The date is February 14, 2018. In Parkland, Florida, a young man opens fire upon Stoneman Douglas High School. There were 17 victims of the shooting, some students, some teachers. Some victims of the shooting were not even shot, with injuries to the mind such as survivor’s guilt or PTSD. Two previous students of the school during the shooting committed suicide after the fact, both due to these causes. The suspect of the shooting was a 19-year-old man named Nickolas Cruz, an expelled student of the school. 

The causes of the shooting could be related to the loss of his foster parents a year or two before, to him being expelled, but in the end there was not much of a difference. What was most discussed was not the act of the shooting, but the tool that was used to carry out this act. The weapon that was used was an AR-15 Semi-Automatic Rifle. Cruz activated a fire alarm to force students and kids out of their classroom, then proceeded to begin his unspeakable act. Police reports explain that Cruz used a ‘bump stock’. Courtesy of The New York Times, “A ‘bump stock’ replaces a rifle’s standard stock, which is the part held against the shoulder. It frees the weapon to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the energy from the kickback shooters feel when the weapon fires.” So, people began to question (especially residents of Florida at the time): how did this young boy get access to this weapon, the tool used to amplify its use and the ammo to use it, especially without being questioned or caught? And, the more important topic: do guns of this size really deserve to be legal to own in America in general?

The days following the shooting were packed with political debates and battles, protests and fights, with the two sides mainly consisting of ‘guns’ V.S. ‘no guns’. These political debates even came down to classroom discussions. Around a week or two after the shooting, my teacher ( the 7th Grade at the time) showed us a video of a political debate about gun rights that had ensued after the shooting, paused the video throughout the debate, and started discussions about the topic. Me, being a very ‘debating’ type, decided to heavily participate in this discussion. Of course, there was no statistical proof to be dished out at that point in time, as this was not a planned discussion. In discussing, we discussed gun rights, how the shooter acquired his weapon, and if teachers should be allowed to carry firearms and be trained to fire a weapon in case of an emergency. Of course, since the class consisted of 12-13 year old students, there was not too much depth into the argument. Despite that, however, there was enough meaning to the discussion that it was important to me and many others sitting in that room.

You may ask, as a reader, why I explained this whole event to you in clear detail, and since I was not at the shooting, why or how it affects me, being one who has never been witness to a mass shooting. But, with you and I being citizens of America, I ask you: Who does it not effect? Who is one to say it doesn’t impact me when even in schools I have to be afraid of an event such as Stoneman Douglas’s? Who is one to say that, down to the individual person, these events do not affect our country as a whole?

Let us look at the statistics on this issue. According to the Gun Violence Archives, so far this year there have been around 11,000-12,000 gun-related deaths in 2019. This number does not include any intentional suicides caused by a firearm. Making up a good part of this already huge number, there have been 316 instances of mass shootings this year, as of the time this text was made. A mass shooting, by definition, is an instance where 4 or more people are killed or injured by the use of a firearm. While a ‘mass shooting’ does include the combined number of killed and injured victims in its numbers, the numbers still stand true; 316 mass shootings is too much to be ignored. Walking through malls, traversing school and even walking through some parts of town can be risky, sometimes without even realizing. That constant paranoia (sometimes more in some than others) is something that should not be an issue. I, among many others, would love to walk freely in a public setting without having to fear that someone possesses a firearm with the intent to kill. 

Now, it should be made clear that I am not stating these things in order to completely abolish gun rights within our country. Freedom is what our country prides itself on, and I have respected those values of our country for the longest time. It should be legal to carry a firearm IF you are properly trained and trained not to use them in evil intent. But I question this country as a whole: how are so many people getting access to firearms without legal permission? I am suggesting that the higher-ups do something about the 316 mass shootings within our country as of this year. I am suggesting that this country tries it’s best to put a stop to the tens of thousands of intentional deaths by firearms this year. I am proposing a change, a change in the safety of all citizens of America.