Mad World

I have witnessed second hand many horrible events happen in my lifetime, and as an aware young person living in today’s society, being kept from the horrors of the world is impossible. I follow the news. I am on most social media platforms. I have watched as tragedies occur, and seen them happen time and time again.

Recently, there was yet another mass shooting in America. And yet, the gun control laws held in the US has not wavered. Because, by some utter nightmare their President is a man who devalues the importance of these issues. American gun control laws have caused the death of millions upon millions of people in the US – perhaps a quarter of these statistics have been relevant to my lifetime. Think of that. In almost eighteen years, the news headlines have continuously had to revaluate situations as ‘The worst mass shooting in modern American history’. As the number of shootings increase, the many who have died grow with it.

Gun controls need to be tighter – I cannot stress this enough. By owning a gun, you have the potential to take a life. You can try to claim a shooter has ‘mental health issues’. But if you have a gun you need to stop simply saying ‘they wouldn’t give a gun to someone dangerous’ because everyone who owns a gun in America has the potential to be dangerous. You just don’t act on the potential. But someone does. Someone always does.

My point is that nothing changes. Americans still have guns. People’s reactions don’t change. A woman whose family member had been murdered in the Las Vegas shooting had said she did not want to change gun laws. How? How could you witness first hand a mass shooting and have a family member die and still see no problem with the war on gun control? I don’t think we should ‘toughen up’ I think we should change the law. More and more people buy guns in America every day. You can buy guns in supermarkets there.

The death toll of deaths via guns increase daily in the US and they have done for decades but no change has been made. Now is the time.

Actually – it’s been the time for change for a very, very long time.

Yes, I understand that these might be America’s problems, but you can’t deny that universal tragedies cause pain and suffering to more and more people every single day. Everyone is a part of that. Universally, we are more and more connected with America through our media and our global alliance. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents and even sons and daughters are lost because someone decides they have the right to take a life. Telling us to not think too much about it is the same as telling us we’re heartless if we follow your instructions. Because these people could be us. Although they are across the Atlantic, they should still be important to Britain.

Being sensitive makes us human and unfortunately, too many unlawful acts have made us ‘overly’ sensitive. Rightly so.

Why must children – the future of our world – die and yet nothing changes. The Sandy Hook shooting happened and dozens of children were killed. But even that didn’t stop the Americans from continuing to sell guns. If anything, the number of people with guns increased. It’s remarkable to me how a ‘travel ban’ on 6 Muslim-majority nations can pass through the US Congress but even after so many have died at the hands of Americans, the Congress cannot remove the laws that are in place in regards to guns.

This isn’t Britain’s battle to face. But equally, it feels like some Americans don’t see it as their own battle. But it is. Because if there isn’t a change soon, there won’t be any Americans left to fight gun law. There won’t be any Americans left. It should be a Universal problem because maybe someone from Britain can describe to an American just how dangerous and ignorant they are if they do not fight gun control.

We shouldn’t be afraid to live our lives – American or British. Speaking as a British citizen, if you are American and you don’t understand why there needs to be tighter gun controls, or even none, please educate yourselves on the stories of those who have died at the hands of guns. Read about those involved in the Pulse Orlando shootings, or the Virginia Tech shootings, or the Binghamton shootings or both of the Fort Hood shootings or even the Texas and Columbine shootings. Look at their photos and read their stories. Read about Claire Wilson James, or Noah Pozner or Isaiah Shoels or Stanley Almodovar III and Lisa Romero-Muiz.

Then try and tell me why civilians ought to have guns.