On July 20, a man entered a movie theater in Colorado and opened fire on hundreds of people inside. The crowd, who was packed in to watch “The Dark Knight Rises,” experienced the indescribable horror of watching 12 people die. James Holmes, the man arrested in connection with the shooting, was charged with 24 counts of murder, two for each of the people he killed, and 116 counts of attempted murder.
On Aug. 5, a gunman entered a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. Wade Michael Page killed six people and wounded four others, including a responding police officer. After the violent attack, the self-proclaimed white supremacist fatally shot himself in the head. The case is being treated as domestic terrorism. Further investigation was turned over to the FBI.
On Aug. 24, an ex-employee of a New York City fashion company pulled a gun from his suit and opened fire in front of the Empire State Building. The man, identified as Jeffrey Johnson, killed one of his former co-workers and wounded nine others. When officers arrived at the scene, Johnson turned his weapon to fire at police. Police fired 14 rounds at the gunman before he was finally shot and killed.
On Aug. 27, a 15-year-old student opened fire at his classmates in the cafeteria of Perry Hall High School. It was the students’ first day of school. One student was injured. The shooter is said to have been bullied and brought the gun to school to teach his classmates a lesson. He will be charged as an adult in the shooting of his classmate. He Facebook status on the morning of Aug. 27 was “first day of school, last day of my life.”
I am telling these stories because I am deeply disturbed. News of gun violence has permeated the media and the American mind lately. The stories I mentioned above are the ones that were sickly intriguing enough to make it on the news. A lot of gun violence goes unreported. People get hurt, and sometimes die.
Yet some people still keep preaching the need for guns. First of all, I want to clarify about the second amendment to the Constitution. It reads:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Notice the clause, “a well regulated Militia.” When the amendment was written, the fine citizens of the United States were the Militia of the United States. They did not have the modern components that make the United States the most feared military force in the world.
Private citizens do not need guns to protect our country anymore. Guns are solely for personal purposes. Yet people continue to stock up, claiming that because they have a right, the right should be exercised.
Honestly, I cannot write off the recent horrific shootings. It is disheartening to see that people who are mentally unstable, horribly racist or 15 years old can get their hands on a device that is used to kill.
All I am suggesting is that you take the time to rethink the things everyone has told you growing up. This issue is not black and white, but requires complex thought regarding our current laws about gun control.
Moral of the story: We carry guns in our pockets, lock them up in our houses and preach the necessity of doing so in order to stay safe. What are we so afraid of?
