America’s political status is currently that of a toddler throwing a tantrum, to put it lightly. Granted, it hasn’t ever been perfect, but in 2016 it has taken a few big steps back in terms of improvement. There are many flaws that need to be resolved to begin to pacify our childish hysteria. Unfortunately, our world won’t halt just so a room full of people can agree on one thing. Everything still moves on, for better or for worse.
I remember sitting in a science laboratory staring at various vials of liquid bubbling under a Bunsen burner. I had taken the opportunity to conduct an extra science lab during a high school study hall in Amity Regional High School, Connecticut. My teacher had been sitting in front of her computer, dipping apple slices into peanut butter and eating them, eyes glazing as she scrolled. It was close to the end of the year, spring bounding into the early swings of summer. It was perfectly normal. It takes seconds for your life to flip on its head, for something to penetrate your bubble of normality. There had been an audible gasp, and then news came flooding from everywhere. Someone had gone into Sandy Hook Elementary and shot the children inside with a semiautomatic rifle.
The issue of gun control has been discussed ever since. On June 22, 2016, Congress was to vote on a bill that would start the process of gun control. This after the event of the Orlando Pulse shooting. Wednesday morning, John Lewis took the stand to begin the discussion. Instead, he asked his colleagues to join him on the floor. The Democrats stood from their seats and took their positions behind Lewis. John began his speech with the support of his fellow Democrats standing behind him. By the end of the speech, Lewis was requesting a vote of common sense gun control to the house floor.
The Republicans, who control the house cameras, turned all broadcast of the meeting off shortly after stating they would need to consult with each other. The Dems took to social media, filming on their phones and tweeting about the events that were currently happening. Within moments of the cameras being turned off, the house was in disarray. Democrats started shouting “No Bill No Break” standing in front of the house. Dem’s stood and gave rallying speeches about gun violence. Republicans still refused to vote and turn the cameras back on. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tried to reclaim the house at one point, but the Democrats shouted their trending catch phrase over his words. The sit-in lasted 25 hours, ending when congress had to close for the 4th of July break.
The stunt has gone under media fire for the past couple days. It is being considered a “publicity stunt” to raise money for the Pulse victims and to campaign for the Dems. Of all the craziness in politics in the last year, a little bit of high-scale protesting is the kick in the pants congress needs. It isn’t clear if the Dems had an ulterior motive, but they did unify themselves and—like adults—stood in front of those who disagreed with them, and fought back civilly. Congress has never been one to agree on anything unanimously. It’s a miracle that half of the house stood together. It’s that kind of unity that America needs right now—especially with the screeching orange-faced baboon that has been slinging his verbiage around without research or consultation. We can’t keep lying to ourselves, saying that events like Sandy Hook and Pulse won’t happen again if we ignore it.
The announcement of the 20 deaths rocked the state and then flooded the world. It took moments for everyone to pick a side. Protests on protecting our second Amendment rights rivaling those who wanted guns locked down. Pulse was the same, causing everyone to be up-in-arms without any resolution. My only question was this:
If we could let 20 children be killed before they could start their lives, and 49 slaughtered before they could make it past the halfway point, without changing anything about our laws, aren't we all responsible for their deaths? If we can allow people to continually grasp military-grade weapons and gun down innocent Americans--or anyone for that matter--and still have the arrogance to look those who have suffered in the face and say "No Change", then we should be charged the same as the person who committed the act. How many more deaths are an acceptable amount before intervention is needed?
We, the American public, need to stand up and decide together how we should solve these problems. It takes seconds for tragedy to occur, it’s up to us to stop it.
