I’m sure that everyone has seen the articles going around stating that in the U.S., we have had more mass shootings than we have had days in 2015. Yet, there is still little being done about gun control and the question that we need to be asking is “why?” Why are we still allowing people who should not have access to firearms to own them? Why are we still sitting back and watching these things happen when we should actively be trying to stop it?
For my journalism class this semester, we had to write an article on a topic of our choosing. I chose to focus mine on gun control. It just so happened that the day I presented my topic to my class was the day that a shooting in San Bernardino, California took the lives of fourteen people and wounded 21. When I read about this when my class was over, I was completely in shock of how relevant my topic actually is in our world today.
The fact that our society is still doing little about these issues is astounding. We have politicians still against tightening gun control laws, even though we have had a one or more instances of gun violence every day this year. This is not how our government should be approaching gun control. The goal of this country should be to prevent tragedies, not allow them to continue.
While there is the argument saying that there have actually been only four mass shootings this year, the fact that there has been so much violence due to firearms is reason enough to tighten gun laws. So, why are we not doing everything we can be to prevent horrible things from happening? Why do we mourn for a day, and continue on with our lives and pretend that nothing has happened? Why did it take having more shootings than days of this year to realize that something is very wrong?
Mass shootings should not be our new normal. We should not turn our backs when these tragedies happen. We should be doing everything we can to prevent them. We should be fighting for all the people who have lost their lives because of senseless violence. We should be doing this for the students of Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and Umpqua Community College. For the soldiers at Fort Hood and the civilians of Aurora, Colorado. For the people at Planned Parenthood, those in San Bernardino and every other place that has ever gone through the tragedy of losing their own due to flimsy gun control laws that did not get the attention that they deserved. We should have started taking measures years ago, for everyone who ever lost a loved one in such a barbaric way.
It is up to us to move forward and strengthen our gun control. It is up to us to honor those who have fallen victim. And it should have started years ago, so let’s make it up to them now.
