CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of Gun Violence

The United States of America has a major gun problem. If this is news to you, I would advise you to proceed with caution, knowing that your confirmation biases will actively resist what I’m trying to say. It shouldn’t come as a shock that when a nation has more guns in it than people that someone is inevitably going to stir the pot. Ideally, anything this tragic and heinous would be incredibly shocking and absolutely appalling, but in America, it’s a sad fact of life. It’s such a crisis that having 200 separate mass shootings in less than 5 months is only barely seen as cause for alarm. 

This isn’t a new phenomenon, either. Columbine was the first and the most shocking. Sandy Hook was similarly devastating. Then came Parkland, which from its tragedy spawned a groundswell of concerned students and parents alike. In an ideal world, this would’ve been the end of it. Ideally, policymakers would’ve listened to even some of this movement’s demands for reform, and follow in the footsteps of every other country that’s experienced this kind of pain. Heck, this should’ve been done after Columbine. Instead, this grassroots movement, after Sandy Hook and Parkland alike, was merely offered thoughts and prayers. This has been the pattern after every mass shooting for more than five years running, all while the body count grows ever higher. In short, it was the metaphorical canary in a coal mine.

It’s not just in schools, either. From a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip to a nightclub in the heart of Orlando, and from a church in Texas to a supermarket in Buffalo, nowhere is truly safe from the ravages of gun violence. It’s not just an American tragedy, it’s an American travesty. Our Declaration of Independence lists rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every time a mass shooting happens, all three of these rights are routinely violated. Lives are lost, and with them, their individual liberties die, too. These people are also engaged in everyday activities most of us wouldn’t normally see any risk to, such as shopping, worshipping, or partaking in music and culture. If these activities can’t be carried out safely, how can anyone pursue happiness at all? 

This situation may seem incredibly dire, and it is, but there are solutions that can be enacted. The first of these solutions has already been enacted, in fact, but the law that was that solution expired back in 2004. You see, America once had a ban on assault weapons, a type of semi-automatic firearm used in most mass shootings. It was passed in 1994, and also banned magazines with a capacity of 10 rounds or more. As a result, Democrats and gun control advocates are suggesting a return to this law. Yes, this law did little to reduce gun violence overall, and was part of a broader crime bill that aged like milk, but in combination with other measures, mass shootings could become far less frequent if this law returns.

If there’s anything to take from the Uvalde tragedy, as well as Buffalo and many other tragedies, it’s that the ‘good guy with a gun’ idea touted by the NRA is merely false security. It’s a matter of fact that more guns and more bullets will lead to more chaos and more casualties. In fact, it is worth looking at how the ‘good guy with the gun’ fared in Parkland, Buffalo, and Uvalde. In Parkland, the officer tasked with stopping the gunman ran away and hid in his car. In Buffalo, the shop had one security guard protecting an entire community that he personally knew, and he was fatally shot by the gunman. In Uvalde, the cops seemed completely frozen in place. Their complete and total inaction resulted in mass death, even to the point where the cops could’ve unlocked the door to one classroom much earlier on and saved several lives.

What does all this have to do with the NRA, though? Simply put, our politicians’ stances and funding must be put under the microscope. What has been found is that most Republican politicians take significant donations from the NRA every year. In this shameful display, the vast majority only offer “thoughts and prayers” after every mass shooting. They don’t care that the interpretation of the Second Amendement that allows this to happen has only existed since the Reagan years. They don’t care about actually preventing future massacres because of literal blood money. They don’t care about anyone, including children, as anything but a potential vote to give them more power. 

Right now, American children across the country are soldiers in the war against gun violence, being trained to survive in a war-torn country. This war is an entirely preventable war of the nation’s own making, all because the politicians are addicted to their money. Government officials in democracies like ours are supposed to be elected by the people. In no way should that right ever be limited, in this case to those with obscene amounts of money and influence. Once that right goes, all others follow. All the guns in the world won’t be enough to stop any potential tyranny then. All I ask is this: When is enough enough?