Remember Sandy Hook? Of course you do. It was one of the most horrific school shootings that ever happened in our nation. But here’s the thing: there have been over 80 school shootings since Sandy Hook. After EIGHTY school shootings, you would think that at least some gun laws would have changed. But here’s the thing: not one gun law has been changed since Sandy Hook.
“But what about our second amendment rights?” We hear this over and over again. This is tricky, because Americans technically do have the right to arm themselves, but it’s not exactly consistent throughout the country. For instance, it’s probably not hard to believe that someone in Texas is more likely to want to preserve their right to arm themselves than somebody in Washington. In Texas, it’s normal to carry a gun. In Washington, it isn’t. Speaking of Washington, there was just a school shooting there. That’s right, a state in which carrying a gun is not considered common was just home to a major high school shooting. The United States is literally the only developed country in the world where this kind of thing happens, and happens often. It’s to the point where we’re not even really surprised when we hear about another school shooting.
This is a problem on college campuses, too. I’m sure we all remember the shooting at UCSB. That one scared the living daylights out of me because it hit so close to home being that I personally know a lot of people who go there. UCSB’s was not the first college campus shooting, and unless something is done soon, it won’t be the last. There’s something about American culture that has desensitized us to gun violence. Of course, gun control won’t cure the nation from public shootings, but in the words of Washington native, Macklemore, “It’s a damn good place to start.”