School shootings have sadly become a normal occurrence in the United States. Instead of being shocked and utterly appalled by the news, it has become more of a regular headline. 45 days into 2018 and nine school shootings, that have resulted in injury or death, have already occurred and we still have no laws regarding gun control. Over 20 children were killed in these school shootings, this number isn’t including the children that have died due to mass shootings and homicide and yet we do nothing. Does the majority of our congress and President not care?

Imagine that being your child, your niece or nephew, your friend or simply someone you know and now would you say that we shouldn’t have laws that protect these people if they could have saved a loved one.

A common argument against gun control is that the shooter normally wouldn’t have purchased the gun from a store and they could steal it from someone or buy it illegally but how are they getting it illegally, someone that bought them and now is selling them on the market. ‘We need to be able to protect ourselves’ is also a common argument when in regards to gun control, but do guns really protect us? According to John Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public health, “risk factors for violent death of women in the home found that women living in homes with 1 or more guns were more than 3 times more likely to be killed in their homes.” Having the right to bear arms is putting American in more harms way than it is protecting it.

Saying that putting laws into effect that would regulate gun usage is taking freedoms away from the people that aren’t using guns in a harmful way is utterly ridiculous. If these people have no previous criminal record or reason to not be able to carry a gun, they should have nothing to worry about. By putting laws in place it will help bring down crime rates. Japan is an example of a country with extremely different laws than the U.S. they posses strict laws on gun control; the effects are exponentially more effective than the U.S.. In 2011 there were eight victims that were shot to death in Japan, according to Library of Congress, where the U.S. had 8,583 deaths by firearm.

President Donald Trump tweeted out shortly after the incident, “My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school. Just spoke to Governor Rick Scott. We are working closely with law enforcement on the terrible Florida school shooting.” President Trump says this, but has yet to do anything about gun control. He has been outspoken on not having any regulations on guns, so he cannot feel sorry for an event like this when he has done nothing to prevent it.

There have been 100s of laws in regards to gun control  that have failed in congress, many people question why but in the 2016 elections, National Rifle Association (NRA) has some $14 million to spend on the election, and NRA Executive Director Chris Cox vowed to target members perceived to be interfering in the rights of Americans to bear arms. In addition to election contributions, they spent over  $3.18 million on federal lobbyist in 2016, according to The Center for Responsive Politics. This is a way for the NRA to have a hold over our government.

People say that talking about gun control so shortly after a horrific event like this happens is inconsiderate. But what’s inconsiderate is that these people will turn a blind eye to the violence and then never bring up the topic again. We in America are in a constant cycle when it comes to gun control, we give our prayers and do nothing to fix the actual issue at hand. We need laws so that we don’t have to send our prayers every week to a new victim’s family. They may need time to grieve, but those families would want laws to make sure that no one else has to feel the way they do.  

If we want to make a difference in this country, and not just say we are sorry, but help protect the next possible target, we need laws that are going to protect us. America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but I’m more scared than brave because I don’t know that it won’t happen to me or someone I know. Think of the laws that could be put in place that could save the next victim. If you want to make a difference speak up, talk about it, call or email your congressman. These are ways that we can get the word out that we as America want change.