Sunday, June 12 left the whole country devastated. A shooter, who I refuse to name, left 49 dead and many others wounded in an Orlando nightclub. This massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in the United States' history.
It was also the 139th mass shooting in 2016 alone. On June 12, we were on the 164 day of the year.
This chart shows how many days were counted in between mass shootings from Jan. of 2013 to Nov. of 2015.
Every time we experience a mass shooting as a country, we have moments of silence, send prayers, hold candlelight vigils and mourn. But in a matter of weeks, the horrific event is put on the back burner until another mass shooting occurs. Only then are the events of Columbine, Newton, Charleston, San Bernardino, Aurora, etc, remembered and talked about again for context.
How many mass shootings will we have to go through as a country until something is done—anything is better than nothing. We obviously have a problem and we cannot continue to let our beautiful country operate in such a manner. Politicians send love and prayers when tragedies occur, but where is the change, the policies, the justice for the victims?
Watch a powerful video of families that have been affected by past mass shootings give strength and advice to those suffering from Orlando here.
I am sick and tired of waking up to alerts on my phone of yet another deadly mass shooting. It has come to a point where it sickens me to the stomach to think about the world that we are allowing ourselves to live in.
We should not feel threatened or scared to simply go out in public. There should be no fear walking into a grocery store, a school or even down the road. We cannot let these soulless attackers take away our freedom.
Make your freedom be heard loud and clear so the country can heal—for good this time.
This is also not me saying I want to take away your guns. It is, though, me saying we need to take stronger measures in order to acquire a firearm. It should not be as easy as going down to the local Wal-Mart and deciding you want to buy a gun. This is a huge responsibility that should not be taken lightly.
There is also, in my opinion, no need for a regular citizen to own over-sized or over-powered weapons. These weapons do not keep you safer in the United States.
"If more guns made us safer, the U.S. would be the safest nation in the world," Tim Fischer, former deputy prime minister of Australia said, "You are 10 to 15 times more likely to be shot dead in the USA per capita than Australia."
Australia is talked about quite a lot when we bring up gun control because of their gun buyback program mandated over 20 years ago. In 1996, Australia bought back over 650,000 guns from citizens. Soon after, they saw a dramatic decrease in firearm homicides and suicides, without any other death increases.
In our country, we have the highest rates of gun ownership in the world. Is this what we want to be known for? Killing each other?
Why are we so afraid of a little regulation? Everything else in our day-to-day life is regulated. We need to stop being so stubborn if we want change. I know I am tired of our current situation. Are you?
