if we change ammunition in our guns in America to the type that stun -- like shooting a bear with tranquilizers when it wanders into town? This may not solve all the problems in America's society, but it would be a step up. It wouldn't lead to children being slaughtered and politicians tweeting "Praying for the families of [insert town name here]."
Obama is currently working on a proposal to change the way guns are sold in America, and it's a great stepping stone, but maybe we should start limiting ammunition sold too.
