I’m sick of going on the internet and hearing that another group of people has died because of a mass shooting.

It’s heartbreaking to know that there’s so much that we can do, but many grown adults somehow find it easier to pretend that there isn’t a problem.

I don’t want to think about my little brother sitting under a desk in his classroom, fearing for his life. I don’t want to imagine the horror he would go through if there was an active shooter on his campus at some point in the next few years. This wasn’t a constant fear when I was a kid. It’s only the 14^th week of 2018, and there have been 17 shootings on school campuses. Something needs to be done.

I went to the March for our Lives in Detroit a few weeks ago. It was almost completely organized by high school students. Children are standing up and demanding a change. They’re begging for the right to feel safe at the school like generations did before them.

6 minutes and 20 seconds. That’s how long it took the shooter in Parkland, FL to kill 17 people and injure 16 more. Do you want to know something interesting? He obtained the gun perfectly legally, as most shooters have done in recent years. In the United States, it’s perfectly legal to buy an AR-15 at only 18 years old, but you have to be 21 to buy a handgun. I don’t even care about the age. There is a very small background check process when it comes to buying a gun. When I wanted a car, I had to take a class, pass a written and a skills test, and purchase insurance in case of an accident. Why can’t we have that same process for people who want to purchase guns?

I don’t want to hear anyone getting defensive, citing the second amendment. I honestly do not care why you think you deserve to own an assault rifle. Do you know why? Because some things matter more, like a child’s right to grow up, a parent’s right to send their child to a safe place every day of the week and expect them to come home alive, a young adult’s right to move to college in a brand new city and expect to come home and see their parents again.

A person’s right to live is worth so much more than your “right” to own an assault rifle. I am sick of having to mentally prepare for a potential active shooter situation every time on sitting on my school campus, going to church, or stepping into any public area.

I’m a Christian and a strong believer in the power of prayer, however, I know that thoughts and prayers aren’t going to keep our kids alive. We need change. We need gun control, and I will not stop advocating for it until something is done to keep our kids alive.