North Texas Daily

“America, why won’t you protect us?”

This was, quite literally, the billion-dollar question so many people asked after we allowed students to sit and wait to be slaughtered. Not just students, but concert-goers, employees, shoppers and church attendees make the long list of sitting ducks.

In the first shootings, students would immediately contact their families and remind them of their love. At first their family would think it was a joke — naturally, no one ever believes it could happen to them. But now, you hear a loud noise and instinctively assume they’re gun shots.

Numb to “thoughts and prayers,” no one is safe as we all come to the realization these massacres can happen at anytime, any place.

Initially the university shooting in Crimea, Russia, spurred me to remind people to remember those who have been lost and remember to be their voice. Though this devastation didn’t take place in the U.S., it very well could have — Virginia Tech is a somber reminder.

While writing this article, however, another shooting took place at a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 individuals and raising the number of mass shootings this year to 299 as of Oct. 30. This goes to show how frequent these massacres are happening. You give your grievances to one group, only to turn around the next week and repeat the same process.

Gun violence kills people every single day. Is this what we’ll be remembered for? Victim’s blood continues to stain the hands of our political leaders, and they wipe it away with crisp dollar bills.

“Our hearts go out to you,” is the common response these politicians give when the cameras are on. This facade of sympathy only makes the strings attached more visible and the puppet master overbearingly noticeable. Political officials whose pockets are stuffed with NRA money in exchange for looking the other way in the murder of the innocent will not define our generation.

We can’t look the other way.

Gun control has been opposed, mostly by the Republican party, on the grounds of violating our Second Amendment right to bear arms. What I can’t understand is why people would be against the illegalization of high-powered assault weapons. Why would anyone want a weapon designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time, and why should it be one of our God-given rights?

When we say gun control, we don’t mean taking away all rights to own guns. We mean banning automatic and semi-automatic rifles, like the ones to blame for the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado, Orlando, Florida, Parkland, Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, Sandy Hook Elementary School, a Waffle House, a Texas Church, San Bernardino, California and now the Tree of Life Synagogue. If we don’t push for this ban, the list will only keep growing.

When we say gun control, we mean prohibiting high-capacity magazines limiting the amount of bullets a weapon can hold. If there hadn’t been an infinitive amount of magazines, if a shooter didn’t have the option to re-load, someone’s child would still get to have a future.

When we say gun control, we mean closing background check loopholes and making it more extensive so people can’t purchase firearms from private or unlicensed sellers without passing one. Who is it harming to pass such legislation? How can making sure gun carriers pass extensive background checks be a bad thing?

I understand even if these policies pass, those who want guns will still get them. But unlike doing nothing, stricter gun laws could have some actual impact on our rising number of mass shootings.

The government has the power to prevent this, so implore them to use it. We shouldn’t have to go to school with the fear of not coming home. We can’t live in fear. We have to fight for our lives because no one else will. Never again.

Featured Image: Courtesy Facebook