I have written about shootings before on here. And it seems like every time I write about a shooting, I have the same things to say. Or not to say. I am in disbelief about what has happened. I am sad for our country and that a minority of people seem to be in charge of what happens. And I am angry that for some reason, the rights of guns seem to be higher than the rights of people. I don’t know what else I can say about it.
And because of how often mass shootings happen in this country (which is a very sad thing to say to begin with), I don’t write about each one. That doesn’t mean I’m not upset or that I think this is normal. But if I wrote about each one, I might not be writing about anything else. But after what happened this week, I have to write about it.
I am disgusted at what happened in Texas this week. An entire classroom has been killed. Those kids were innocent and were just getting ready to enjoy their summer break. Instead, going to school that day was the last thing they would do in their short lives. And I can’t imagine the grief their families feel. I can’t imagine the guilt some of the parents might feel after dropping their kids off and thinking they would be safe. How could they know what was going to happen that day? And I read that there was an award ceremony earlier in the day so some of the parents got to see their kids receive awards and then later their kids would be dead. It’s just unthinkable.
And every time there is a shooting, it seems like the same things happen right after. Some people will say we should not do anything but grieve the lives that were lost and others will call for action. And I’m someone who is calling for action. If we wait until the grieving process is done, we will have another shooting and nothing will be done. I think so many of us thought something would be done after the shooting at Sandy Hook. But somehow, it seems like it has only gotten worse.
I am not a gun owner. I don’t think there is anything wrong with owning a gun, but I do think that there are some guns that are really not necessary for personal use. If you have a gun for protection or hunting, do you really need something that is used in a war? How many shots do you need in a few seconds to feel protected? But I won’t get into that issue because as someone who doesn’t own guns, I can’t fully understand why someone might have the type of gun they choose. But from my friends who do own guns, I do understand that they, along with a majority of the country, think we need more regulations regarding gun ownership.
If you want to be able to drive a car, which can be a deadly thing, you need to learn how to drive. You have to pass a test. You receive a license to drive and you have to have insurance in case your actions as a driver cause harm to another. And from what I’m hearing from gun owners, they agree that these ideas for guns seem to be a good idea. If you are going to own something that can kill dozens of people, you should know how to use it and how to make sure you keep it safe. If you harm others by accident or on purpose, you should have insurance to pay for the care of those you harm. If you are injured in a shooting, not only do you have to deal with the aftermath and recovery related to that, you may have hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills to deal with once you are recovered. You should be able to make the person responsible for your injuries pay for that. Again, it’s just like having a car.
I know adding these regulations and rules won’t end all gun violence, but it shouldn’t be as easy as it is right now to get a gun. You can get a gun even if you are too young to drink or rent a car. Some states allow people who have a history that makes them a danger to others to buy a gun. If people who want to end abortions are all about preserving life, why aren’t they fighting for the lives that are ended from gun violence? I know they will say it is different, but I don’t see how it is. While I disagree that an embryo is the same as a child if someone believes that how do they think it’s ok for a child in elementary school to die? And I know there is the argument that teachers should be armed or have more guns to protect schools. I don’t know any teacher that wants to have a deadly weapon in their classroom that could accidentally harm a student or that a student could use against them. And the school in Texas had armed police that tried to stop the shooter before he got inside and was able to do the horrible things that he did.
I don’t have the answers to how to fix this other than that something has to be done. We have done this for years and things are only getting worse. And I don’t know how much worse it can get and I don’t want to have to see that. Nobody is saying to take away all the guns, but we need to stop allowing the gun lobby to decide what protections we get and ignore what a majority of the country is begging to have happen.
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