I’m tired. I’m tired of waking up to find out another person was killed because someone owned a gun who shouldn’t. I’m tired of the fact that a film titled "Bowling for Columbine" was made in 2002, and I can watch it today and still relate to how easily guns can be purchased and how gun violence is treated in America.
December 15, 2012, the day after the Sandy Hook shooting, I protested in front of my Theory of Knowledge class pleading for everyone who sided with the group that wanted to keep all their guns, that something wasn’t right. I had no idea what gun control was or how to stop America’s “gun problem,” but I know that nothing terrified me more than someone using a gun to kill 20 innocent children and the teachers who tried to protect them. I know as an American, the second amendment was the argument people used to keep their guns, but I wanted to know why people like Adam Lanza had access to a semi-assault weapon, and why people were doing everything they could to not fix the problem.
When I got to college, I started to learn more about gun control laws and about the National Rifle Association. Last year, I wrote a 20-page paper on how I believe we can effectively use gun control methods without “taking away your guns” in my American Public Policy class, and if that doesn’t explain my passion for this topic, I don’t know what does.
June 12, 2016, My dad and sister were in Orlando for a softball tournament. I was at my friend’s house waking up from a night of fun on South Beach. We ate breakfast and turned on the news, when we discovered the largest shooting in American History occurred three and a half hours away from where we live. I was livid. So many thoughts were running through my head. My dad and sister were in Orlando. What if the shooter chose a different target? The shooter was in Miami when he found his motive for the killings. My friends and I were out the night he chose to attack. What if that was us?
I’ve waited to write this piece because I wanted to get the facts right before I spoke about a shooting that hit close to home. The 49 people killed and the 53 people injured, were in a place of acceptance, a place where they could be themselves and Omar Mateen took that away from them. What angers me the most is that before any talk about gun control measures were made, there was an emphasis on who the killer was and what he could have been a part of. There was no talk from the Governor on plans of action he would make on preventing this from happening ever again in the State of Florida. The only statement he did make? That immigrants and refugees should think twice before coming to our country.
Omar Mateen was a U.S. citizen, born in Queens, New York. It does not matter if he was a member of ISIS or doing it out of self-hatred for his sexuality. What matters is that a person with his history had access to guns, in a state with one of the most lenient gun control policies. America, it’s time for a change. As evident by the four measures shot down by the Senate, the House’s failed sit-in, and the Speaker of the House’s early recession before gun control could even become a topic of discussion, Congress isn’t going to be the one that does it. Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Libertarian, a majority of America wants gun control measures including even people who own guns. Let’s show people what democracy is really about and show that a politician running for office can have common sense views on gun control and still have our vote. In other words, neuter the power of the NRA to control the political discussion.
