On October 1st, 2017, another senseless tragedy due to gun violence occurred; however, it wasn’t just another shooting. It has been named as the largest modern-day mass shooting in American history, which is a phrase I have heard way too many times in reference to way too many different tragedies in my eighteen years of living. Gun violence is increasingly becoming more and more deadly but also more common. Why? Because there are not enough regulations to prevent people who should not have guns from getting them.
Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash
But why are we not learning from our mistakes? What more will it take? Were the deaths of innocent school children in Sandy Hook not enough to make people want to make a difference? What about the innocent people who only wanted to watch a Batman movie? Or even the African American churchgoers who welcomed their killer into their doors with welcome arms? Why is it that instead of trying to make it more difficult for terrorists to get deadly weapons, the current administration would rather make it more difficult for women to get birth control? Is it really more important to protect the second amendment than to protect the reproductive rights of women?
There are senseless deaths every day, with victims being promised nothing but prayers, yet no change. When politicians vote to make it easier for people to obtain guns, then tweet about sending prayers to the victims, it is almost as if they are saying, “I’m sorry that this keeps happening but I don’t care enough to take the initiative to change it.” I am not saying that people should not have access to guns at all. I believe that responsible, mentally stable people should be able to buy reasonable guns in order to protect their families; however, regardless of whether the Las Vegas shooter had a history or not, he should not have been able to obtain so many guns nor should he have been able to obtain the materials necessary to turn his gun into an automatic weapon. That type of weaponry is not used for self defense, it is used to wipe off large masses of people in as little time as possible, which is exactly what he used it for. Unless someone is trying to protect themselves from an army taking over their house, I cannot see why anyone would believe it is logical that anyone would need to have automatic weapons in their home for “protection.”
Photo by Ihtesham Ismail on Unsplash
But I guess I’m not focusing on what is truly important. How can I even think of gun control when there are much bigger issues going on? How foolish of me to think that the murder of thousands of innocent people is an issue when there are athletes kneeling during the national anthem in protest of the murders of innocent people? Obviously, they’re the biggest problem this country is facing… why else would President Trump post so much about them on social media?
While I know that realistically it will take a great amount of effort to stop the violence, it appears as though there are no efforts being made in order to prevent this from continuing to happen time after time. What will it take for efforts to be made in order to prevent more senseless tragedies like these from happening?