Over these past few days, no one has been immune from seeing coverage of yet another tragedy. Heart-wrenching news that 17 people were murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has been covered by every big national news outlet and has made numerous global headlines.
Communities pray, families mourn, and inevitably people start to bicker on social media. Some claim it's insensitive to post opinions without a grieving period for families, but with that, I respectfully disagree. There is no better way to honor the memory of a precious life lost than to stand up and speak out in the hopes that no other mother, father, or child has to go through that pain.
Two of the so-called "opposing" arguments are that gun control is the issue, the idea favored by liberals, and that mental health and parenting are the issues, the idea favored by conservatives. These arguments shouldn't be opposing views, but really gun control, mental health, and parenting choices are all issues related to this tragedy. Why can't we see how these factors work together?
Sure, Nikolas Cruz was definitely mentally ill, but that doesn't mean that guns are not an issue in this case. Why was a young man, who was known to have a mental illness, allowed to go into a store and purchase an assault rifle? Parenting also comes into play, as many reports have said that his parents were well aware of his gun ownership. Why didn't he get more help from therapists or psychiatrists?
Other advanced countries have heavily regulated gun ownership and significantly lower percentages of gun-related deaths. According to the New York Times, you are as likely to be killed by gun violence as you are a car crash in the United States. "In Germany, being murdered with a gun is as uncommon as being killed by a falling object in the United States." The idea of increased gun control isn't crazy. Our allies in the United Kingdom do not allow citizens to possess guns or semi-automatics but do allow those with good reason to have shotguns and manually-loaded pistols. The hope is not to take away the 2nd Amendment but reduce arguably preventable violence.
My hope for this country is that one day soon, Congress will accept that machine guns and semi-automatic weapons are murder weapons and that the money that comes from the NRA isn't worth the loss of any life. One day, parents will be better equipped with the knowledge to recognize signs of mental health problems and feel support, not shame in getting help for their children. One day, those citizens who fear the government's control over which firearms they can own will understand the reasoning behind being allowed a rifle for hunting deer, not an AR-15 for murdering humans.
