There are lots of things we can’t control in life. But there are also things that we can and should control, like gun laws.
It feels like the regulation of gun laws in the United States is always a trending news topic and that’s because it is. The reason it’s always being talked about isn’t because it’s an important topic (which it is): it’s because mass shootings keep happening in the States and the government has done nothing to prevent the incidences from repeating.
Just this week, two mass shootings happened in America: one in Texas and one in Ohio. About 30 people were killed in total
The world hasn’t stopped talking about both. People haven’t stopped sharing messages of love and support. World leaders and celebrities haven’t stopped urging the U.S. government to tighten laws surrounding gun ownership.
Instead of making instant and active change, all President Donald Trump did was release a statement. He condemned bigotry and white supremacy and said that more focus needs to be put on mental illness over new gun-control measures.
“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” Trump said. “Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”
Moving words. They’re also empty words.
There’s been a lot of those lately. Every time a shooting happens there’s lots of words but no change.
It feels like a lost cause and maybe that’s because it is. I’m not saying gun reform will never happen in America – I really really hope it does. But it feels like the world has been fighting a losing battle for ages.
For seven years to be exact – since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
On 14 December 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people at an Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The victims include 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members. Before driving to the school, Adam also shot and killed his mother. As first responders arrived at the school, Adam killed committed suicide.
Within hours of the shooting, a We the People petition was started asking the White House to “immediately address the issue of gun control through the introduction of legislation in Congress,”and the gun control advocacy group the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence reported that an avalanche of donations in the hours after the shooting caused its website to crash.
But, despite all of the petitions, rallies, and conversations, no major action was made. Legislation regarding the banning of assault weapons and authorisation of background checks were put to parliament but ultimately defeated in senate.
From that moment on, gun reform has been a lost hope. The United States government essentially decided that gun ownership was more important than the lives of children, and this decision has controlled public rhetoric ever since.
Are people outraged when others get shot to death? Yes. Will they give up the weapons that did the damage? Hell no.
We live in a world where people (some, not all) are only wiling to do something to help if it doesn’t change their life or inconvenience them in any way.
The United States government continually ignores the statistics and the calls for action because the cries of the ignorant who insist owning a gun is their “god given right” are too loud and too aggressive.
America has already made a stance on gun law. It made it a long time ago.