Time and time again, our country has watched innocent victims get killed by hateful people with guns. Hateful people who were able to easily obtain their weapon of choice. Each time we see these killings on the news, we mourn. We vow that this shooting will be the last. We pray for the families and friends of those killed. We add banners to our profile pictures to show our respect and solidarity. We say we are finally drawing the line when we see the senseless killings of first graders, but we've said this before. We repeat ourselves because nothing has changed. Time and time again, we watch with horror as this cycle repeats itself. We are left feeling hopeless and scared.
Mass shootings have become something of a norm in the United States. While we continue to accept the lax distribution of assault rifles in this country, we can expect to see more mass shootings. In my 18 years on this Earth, I have lived through countless mass shootings. As I grew up and witnessed these killings, I learned that no place is truly safe. They occur in all states, they occur in all places, including movie theaters, concerts, nightclubs, and schools. But these killings are preventable, something proved by numerous countries. For example, in Australia, there has not been a single mass shooting since 1996, a year before I was born. That’s right, there have been more mass shootings in the past week than there have been in Australia for the past 19 years.
How did Australia prevent the mass shootings that have become almost inevitable in our country? What is this secret solution that they have uncovered, which our country cannot seem to figure out? Unsurprisingly, for Australia, the answer was gun control. In 1996, Australia experiences its worst mass shooting. The Port Arthur massacre, a shooting in which 35 people were murdered by a 28-year-old with a semi-automatic rifle, occurred in April of 1996. A mere 12 days after the massacre, the Australian government introduced the National Firearms Agreement, legislation that outlawed pump-action shotguns as well as automatic and semi-automatic rifles.
All Australia did be say “no more” to these mass killings, something that our government has failed to do despite the frequency of our mass shootings. In Australia, the government’s attempt to squash mass shootings was successful, but guns were not outlawed altogether. The Australian government simply cracked down on the sale of the same style of gun that has becomes favored by mass killers in the U.S. The Orlando shooter, who killed 49 people, used an assault-style gun. So did the San Bernardino killer, who took 14 lives. This is also true for the Aurora shooter, who killed 12, and the Newtown shooter, who killed 28.
After I heard the news of the June 12 Orlando shooting, I felt sick. This was an all-too-familiar feeling, this pit in my stomach. Every time I had heard news like this before; after San Bernardino, Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech; I felt afraid and utterly helpless. However, while the government cannot seem to come to a solution that can prevent this pain and suffering in the future, I wondered what I could do besides just feel empathy for those were directly affected by the shooting.
I know that empathy alone is essentially worthless in preventing these types of tragedies from occurring in the future. While I’m frustrated that I can’t just snap my fingers and make background checks become legally required, I found some things that I can do to avoid remaining complacent and essentially accepting the normalcy of these horrific events. Here are a few small ways for a young person in favor of gun control to make their voice heard:
This website allows people to easily tweet/call their congressperson and pressure them to take steps to end gun violence. Sample tweets read “@YourCongressPerson Thanks to a loophole, suspected terrorists can legally buy guns in US. Close it now” and “Every day, 91 Americans are killed by gun violence. @YourCongressPerson, we demand you pass common-sense gun laws.”
2. http://www.contactingthecongress.org
This website allows people to easily locate their congresspeople while providing email addresses that make it easy for typical citizens to get in contact with those who have influence over gun control legislation.
3. While signing petitions will not by any means guarantee change, it is one way to be heard in a time where many people feel helpless and small. This petition advocates banning assault weapons and instating common-sense gun reform.
Though I am young, I am already fed up with what seems like the inevitability of mass shootings. Making assault weapons less accessible to suspected terrorists and people who have been convicted of hate crimes seems like a good start in curbing the amount of mass shootings that take place in this country. Similarly, it seems logical to take steps to make purchasing a gun online more tedious than ordering a Snuggie.
Instead of just hoping that the government steps up to protect its citizens, I want to make my voice heard as much as possible. While it may be naive, I believe that if enough people come together, it will be possible to make some kind of difference. While I will continue to pray, donate and hope that our government wakes the hell up like Australia's did in 1996, I will continue to do whatever I can to end this vicious cycle and spur the change necessary to save innocent lives.
