After the devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, I’ve seen a lot of opinions on social media about what our country needs to do about our access to firearms. I’ve seen many of my facebook friends post about how there needs to be more restrictions on guns. Every single post I’ve seen has had at least one tone-deaf comment about how the Left is trying to steal guns away from the American people.
Why do I call these comments tone-deaf? Because they are completely missing the point. I can’t speak for everyone, but when I say I want gun control I don't mean that no civilian should have access to guns. If you want a handgun to protect your home from burglars, I understand. If you want a hunting rifle to shoot deer when they’re in season, I understand. What I don’t understand is why any civilian would ever need a weapon of war. What I don't understand is why it's so easy for a civilian to obtain one.
The Parkland shooter used an AR-15. Give me one good reason a civilian needs to be able to shoot dozens of rounds a second. You can’t. There are no good reasons. When we were given our right to bear arms it was during a time when arms weren’t nearly as advanced and destructive as they are today. Our founding fathers had muskets, not semiautomatics. Why should your right to bear arms mean you have the right to bear any kind of arms?
When people say they want gun control they don’t usually mean that no civilian should own any kind of gun at all. It’s ridiculous to respond to the idea of better gun control by focusing on the fact that you have a constitutional right to own a gun. Do you really believe a civilian should be able to own a weapon of war? Even if you do, why do you think your desire to own that kind of power is more important than peoples’ lives? Even if wanting gun control really meant snatching all guns out of civilian hands, why does a world where you can’t own a gun upset you more than a world where kids get murdered?
These are questions you need to ask yourself. People are dying. Children are dying. If you don't think anything should change about what kind of guns people can own and how easy it is to own them, then it's time you did some self-reflection.
And if you’re one of the people that think, “But if a good guy has a gun he can stop a bad guy with a gun!!” then don’t you think it would be a good idea to require some sort of training classes before owning a gun, like how I had to take driver’s ed before I could get my license? What good can a “good guy” with a gun do if they don’t know how to properly use it? If they aren’t well-trained, they will most likely make the situation worse.
If you think mental health is the bigger problem, then don't you think it would be a good idea to require some kind of psych evaluation? If mental health is the issue, then couldn't these shootings be better prevented if it was harder for mentally unstable people to obtain weapons?
My mother always says there are three places a child should be safe: the home, the church, and the school. These places should be safe for children, but they aren’t. They should be, but they aren’t. This NEEDS to change.
If you are registered to vote, please do not neglect the midterm elections this year. Changes need to be made and you can help with that by voting.
Here is the gofundme page for the Parkland victims and their families.
