After the horrible tragedy at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida last week the gun control conversation has been on the front page of every major news network and the minds of Americans. Ideas on how to restrict gun access to citizens have run ramped, from arming teachers to simply increasing the legal age to purchase a weapon.
Tensions are high amongst Americans, which tends to lead to stubborn-minded arguments which lead to people yelling at each, whether in person or ONLINE DISCUSSIONS (all caps really gets points across and shows how right you are). In the wake of all this, I’d like to try to have a level-headed discussion of what some solutions could be and just the general state of affairs as it pertains to this gun control conversation.
First, arming teachers with firearms is just silly. I’m not sure who was the initial proponent of the idea, but they are widely missing the target of a solution to increasing school safety. My mother, a 50-some-year-old (actual age omitted because my mom would not love her actual age put out there) middle school math teacher would absolutely not want to be given the responsibility of carrying a gun. She teaches at an inner-city school, where this idea would be instituted.
Besides teachers themselves opposing this idea, how many day jobs can you think of that are forced to carry a gun? Nurses don’t carry guns, plumbers don’t carry guns. While school shootings can happen to any school and have become more common, the vast majority of schools do not have these incidents occurring on their campus. The introduction of guns in any environment will all but decrease the threat of gun violence.
As well as the fact that most school teachers are women, especially women who have little to no gun use experience, let alone the desire to wield such a weapon. I find it difficult to think of any logical arguments that can prove arming school teachers as an actual good idea.
In a town hall event held in Florida this week by CNN, the country saw the students from Stone Douglas High School give their opinions on gun safety and what steps politicians should be moving toward to improve the safety of schools and Americans in general from gun violence.
It was a strong moment in which the youth, as they have done in the past, encouraged change in our country. They gave testimonies and discussed with their politicians about what they should do. Or so America was told.
A video was released the next day by a local Florida news station in which one student spoke about how the town hall was organized. He told his experience of working with CNN, as they asked him to ask the questions he had for these politicians. Until he told CNN what he planned to ask. They told him no. That he was not to ask his own questions and was given questions provided by CNN. So much for an open and honest discussion.
Thankfully, his interview went viral and was seen by a multitude of Americans on social media. The best part about this was that he had a good idea for some kind of solution to protect schools, give the school security jobs to veterans. This gives guns to the people who are trained and know how to handle them. This is certainly a bright idea and gives a promising answer to a question that is hard sought for answers.
It is truly saddening, though not utterly surprising, that CNN staged this town hall. It is a reminder to those who may be on the left side that while it appears obvious that FoxNews spews out its own agenda, so does leftist media. It is a reminder that both sides of the corporate news media have their own agendas and that fake news has been fed into America long before Trump called it out.
Gun control, in general, in this country is still in need of reform. The question has been asked by nearly anyone following this story, “How did a mentally ill person receive such a powerful weapon?” Well, because anyone can at gun conventions. For those who might be unaware, anyone above 18 and with enough cash can go to a gun convention and purchase whatever weapon they choose. Gun laws need to be enacted across the entire gun market.
“What about our 2nd amendment rights? What about the constitution?” You might be trying to yell at me through your computer. Well, we shouldn’t infringe on those rights, even though they may be considered outdated (everyone must admit the historical fact that the men who wrote that rule thought of “arms” as muskets, not AR-15s).
The next logical step would be to just increase the screening in order to obtain guns. The NRA may be trying to persuade you into believing that you need guns, and you do need them if you enjoy hunting, no problems there. However, the NRA is a masterfully persuasive giant that is solely interested in profits and political influence. So if you’re a gun owner, consider asking yourself if you really do need more than 3 guns in your home. Self-protection is established with just a pistol.
Hopefully, we can see some sort of action taken by our representatives. Speaking up and giving our opinion is a powerful way to do this. However, it is excruciatingly important to remember that those in power’s primary goal is to first: retain their power by any means necessary, and second: retain their money. That’s the sad truth. So if you really want to see a change the only thing to do is contact your representatives, see what they plan to do about gun laws, and vote accordingly in November.
