Caution before reading this article. It may challenge your political beliefs and cause you to act irrationally. I don't want that, for I am just a high school kid who has seen far too many despicable acts occur from the barrel of a gun.

Thoughts and Prayers. It's supposed to be a comforting phrase, providing those who have suffered from a horrible tragedy to know that the world around them cares for them and is going to do everything to keep them safe now. Yet, it has come to represent the entire problem with our justice system and the entire government. We are so busy saying that we will keep people safe that we seem to forget that we must actually implement changes in order to ensure that each person is kept responsible for their own actions.

Just this morning, I was watching Trevor Noah speak on the whole issue of gun violence. He said that America for everything else, is united in trying to solve and issue but when it comes to infringing on the constitution right to hold a gun, we seem to be caught up on the idea that this cannot be solved at all. He claims that America puts so much effort in trying to stop other issues and this should be a model for how we can be united as a nation to solve something as controversial as gun violence. It's all about uniting and coming together when we realize that this is a problem that can be solved.

I do not approve of the use of a gun in any situation but I also know that it is a fundamental part of how America was built, so I know that repealing the Second Amendment will only cause more issues. I believe in stricter background checks so we see where the guns are going too. I believe in regulations that will make it harder for people who are clearly unstable or unfit to be owning weapons to have one in their possession. I know that the second amendment allows for people to have guns no matter what, however, this isn't the 18th century anymore. The world is a different place, so much so that people are literally willing to rush a secure Air Force Base to discover intelligence that may not exist.

Different communities obviously have different beliefs about this topic and if living in the 21st century has taught me anything, its that we have to respect other people. However, the causes of these mass violence are not radical Muslims or overseas terrorists; they're homegrown people who see this country as in need of fixing. Those types of beliefs are scary to have because these people lock onto a certain group of people and blame them for the actions of the whole nation, something that is counter productive to the salad bowl analogy that America stands for and represents.

To end this off, I am just a kid who knows that this probably won't be fixed but also sees the change that needs to be made.