Well, it's been over a month since the shooting in Vegas. Since then there has been a movement to illegalize the sale of the machinery that can be usedto make a semiautomatic rifle fire at a faster rate, a terrorist attack with the use of a truck, and a shooting in a Texas church by a U.S. citizen.

Thirty-six more people are gone, everyone is more than confused about how to stop attacks if terrorists can use vehicles to kill citizens, and the words "mentally ill" are being thrown around a lot more during the discussions of the shootings that involve our own citizens as the shooters.

At this point, it's understandable to see this phrase as the politicians "get out of jail free card". Every time there is a discussion about a shooter there are two responses; one for each type of shooter. If the shooter is a native then they seem to be marked as "mentally ill" and they argue to strengthen the laws that restrict the mentally ill from possessing a firearm.

Yet, when the shooter is an alien or even of foreign descent the argument made seems to immediately fall under the category of our borders and tightening them so as to stop immigration and halt those coming into our country.

America is very defensive, especially as of late. Whenever something is wrong we look for something that will be a quick and easy fix and push for it to go through as soon as possible. Our eyes glued to the politicians as they spout nonsense with such confidence that we believe that it could fix our problems.

When it comes to those disrespecting our anthem by kneeling in protest Donald Trump's reaction was to go back to his old slogan of "you're fired". There was no thought about the protest and what it was for. Everyone jumped the gun on their kneeling protest about it being disrespectful to the troops and veterans but that wasn't the purpose in the slightest. If they didn't care about the veterans or the troops and they wanted to protest the easiest way would have been to stay seated, wouldn't it?

This act was seen as unconstitutional. This one act allegedly disrespected our flag, our troops, and nearly damned the NFL and their merchandising. It was a form of peaceful protest aimed to gather the attention of millions of people and while it may have accomplished this, it certainly left a different impression than what was intended.

(Ed Yourdon )

It was a protest to bring attention towards the innocent black men who are shot and killed by police officers. In 2016 there were 135 police officers, within the united states, that were killed in the line of duty. In 2017 there have been 836 people killed by the police. While they could have all been criminals about to draw their weapons on the officers and fight to get out of whatever crime they were committing it is highly doubtful.

(Michael Thielen)

There are rules and protocol that every officer has to follow and think about before making the decision to pull the trigger and take those lives. It doesn't matter whether or not the person is black, white, Arabic, man, woman, gay, straight, or trans because it's a matter of seconds and heavy thoughts that go through that officer's mind in the moments before that life is taken.

Something is wrong with our nation, we need to see that and accept it if we truly want to become a great nation. We will not be the great nation we once were but that is only because of how much the world is changing and we can't go back to that anymore. We have to adapt and make new decisions and start looking forward if we want to make the world a better place.

This nation of ours is one where even those meant to protect us are so afraid that they will take the lives of those who are innocent if they make the wrong move. We are living in a constant state of fear. Constantly under the control of it and easily persuaded by those with more power or money that something is being done and that everything will be all right when it may be the exact opposite.

We shouldn't hide behind these political slogans anymore. It really isn't the mentally ill or the immigrants that are destroying us. we are tearing ourselves apart. We make the problem about something else, divert our attention away from the problem. We make it about the people and their homes and lives and everything that led up to them picking up the gun and going out to take lives. Yet, if it really is the people that are the problem then why are we handing them the tools they need in order to take lives?

The truth really isn't about the legality of it all. If someone wants to kill people then that's it. They're going to kill people. Whether it's with a gun or not they will. Whether guns are legal to own or not they could have one. Whether cars are self-driven or if we have the steering wheel. People will find a way to take lives.

People are killed every day. Shot down and don't even break the news beyond the county they live in and if it does then most people ignore it. It happens so much that if its less than 10 people then no one really cares. These numbers add up after a while though and we're all responsible in one way or another. Are all of these lives really the price you're willing to pay for the right to own a firearm?