As I woke up this Sunday morning to get ready for church, I watched an alert flash across my phone.
*50 people killed and 53 injured in Florida nightclub shooting*
I rubbed my heavy eyes and read it again, unsure if my sleepy state was making me see things.
But there it was again, the awful news that over 100 people were dead or injured as a result of some maniac. The details kept flowing in and I tried to make sense of them all.
“Muslim”
“Gun control”
“Radical Islam”
“Gay nightclub”
“Terrorist attack”
“Hate crime”
These were just some of the words that kept popping up all over the news. Facts were being tossed around with fiction and I could barely discern what had actually happened. All that I knew for certain was that a man had entered a gay nightclub in Orlando and killed 49 people, injured 53 others, and made it the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Nothing about race, religion, or motive had been released yet. Only the simple facts had been released.
Just like every other disaster these days, people quickly began pointing fingers.
Initially, rumors circulated that the killer was a radical jihadist. People who believed that was true were immediately condemned as anti-Muslim bigots. Then officials released information about the killer. He was an American but with Afghani heritage and had been on the government’s radar for several years. The government simply had never obtained enough information to warrant an official investigation. So the killer went on with his life and legally obtained guns. The same guns that murdered 50 people.
This tragedy fanned the flames of the already intense gun control debate. An event that should have focused on the lives lost was being turned into political ideology warfare. People were killed. But in a matter of moments, politicians were tweeting about the tragedy and claiming that they held the solution to this problem in their platform. They weren’t comforting the victim’s families. They were campaigning for their own gain.
America needs to step up and make some big changes if we want to continue to thrive as a nation. The current state of affairs is atrocious right now but it is not any one single person’s fault. Our problems lie in the fact that too many people are grouped together without looking at individual cases. “All cops are bad”, “all white people hate blacks”, “all Muslims are terrorists”, “all squirrels have rabies”. You get the idea.
Gun control is not the answer
Before you call me a right-wing nutcase, hear me out. The way guns are purchased in this country needs to be improved. Do you know how difficult it is for someone like me, a small, 21 year-old girl, to get a handgun for defense? It’s practically impossible, never mind that I sometimes work late nights and have to travel alone for work and school. Conversely, some people with a history of mental health can just waltz right through the process and emerge with a gun the same day. As a gun owner, I am 100 percent in support of a mental health check before purchasing a gun. Or if somebody, just like this Orlando killer, is on the government’s radar, they shouldn’t be allowed to obtain a firearm so easily. Just remember, good guys with guns are the only solution to bad guys with guns.
Don’t ban guns
I cannot stress enough how imperative it is that the government does not eradicate the production of or ban gun ownership to U.S. citizens. Not only would that be a violation of the 2nd Amendment, but also that would not stop criminals from obtaining guns. Let’s look at it this way: cocaine isn’t legal, but people still find ways to get a hold of it. Guns would work the same way. They could be made illegal but people will always manage to get their hands on them. Just look at how Prohibition turned out.
Not all Muslims are terrorists
Many people forget this point. Not every single Muslim is a terrorist. In fact, 99 percent of people who practice Islam are peaceful people who just want to live their lives unhindered by others. Unfortunately that 1 percent is creating a terrible reputation for the other 99 percent. You can even compare these statistics to gun owners. Nearly all gun owners are excellent, law-abiding citizens. But that slight minority is tarnishing the reputation of the others. I have lived abroad and even spent time in countries that are Muslim. Not once did I feel unsafe because Muslims surrounded me.
However, we have to look at the facts. ISIS has claimed that they are going to send their members to America who are posing as refugees from Syria. No, that doesn’t mean that all of the refugees are supporting ISIS. The majority of them are just seeking a fresh start in a place safe from persecution. Our government does need to take this threat seriously though. When the most dangerous terrorist organization says they’re going to do something, they are most likely going to do it!
Was the Orlando killer Muslim? Yes. Is he an accurate representation for all Muslims living in the U.S.? No. Are radical jihadists the ones to be concerned about? Yes.
The day after the shooting, thousands of Floridians and people across America lined up at their local blood banks to donate blood for the victim. Some of these people were Muslims. Right now the Islamic faith is celebrating Ramadan, which means that Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Despite that risk, many Muslims still went and donated blood, unconcerned about themselves and focused on helping others. We need more of that type of selflessness in America. If we had more, then maybe Americans wouldn’t be turning against each other.
People who want to kill will still kill
September 11, 2001. What were you doing when you learned that the World Trade Center was under attack? Chances are, you were going about your everyday routine when terrorists flew straight into the World Trade Center. 9/11 was the biggest terrorist attack in the history of the United States. 3,000 people died as a result. And not a single person was killed by a gun. The terrorists hijacked the plane using box cutters and brute force. They were able to use a plane to kill hundreds of people. Should we ban planes next? According to high school classmates of the killer, he jumped up and down when he learned that the World Trade Centers were under attack. You can’t let that kind of insanity go unnoticed.
Take into consideration the Boston Marathon bombings. Two crazed individuals detonated a bomb that was made from a pressure cooker. Does that mean everybody who has a pressure cooker in his or her house is a potential terrorist? I didn’t think so.
If somebody is sick and twisted enough to try and commit mass murder, they will find a way to do so without a gun.
I could continue with these facts and logic but I’ll leave it here. In the wake of the tragic Orlando shooting, we need to come together as a country to mourn and overcome our loss. The focus shouldn’t be on advancing a political agenda or playing the blame game. The shooter was a sick person who had pledged his allegiance to ISIS, not a regular Muslim. He was so offended by the actions of two men kissing that he felt it necessary to murder people. Laws and the government cannot cure that type of bigotry and hatred. The shooter was aware of what he was doing and wouldn’t have stopped at anything. He was the scum of the earth.
Moreover, it is important to remember about the victims from the shooting. They aren’t numbers or statistics; they are people with families that they will never return to. Each and every victim is being mourned and did not deserve to die at the hands of a maniac.
Instead of politicizing the situation, please respect the families of the victims and the members of the LGBQT community during this time.
Blood donation centers are available around the country for you to donate blood to help the victims of the shooting. Visit http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/how-to-help-victims-after-worst-mass-shooting-in-u-s-history/this site on CNN to learn more about ways you can help.
