This article was co-authored by Reed Williams (@rcwilliams31).

What happened in Orlando is no doubt a horrific tragedy, and our prayers go out to all the victims and their families. In wake of the mass shooting that took place in Orlando, Florida on June 12th, U.S. citizens have brought up an age old debate: Gun Control. There have been a notable amount of politicians and media outlets that have spent countless hours trying to politicize this event and push for stronger gun laws and restrictions. This happens every single time there is a mass shooting in the U.S. We feel like there is excessive talk about guns and gun control immediately following these events, when we should be mourning those lost and trying to offer help and support to the victims and their families. This does not mean we think there shouldn’t be discussion about guns and gun control, i.e. us writing this article, but we feel like the media and politicians jump on it hours after the event when it is totally unnecessary and inappropriate, since we should be saddened by the event not using it for political gain. What we have in America is not a gun problem. What we have is a people problem.

Omar Mateen was the man that loaded bullet after bullet into the magazine that killed 49 individuals. Omar Mateen was the man that shocked the nation. This man was pure evil. The gun was not what killed 49 people and injured 53 more. If it wasn’t a gun, it would have been an explosive. What killed those people was one man. Most of us try and live by the moral code of “treat others the way you want to be treated”. Pure evil doesn’t abide by the moral codes that the rest of us do. This man clearly didn’t care about the fact that it is illegal to kill people. Why would any gun control laws stop him? Omar Mateen had a strong hatred towards homosexuals. This hatred is not caused by guns. It is something that is acquired through people that influenced Omar, individual experiences he may have had, and any exposure through the media that drove his hatred further and further.

Left-wing activist Michael Moore released a documentary titled “Bowling for Columbine” in 2002. It is a must see documentary that explores the circumstances that lead to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the proliferation of guns, and the high homicide rate in America. In the documentary, Moore visits areas of Canada where gun ownership is comparable to that in the United States. He finds houses unlocked and citizens to be far less concerned with crime and security in general. Canada has a drastically smaller rate of gun violence, and far less mass shootings. So what is causing the violence? As writers, we do not claim to know the direct answer to what causes all the violence in the United States. However, a strong possibility, and what Moore alludes to in his documentary, is the media. Canadian media does not follow the, “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality that the United States so desperately feeds off of.

I (Joey) personally do not watch the news on television. It is far too depressing. Half of every single segment is filled with death, theft, violence, and murder. It is saddening and disheartening to watch and listen to, yet millions of Americans do it every day, often more than once. In my opinion, after years, or even months of this, individuals that watch the news are stricken and susceptible to abnormally high amounts of fear.

For example, we live in Shelby Township, an area that in 2012 (last available year I found data for) had a violent crime rate that is 69.94 percent less than the national average. There were only nine reported instances of robbery this year. Yet my mother, who watches the news once or twice a day, insists on locking the doors at all times, even if everyone in my house is home. When I asked her why she said, “so nobody breaks in.” This is what the fear culture of the media has done to society. Nobody is going to break into our house when three cars are in the driveway, lights are on, people are inside or outside, in broad daylight. This is likely a direct result of seeing robbery and violent crime being reported day after day.

Another thing people might not always consider when thinking about what causes someone to do something like what Omar Mateen did, is the glorification of the shooter in the media. I guarantee that everyday citizens are much more likely to know his name than one of his 102 victims. We know that the media needs to report on the incident, but it does not need to focus so heavily on the shooter every single time. Obviously Omar was a psychopath. Obviously he was evil. We know that. Forget him. He is worthless. Stop reporting on him and every part of his life. Seeing this continuous attention being given to him is something a potential killer might yearn for. Potential mass shooters know that they will go down in history and become a household name if they commit these heinous acts. The media needs to spend more time focusing on the 102 victims, not Omar Mateen.

We are told that this event and other mass killings/terrorist attacks should not classify all Muslims. Then why should it classify all gun owners? Ninety-nine percent of gun owners, like 99 percent of Muslims, are law abiding citizens and go about everyday life without killing 49 people and injuring 53 more. Why should all of us have to pay consequences for the actions of one psychotic individual? It is already a process to purchase a firearm. You have to give them your address, social security number, prove U.S. citizenship, and go through and pass a background check.

I (Joey) accidentally misread and answered one of the questions incorrectly when attempting to purchase my shotgun. I was so eager to get the gun that I was not carefully and concisely reading the questions. When the employee at the Dick’s Sporting Goods printed the background check report, he asked me to double check it. I immediately told him I had given an incorrect response for one of the questions. He knew that this was the case, but still could not legally sell me the gun. My report had to be spent and reviewed for over a month, before I was cleared to purchase the firearm. This is a true story and told to illustrate that background checks are legitimate and not taken lightly.

There are many people who strongly advocate for much stricter gun control. However, most of them are under the misconception that the biggest reason for gun control is for self-defense and home protection. They say things along the lines of “Why do you need a semi-automatic rifle?” or “There’s no reason for anyone to have a gun that powerful,” and “30 round magazines should be banned.” But when people say things like this, they are forgetting the most important reason the 2nd Amendment was put into place. Don’t get us wrong, self-defense and home protection are still a major reason civilians should have access to guns. We all should be able to protect ourselves and our loved ones from home invaders, rapists, and murderers. Whether it be with a pistol, shotgun, or rifle everyone should be able to defend themselves. However, the answer of "self-defense and home protection" is not satisfactory for the strongest gun control advocates. And we are here to tell you why these aren’t the only reason to support and protect the 2nd Amendment.

While self-defense and home protection are still extremely valid reasons it is not the most important reason that our Founding Fathers included the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The 2nd Amendment is also about our right, and duty, to protect ourselves from government, both foreign and domestic. There are many quotes that support this but one of our favorites is: “A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government” - George Washington. We seem to forget that government has been the biggest mass murderer to ever exist. People think “Oh, the government would never harm us”. Well, here’s a list and it's not even a full one:

Soviet Union passes ban on gun possession by 1926 and from 1929-1945 murders 20 million of its own citizens. Nazi Germany starts creating gun control laws in 1928 and passes ban on gun possession by 1938 and from 1933-1945 murders 20 million. Two separate regimes ruled China between 1927-1976 with both implementing extensive gun control, up to and including bans on gun possession and during those years the regimes combine to murder a total of 30-45 million of its own citizens.

We are sure when people started to support these governments and gun control laws they never envisioned these horrible atrocities occurring, but none-the-less they still happened. Horrors like these become possible when the populace is largely unarmed. If you're a person who needs a specific example of armed civilians protecting a nation all you need to do is look back to WWII. One of the reasons Japan never attacked or invaded our mainland was because they knew how many Americans had guns. The Japanese Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto, even said “You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass”. Allowing individuals to own guns makes the individual safer, and also the nation as a whole.

It is unfortunate that this issue is something that comes up immediately after every mass shooting. But we aren't going to just stand silently by and not let our voices be heard on a topic we are very passionate about. We encourage you to let your voice be heard too and share this article and why you agree or disagree with it.