The lights flashed. The music blared. The dance floor shook. Saturday night began like any other night at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub as members of Florida's LGBTQ community gathered to share in laughter, drinks, and pride. The club was packed with roughly 300 people, none of whom knew that tragedy was about to strike. Not a single soul in Pulse could have predicted that come 2 a.m., the popular nightclub would become the site of the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States.
On June 12, 2016, Orlando, Florida fell victim to a horrific tragedy at the hands of a shooter named Omar Mateen. With both a hand gun and an assault rifle in his possession, the 29-year-old shooter opened fire on Pulse Nightclub during the early hours of Sunday morning. According to law enforcement officials, Mateen called 911 to pledge his allegiance to ISIS, but the connection between the shooter and the terrorist organization is still under investigation.
The mass shooting sent shockwaves through not only the United States, but the entire global community. 50 people lost their lives, while even more received life-threatening injuries. Hundreds of bystanders were traumatized by what they saw. Thousands of people lost loved ones in a matter of seconds. Millions of people were left in a state of despair, wondering how such evil could exist.
Officials declared the shooting to be not only a hate crime toward the LGBTQ community, but also an act of terrorism toward the United States. But aside from being an act of hate and terror, the Orlando Massacre also sheds light on our nation's inability to regulate the sale of firearms.
Reflecting on the tragic loss of life, President Barack Obama added that the shooting serves as, "...a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or in a movie theater, or in a nightclub." These words speak volumes about the longstanding argument for improving gun control in the United States, but words are just words until they are backed by action.
We live in a nation where to live in peace and safety has become an unrealistic expectation. Armed attacks have become the norm in the United States, and will continue to increase in severity until changes are made. Our country has seen children get shot to death in the comfort of their own classroom, moviegoers killed in a theater, and many other mass shootings.
When will we learn?
Why do these tragedies still happen?
Every mass shooting is unique in its victims, shooter, and circumstances, but in a larger sense, they are all a product of the same core problem. A lack of gun control poses a huge threat to life in the United States, but despite the fact that people continue to die from gunshots, the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) lives on. How can we stand by and accept the fact that our nation is placing the merit of the Second Amendment over the lives of living, breathing human beings? Why do we live in a nation where dangerous people can get their hands on deadly weapons?
Officials claim that Omar Mateen purchased both of his deadly guns in recent weeks. If laws about gun control are not improved and enhanced, the United States will remain stuck in a vicious cycle of mass shootings. In theory, the right to carry a gun to "protect oneself" makes sense, but when guns become tools that dangerous people can purchase to commit acts of murder, the right to bear arms loses its merit. The right to live is simply more important.
R.I.P. to all victims of the Orlando Massacre.
