On Friday the 23rd, there was another tragic shooting that surprisingly didn't shake up America. The last shooting that has hit the news was the the tragic Orlando shooting in June. Since that shooting, there has been roughly 196 more fatal shootings. This is an issue, and we need to discuss what that issue is.
First, we can go over what it is not. It is not Muslims. It is not race. It is not poverty. These are targets that people use to dance around the issue. It is easier to say that it was people who "don't look like us" people who don't "worship like us" or people "not in the same circle as us." These targets dance around the issue which is actually two things: guns and apathy.
First, guns. Gun control in America is a joke. No really. Look on the internet. There are plenty of jokes about America and guns. There are 90 guns for every 100 civilians in America. Civilians. That number doesn't include military or police officers. This number is staggering. I understand a lot of them are owned by law abiding citizens who store them properly and know how to use them. But there are a lot of them that are not, these are the guns that kill.
This is coming from the mouth of a southern girl from a nice conservative home where gun control is basically a cuss word. It is still something that we need to talk about. I could go to my local Walmart right now with a state I.D and a quick background check and I could walk out with a gun. Me. Sabrina who cried during a commercial yesterday, I could own a gun. I don't feel safe with that knowledge, and you shouldn't either.
Second, apathy. People don't care anymore about gun violence. This has become an everyday fact of American life. This has become a part of culture. Can you honestly look at yourself and say you know about even 15 of those 196 shootings since June? Because I can't. Desensitization to gun control is a major issue and, because if the apathy that we are beginning to have, it is preventing a change in America.
At the end of the day, gun control is a discussion we all need to be talking about. It's not about getting rid of guns. It's about controlling who owns one.
