It's been a little over a week since the deadly massacre at Orlando gay club Pulse, but the effects will be forever lasting. Forty-nine innocent people fell victim. This whole ordeal has people on both sides and in between speculating. Was it an attack on the gay community? Was it a terrorist-fueled attack? There is no doubt that this was a horrible situation and I feel for the victims involved, but everyone seems to be focusing on the wrong issue here.
In almost every article I have read on the shooting, a big focus of the article is on the gun. What does this mean for our Second Amendment rights? Do we need stricter gun-control laws? Now I am not going to give you an answer because I don't even know myself.
But what I do know is that 49 innocent people were murdered; 49 lives lost in the blink of an eye. Those people were brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and partners, but now they are gone. Never will they go back to their families and loved ones because of the violent acts of one person. However, many people have lost sight of this because they are too busy focusing on the gun and on themselves.
People on the right are afraid that President Obama is going to take away their guns, therefore, taking away their Second Amendment rights. On the left, many people feel that everyone being gun-free is the way to go. Are either of these right? No, but we do need to do something. The Sandy Hook shooting, the Charleston church shooting and now the Orlando club shooting -- there have been far too many deadly shootings in the past few years, and it makes me scared of what's to come.
Why are we so focused on the gun rather than the hundreds of lives lost in these shootings? I do believe that we need gun-control reform, but I do not believe that means taking away all guns. Stricter gun-control regulation should not, cannot and is not the only way we can stop people from committing violent crimes.
Too many people are only concerned about themselves. What about MY rights? What about the rights of the 49 people that are dead? They won't get the opportunity to enjoy life because of someone else's violent act. Does E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one) mean anything anymore? We are so divided on too many issues, we don't accomplish anything. Rather than constantly fighting about gun control, if the Republicans and Democrats could actually compromise instead of being completely stubborn in their ways, we maybe could have prevented a tragedy like this.
Arguing doesn't bring change. Compromise does. And until both parties can see that, we may see more attacks like Orlando. Work together, solve problems, compromise and maybe we can become one nation again.
