On September 28, CNN reported that a teenager had opened fire at the Townville Elementary School playground in South Carolina, and wounded two students and one teacher. One of those students, first-grader Jacob Hall, had to be put on life support and has died from a brain injury stemming from blood loss. Before the shooter got to Townville Elementary School, he shot and killed his father.
I don't know what to say. I am the kind of person who always has so much to say, yet I am at a loss for words.
Can we all agree that this needs to stop?
Now, there are mixed reports on how many school shootings there have been since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The main source for statistics on school shootings comes from EveryTownResearch.org, and for their study, they kept track of every time there was gunfire on a school campus - that means intentional, fatal, non-fatal, accidental, and suicidal gunfire.
Regardless of how many intentional, fatal shootings there have been, we should have agreed after the first one that one school shooting is one too many.
We have to agree that something needs to be done. We need to stop sweeping the discussion under the rug. We need to stop only sending thoughts and prayers, and take action.
Sending our thoughts and prayers to the families and victims of shootings isn't wrong. Sometimes, in moments of shock, it's all you can do. Saying "I'll pray for you" or "I'll keep you in my thoughts" is all you can offer.
However, sending thoughts and prayers shouldn't be the only thing we do. When we can do more, we need to do more. And when it comes to shootings, there are steps we can take.
We need to start with keeping the discussion going. We can't have the debate sparked because there's been another shooting, then have it go silent after a week because the incident is no longer fresh in our minds. That doesn't create change, it just creates three-day internet debates that lead nowhere.
I have a lot of opinions on the gun debate, but my main belief is that there needs to be better gun regulations. I don't think anyone deemed mentally unfit should have access to a gun, I don't think children should in any way be able to get their hands on a gun, and I certainly don't believe that the average citizen needs access to any assault-style weapon.
The majority of mass shootings have involved an assault-style weapon; in fact, since July of 2015, in seven out of eight mass shootings, an assault style weapon was used. I don't think it's unreasonable to come to an agreement that those types of weapons should be prohibited.
Nevertheless, change needs to happen. We need to work to prevent school shootings and mass shootings. Whether you are for or against gun control, you have to agree that we cannot have another school shooting. That we cannot have another shooting. That we cannot have any more victims.
How many more school shootings must there be before everyone agrees that something needs to be done? How many more shootings must there be before something changes?
