I have had intentions on elaborating my opinion in the conversation of gun violence for awhile now.

Before I begin, let me pose a question: is it possible to live with human rights and gun rights? Yes, we have had them for years. But we don’t have to pry guns from the hands of all Americans. Instead we can root humanity in hearts that grow weeds.

America was born with the right to bear arms.

We were born with the right to live, and we were born with the power to fight, so let us all fight. Not with guns or the personal dissection of those against them, but with daisies stretching from our throats and arms long enough to carry the world. We are all we have.

You are against gun violence and you are against anti-gun protest, but what are you for?

You pick apart each other’s voices; they are only trying to speak. I suppose the only positivity in this situation is that we can all agree that there is a problem, but now, we are simply creating more. Some people say that sending our children into classrooms is like sending them to war, but if we don’t stop blaming each other, we will be waving ourselves into battle. Pointing fingers feels so much like aiming guns. Stop using each other as target practice.

On 9/11, we blamed terrorists; not the planes they hijacked.

Khalid al-Mihdhar and Mohamed Atta were trained how to pilot a plane by our people. Essentially, we cultivated terrorists in America’s womb. The United States is a melting pot, so don’t focus on what we use to cook. Look at our ingredients. The gun never pulls its trigger; only the corrupt hands that hold it.

At the same time, I can understand the anger towards guns.

School shootings are only called “school shootings” because someone gets shot with a gun. The second amendment gave us the right to bear arms. It is not our government’s fault that immoral people are utilizing it to fulfill their own malicious agendas. However, if our liberating rights are being taken advantage of, that is an issue that calls to be dealt with. I do not believe that guns should be taken away from American hands; I am saying that they need to be put into the right hands. Unfortunately, that does not apply to everyone in our country.

On May 18 at Santa Fe High School, 10 loved ones did not make it home to their families.

I hate that I have to write about this, but most of all, I hate how accustomed we have come to this problem. Rape broke out as an issue and kidnapping and sex slavery and terroristic bombings— all things that initially shook us to the core. Now we have grown numb to seeing it on the news. All of it. I don’t know what terrifies me more: walking into school or stepping into the future.

It is so easy to to place the guilt onto one single thing, but the truth of the matter is that life is not always black and white.

There is more than one cause to this issue; more than one culprit: diagnosed mental health issues, bullying, easy access to guns, racism— so many possibilities. Political parties are too proud to admit that the other side is right, even just a little bit. If we continue with this ill notion and desire for pride, I fear children won’t be the only corpses in a body bag.

Will Uncle Sam be next?