The words "mass shooting" linger in school hallways, movie theaters and night clubs. They creep their way down to the Oval Office late at night to wake the President. "Mass shooting" is up early in the morning to be on the 6 a.m news. "Mass shooting" is even kind enough to knock on your door and remind you that it can happen to anyone.
"Mass shooting" has a couple partners. One is usually a radically religious, mentally unstable male and the second partner, without fail, is a smoking gun. This trio has combined for 475 deaths in the year of 2015. Now that number may change depending on what a mass shooting is defined as but that number is pretty consistent across the board. The gun of choice has been labeled as the assault rifle, although the brand and model has differed, the type of gun has been consistent. Thrown into the mix has been the classic 9mm, which is the most common carried gun by our own ones who serve and protect.
"Mass shooting" is the new ringtone to America’s cellphone. Is it just me or am I the only one who really hates the new sound? I am sick of hearing the words of the news reporters, the apologies of the President and the tears of the families. The bullets fired out of the guns are penetrating the victims, ripping through the loved ones and lodging their way into our history books. We are shooting our way into record holding positions. The U.S. is topping the charts for mass shootings across the world. That is something our Founding Fathers, who created the 2nd amendment, had no intention of.
Our 2nd amendment states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." This was written into law in 1791, 225 years ago from today. Contrary to popular belief, things have changed since then, things as in guns, society and simply the way of life.
We live in a world in which you either adapt or die. So we have changed our ways, made more efficient guns, bigger guns and more powerful guns. We decided that more training was necessary, the qualifications had to be greater, and the overall user had to be better. What we forgot to change were the rules regarding the rights to ownership and the laws on how we can attain guns. It’s pretty sad to see a country not be able to come together on such a serious issue. This issue should not be a political one it should be one for humanity.
If we do not come together on this problem that sits within our country's borders then there will be no country left. These guns are a defense mechanism; they are supposed to provide safety to our country. The only safety they are providing are for the ISIS members who chose to be maniacs on a consistent basis. ISIS does not discriminate, unlike the majority of America. They do not care if you are white, black, Christian or even Muslim, they will terrorize any group of people that is not them. It’s not just ISIS, people everyday are taking advantage of our out-of-date gun laws.
There are 310,000,000 civilian firearms available to the public. The number of citizens able to buy one of those guns is 247,813,910. That means there is well over one gun for every American citizen. Also, the number of firearms available is only counting the legal ones. That fact is asking for a mass shooting to happen. The chances of a gun ending up in a mentally unstable individual or a person filled with hate is extremely high. But it’s not just the chances of a mass shooting, it’s the chances of individual shootings. Gangs, cliques, and everyday Americans have unlimited access to military grade weapons and ammo. Let’s be honest here, what citizen of this first world country needs an AR-15 with an extended magazine. A man with that much fire power could take out a small militia or even a night club. Oh wait, that has already happened. If you are hunting with an AK-47 because it’s necessary to your hunting trip then maybe you need to learn how to shoot a gun.
Nowhere in the 2nd amendment does it say that the American citizen has the right to any type of gun. The law that was written in our society states that any American may have the right to bear arms. But which arms is up for discussion. No politician is trying to ban all guns. That’s not the settlement the concerned Americans are trying to attain. We are looking for a reform, there has to be a compromise because I don’t care how much anyone love guns, watching people consistently being shot down in our cities week after week has to be too much for any American. This is not our country, this not what the American people stand for.
Last week our President stood on stage, with tears running down his face, hopefully giving one of his last mass shooting apologies. But why should he have to continually apologize, he gave it his all. He was determined to regulate the guns and he couldn't. I bet that’s what keeps him up at night, the fact that he has led a country through thick and thin but on his last rodeo he couldn't wrangle this issue. We are lucky enough to be led by such a revered man who holds himself to the highest standards. President Obama was affected by every child, by every high schooler, by every college student who lost their life to a bullet fired from a gun. We may never have a Commander-in-Chief again who takes such culpability for actions that were not even his own. But every man is guilty of the good he does not do. He feels guilty for these deaths that have occurred on our soil because we are the land of the free and home of the brave. As of late, we are land of the ignorants and home of the cowards. With our current guns laws every child and adult will have the right to overly powered guns, with bullets too explosive, and clips of ammunition too long. Lets not forget the original saying is every child and adult in this country has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. One of these has to go, let's just hope we choose the right one.
