#EnoughisEnough
I haven't written anything in almost six months. After I wrote about the tragic shooting that rocked Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, I truly hoped we as Americans could have a honest discussion about common sense gun reform. As well all know, that didn't happen. Instead, the country screamed conspiracy theories, how this must be an act of Islamic terrorism, and how casino security should be increased to prevent this sort of thing from happening. 59 people died, nearly 600 more were treated for injuries serious enough for emergency treatment, and thousands more sought treatment elsewhere, or patched themselves up with first aid. I don't know that we will ever really know how many people were injured. Needless to say, it was hundreds, if not thousands.
The fact that nothing happened, and our own Nevada Senator Dean Heller voted against common sense gun restrictions just days after the shooting was so unbelievable. I was saddened by the realization that all of those people died, and many hundreds more were injured, and people truly did not care.
Then, just a few weeks later, on November 7, 2017, there was the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. There, 26 people died, and a few dozen more were injured. I very quickly realized that every single person that attended church that morning was shot. I don't know that anyone has ever really pressed that point in the media, but EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. that attended church services was shot while they were literally in church.
This tragedy was quickly overtaken by a discussion of mental health and how the shooter shouldn't have had a gun in the first place because of his previous domestic violence convictions, mental health discharge from the US Air Force, and his involuntary confinement in a mental hospital. So, that wasn't the fault of guns, it was blamed on bureaucracy gone awry.
Then we fast forward a bit -- to the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Once again, a young, white man had weapons that no civilian needs. He walked into his former high school and reigned bullets on his former classmates, killing 17 and wounding dozens more. Except this time, something was different. These students refused to shy away from the spotlight, and refused to let America forget what it had allowed to happen to them.
That was how they framed it -- America allowed this to happen with its passive attitude towards gun control. By being complacent and letting corporate PR firms shape the narrative of firearms ownership in America, the general population had just shrugged and collectively said "this is just how it is here." But these students stood up and said "No." They yelled and screamed and challenged the collective belief that we couldn't do anything to change the world we had created for ourselves.
I am truly impressed with them. They have every right to be angry, and they have every right to speak out. After all, had they not said anything, they would have simply been a statistic, like the hundreds of thousands of other American students that have been present during a school shooting.
Recently, one source estimated that 150,000 American students have been in school while a shooting actively took place. That is a phenomenal number of students whose lives have been forever altered. Under normal circumstances, if 150,000 people experienced something so tragic, we would be doing something about it. But, since it's just kids getting shot, America as a whole seems ok with it. I cannot wrap my mind around that blind acceptance, wherein we allow our children to be shot, and instead of doing something about it, we just train them to be safe so they are prepared when it happens. When, not if. When it happens, because statistically speaking, our students are becoming ever more likely to experience violence in school.
School should be a safe place. But it isn't. And it's becoming less safe by the day.
Not only are students being shot because no one is willing to reconsider gun ownership, but now the solution to this problem is more guns in schools. Teachers with guns.
And to be honest, I just can't think about that today....
Why?
Because I'm packing. I'm leaving for Washington, D.C. to support the students of Parkland, and every other student that is tired of sitting idly by while the adults decide it's ok for them to be murdered in the name of the second amendment. I support everything they are saying and everything they stand for. I am only saddened that it took this long for it to happen, and this many students had to die before someone was willing to stop it from happening again.
#EnoughIsEnough
The fact that nothing happened, and our own Nevada Senator Dean Heller voted against common sense gun restrictions just days after the shooting was so unbelievable. I was saddened by the realization that all of those people died, and many hundreds more were injured, and people truly did not care.
Then, just a few weeks later, on November 7, 2017, there was the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. There, 26 people died, and a few dozen more were injured. I very quickly realized that every single person that attended church that morning was shot. I don't know that anyone has ever really pressed that point in the media, but EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. that attended church services was shot while they were literally in church.
This tragedy was quickly overtaken by a discussion of mental health and how the shooter shouldn't have had a gun in the first place because of his previous domestic violence convictions, mental health discharge from the US Air Force, and his involuntary confinement in a mental hospital. So, that wasn't the fault of guns, it was blamed on bureaucracy gone awry.
Then we fast forward a bit -- to the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Once again, a young, white man had weapons that no civilian needs. He walked into his former high school and reigned bullets on his former classmates, killing 17 and wounding dozens more. Except this time, something was different. These students refused to shy away from the spotlight, and refused to let America forget what it had allowed to happen to them.
That was how they framed it -- America allowed this to happen with its passive attitude towards gun control. By being complacent and letting corporate PR firms shape the narrative of firearms ownership in America, the general population had just shrugged and collectively said "this is just how it is here." But these students stood up and said "No." They yelled and screamed and challenged the collective belief that we couldn't do anything to change the world we had created for ourselves.
I am truly impressed with them. They have every right to be angry, and they have every right to speak out. After all, had they not said anything, they would have simply been a statistic, like the hundreds of thousands of other American students that have been present during a school shooting.
Recently, one source estimated that 150,000 American students have been in school while a shooting actively took place. That is a phenomenal number of students whose lives have been forever altered. Under normal circumstances, if 150,000 people experienced something so tragic, we would be doing something about it. But, since it's just kids getting shot, America as a whole seems ok with it. I cannot wrap my mind around that blind acceptance, wherein we allow our children to be shot, and instead of doing something about it, we just train them to be safe so they are prepared when it happens. When, not if. When it happens, because statistically speaking, our students are becoming ever more likely to experience violence in school.
School should be a safe place. But it isn't. And it's becoming less safe by the day.
Not only are students being shot because no one is willing to reconsider gun ownership, but now the solution to this problem is more guns in schools. Teachers with guns.
And to be honest, I just can't think about that today....
Why?
Because I'm packing. I'm leaving for Washington, D.C. to support the students of Parkland, and every other student that is tired of sitting idly by while the adults decide it's ok for them to be murdered in the name of the second amendment. I support everything they are saying and everything they stand for. I am only saddened that it took this long for it to happen, and this many students had to die before someone was willing to stop it from happening again.
#EnoughIsEnough
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