"Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the Orlando shooting." So many times this phrase was uttered in the past week. On June 12 at approximately 2 a.m., a lone gunman, Omar Mateen, opened fire at the Pulse nightclub and killed 49 people and injured 53 more.
The world for me stopped revolving for a second. In a matter of two days, we saw gun violence on Christina Grimmie and to the people of Orlando. The even sadder part was I am sure there was much more. The world we live in today is dangerous, whether it be terrorism, guns or just plain fear of the country we live in. Nothing else could enter my mind as I began to think about all of those victims in Orlando. As I sat back and took it all in for the week, I witnessed the rest of the world quick to jump on to the event. Within a day it turned into political arguments and anger. There was no hesitation to allow the world to mourn, only political outcry. All I could think was about how hard it must be for the families, they must have to avoid the news, Facebook or really any social media outlet, because of how their loved ones are used as political ragdolls to progress a point. Now, I don't mean to criticize everyone on this, a political discussion is needed at this time, but it seems so many do not consider the victims in the least bit. Many arguments have been thrown out in support of guns, and against terrorism, but many do not take into consideration the very complicated matter this has become.
One of the many arguments I hear day in and day out about the Orlando shooting, and really any shooting for that matter, is, "If they had guns none of this would have happened." This is outrageous to think, because while you may have stopped the amount of people killed, there still would have been people killed. Someone would have been killed before anyone could react to stop the shooter. The argument seems to be, "we all should have had a gun." But who thinks to bring a gun to a nightclub where you are going to be dancing all night. I understand the argument that if we all had guns there would be less violence, but I do not believe that to be true. Terror always finds a way; if we all have guns, then we will see more bombings. This isn't such a cut and dry issue. It is sad to think that today in America, you see people murdered, and the first thought is to buy that murder weapon. What kind of sick world do we live in? And I am not one to jump on the banning guns wagon, I own a shotgun for hunting myself, I grew up on a farm, but maybe I was just raised different, because when I heard about the Orlando shooting my first thought was one of sadness and despair, not one of, "How much does an AR-15 cost."
Another argument that I have seen often is about how this isn't the most deadly shooting. There have been worst acts committed upon Native Americans and African Americans using guns. Now, I am not claiming these are false, because that is true. Many minority groups have been killed off by the act of gun violence, but what did that fix by bringing that up? It seems you are trying to take the spotlight of the victims killed. There may be more victims killed in a different act, but the point doesn't really change anything for the better; at most it changes how reporters talk about it. The fact is 49 people were still brutally murdered all at once. This has nothing to do with what was worse, because that won't change anything. Let's leave this issues alone, because to the victims, all 102 of them, it makes no difference at all.
As you can see, the arguments are flying back and forth. But it seems to me that nobody is focusing on true change. How many people have written a letter to their Congressman? How many people have donated to help their cause? I am sure some of you have, but think the large majority of people haven't. For them, this is just another day in America; this is just another day in today's world. We are sad, we change our profile picture, a national monument is lit up in colors honoring the victims, we argue on Facebook, and in a week or two it is all forgotten and we move on, because there will be yet another tragedy that has happened.
In Obama's time in the White House, he has had 12 state dinners, but 16 mass shooting speeches. Think about that; we live in a world where being president is more about waiting for a tragedy to happen again then being a political representative of our country. With all of this we see a split congress. One suggesting this is a gun issue, and another a terrorism issue. Trevor Noah put it wonderfully when he said, "This is a terrorism issue and a gun issue." We need to stop polarizing each other and come together on an issue. It's just weird to think that after a person kills 49 people, instead of coming together to fight against that person and their ideals, we fight each other. We spend more time hating each other than fixing the problem. Hasan Minhaj, at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner Thursday, criticized Congress for not even willing to have the discussion of gun control. He gave credit to the fact that people don't want it, but Congress in favor of guns, has stopped the CDC from conducting any tests and studies on gun-related violence. Below is Hasan on the issue:
Why must we fight? Why must we hate? It seems the U.S. has chosen what kind of world we live in. When tragedy happens, we wait for the next one -- why do something about it when you hate so much. When we fight and hate, terrorism wins, and sadly we have been losing this game for far too long, because we do exactly what terrorism is meant to accomplish, ripping apart a nation. We do not have much action. "Thoughts and prayers" are all people are willing to offer. We live in a country where you can be killed for going to a club to dance, deciding the you wanted to be educated at a university, going to see a movie, and for being a child at an elementary school. Our country has to decide if that's the kind of place it wants to be. Sure your assault rifle is fun to own, but is your fun worth 49 lives -- is your fun worth one life? The answer is no. When will be a country that has more to offer than just thoughts and prayers, and when will we be a country that is willing to talk? Today, we are not that country, because we are to busy fighting each other to focus on anything else.
