There have been 18 mass shootings since this year began, so statistically speaking, there will be another one in the 5 days it takes from the time this article is written until the time it gets published. I don't care if you've never killed a fly or if you have a gun safe bigger than your bedroom, this is a massive problem.
There's something fundamentally wrong here. Somehow, some way, we went sour, and this became a part of our reality. My initial reaction when I saw that Stoneman Douglas High School was under lockdown with an active shooter was "This looks like it's going to be a bad one," and since then I've been a little disturbed by that being my first thought. This is our new normal and it feels so dirty to type that. It's become a question of when, not if. It doesn't matter where your political allegiances lie. This isn't fucking okay.
So what do we do and why haven't we done it yet? Turns out it's not that easy. Because as much as fixing this seems like it should be our first priority, there's a process to things like this. It starts with enough people having enough and works its way up the ladder. It doesn't get more depraved than a crazed psychopath going into an elementary school. So how, since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, and yes, you read that right it's been 6 years, have these mass casualty events gone up in frequency? How have we let this continue to happen?
The problem goes deeper than guns, deeper than security, and deeper than mental health. It goes past legislation and the people who make it. It starts with us deciding that there needs to be a change. People are mad, but it seems like we're all blaming the other side and fighting over what to do when we should actually be having an adult conversation and doing something. We're looking for a scapegoat when at the end of the day shaking a stick at the people who disagree with us isn't going to do anything. All this confused anger is manifesting itself as wasted energy instead of being a catalyst for change. When there are more guns than people in the U.S., and the problem is getting bigger by the day, it seems we're fighting an uphill battle that only gets steeper and steeper.
So, I pose the question again: What do we do? Well, from these humble eyes, the opposite of everything we've done so far, we need to make actual changes. We live in a democracy and as a result, we need to find a middle ground and operate with the voices of everyone in mind. This is not an easy fix and to act like we can nip it in the butt by pointing fingers is lazy and won't lead anywhere. Every time that there is a mass shooting, we pretty much follow our end of the political aisle and nothing changes. All we do is polarize the issue and move further and further from any real discourse about what to do.
If you're angry, research the issue. Use that energy to change things instead of being loud. Words are immeasurably powerful when backed up by action.
