Nineteen years ago on April 20, 1999, twelve students and one teacher lost their lives. April 16, 2007, in Blacksburg, Virginia at Virginia Tech thirty-three people lost their life. On December 14, 2012 (six years ago) twenty children between the ages of six and seven years old and six adults lost their life in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School. February 14, 2018, seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Since Columbine, there have been two-hundred and seventy school shootings (ABC News Review Reported cases). Sixty-eight percent of school shootings the shooters get the guns from home or a relative (US Secret Service, US Department of education). There has been an average of one school shooting every week since 2015 (ABC News Review Reported cases). More than 187,000 children are exposed to gun violence in school since Columbine (The Washington Post).
316 million people in the US, 270-310 million guns in the US almost one gun per person (2013) and that's not including the owners who don't register their guns.
Only six states require some type of registration for guns. Hawaii requires all firearms must be registered, registration of pre-banned assault pistols. New York requires registration for handguns and registration of pre-banned assault weapons. California requires new residents to report their firearms and registration of pre-banned assault weapons and 50 caliber rifles. Maryland requires new residents to report handguns and assault weapons as well as registration for pre-banned assault pistols. Connecticut requires registration for pre-banned assault weapons and large capacity magazines. New Jersey, requires registration for pre-banned assault weapons.
Five states; Florida, California, Illinois, New York, and South Carolina, generally prohibit open carry for handguns. Fifteen states require a permit or license to openly carry a handgun: Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. There are five states that restrict open carry of handguns in public areas: Alabama, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. (LawCenter.giffords.org)
Six states; California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey, generally prohibit open carry for long guns (rifles and shotguns). This leaves forty-four remaining states that permit open carrying long gun. In three states (Iowa, Tennessee, and Utah) the gun must be unloaded. In Virginia and Pennsylvania, owners are limited in their ability to open carry in certain cities. (Lawcenter.giffords.org)
"Prohibit" "Generally" "Limit" - mean nothing. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is bullshit. Gun violence is real. It happens everywhere. School is supposed to be a safe place where students go to learn. The only thing students are learning is how to run or hide from a shooter. I am tired of the excuses "Well I hunt" or "I have the second amendment right". Yes you do - but, as a human, I have the right to live. I stand with the Never Again movement. Let's stop gun violence forever.
