According to cnn.com, on October 1, 2017, the United States witnessed its worst mass shooting in history. The fateful event occurred in Las Vegas, at a Jason Aldean concert on Sunday night. A man shot at the crowd from his hotel room, which was on the 32nd floor of the building. he broke through his window, pulled out his rifle, and started shooting for approximately nine minutes. he killed 59 people and injured more than 500. He killed himself before SWAT could enter his hotel room.
Where we stand
How many times will shootings keep happening before people start opening their eyes and looking at the destruction it has caused this country?
Yes, it is your 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, which I support. By all means, you have the right to protect yourself. However, you can protect yourself with a handgun. There’s no need to buy semi-automatic weapons used in war by the American military. What possible use could a semi-automatic weapon have? There have been 521 shootings in the past 477 days. That’s more than 1 shooting a day.
We need to put things in perspective. What if it was your child that didn’t come home from Columbine or Sandy Hook? What if it was your mother, or sister, or brother, who didn’t make it back home from a concert? What if their birthday also marked the anniversary of their death? These are all horrifying thoughts to think of, but they are a reality for so many people whose children and family have been slaughtered.
The line should have been drawn when children started dying at the hands of guns. Innocent elementary schoolers lost their lives because people didn’t want to enforce background checks. There comes a point where one has to think and weigh the pros and cons because your decision can decide if another person lives or dies. Each person in this country has a voice and we are a divided nation.
Haven’t we had enough?
Innocent people are losing their lives because we refuse to compromise on our 2nd Amendment right. The rest of the world is mourning for America right now. We are so blinded by bipartisan relationships that we don’t realize that while we’re out here arguing about politics, helpless people are getting murdered.
Why can’t we compromise if we can save lives?
Every time a shooting occurs there’s always talk about gun control, but does it ever go through? We have had multiple filibusters and protests to control gun sales, not ban them outright. But no matter what people do, it gets struck down because we’re so invested in ourselves. Put yourself in the shoes of those who lost their loved ones on Sunday and every shooting before that. While we mourn for the victims, can we Finally start getting strict about Gun Control?
These shootings could have been prevented. How many shootings has the UK had? How many shootings has Australia had? The lives of their citizens are important to them. Hence, they have stricter gun laws.
Are our citizens lives not important enough for us to even compromise a little bit on our rights? Have we lost our humanity? When we let children die, we let our conscience die with them.
What happens next?
We all know how this goes. What happens next? Nothing happens. We talk about gun control for a while, then it becomes a memory that gets mixed in with all the other shootings. We as a people have so much blood on our hands. We could have done something the first time it happened, or the second time, or the third time, or the hundredth time. The question is: Why haven't we done anything to stop these ruthless murders?
