One random day of my workplace, my coworker was talking to someone. Then he told me, it was his wife. She was in Walmart for grocery shopping. He said: "She saw a man with a big package and was hiding something in the back of his back. She thought it was .. you know, so she left, went home, and just called me."
It was just a random story on a random day, it was not supposed to mean anything. But it's making me feel...weird. Because on the other day, I was doing exactly what she did. We were scared because we heard the news, that this "thing" happens everywhere in the country, and there is a chance it will happen to us. So what was that? Mass shootings, school shootings, gun violence. It was all over the news.
So let do some math:
- On November 17, the 321st day of the year, there have been 369 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA). 369 mass shootings/321 day = 1.15 shooting per day.
- According to CNN, in 46 weeks this year, there have been 45 school shootings. This is nearly an average of one school shooting a week. From elementary, middle and high schools to college and university campuses.
Every day you walk out of the house, wonder where is the next target. No matter you are at school, at work, or in your own house.
One of the most divisive issues in American politics nowadays is gun control. Gun violence happens every day, not just a movie's scene anymore. To anyone, to any place. Some people may say, owned a gun make them feel safer but due to the study, guns are rarely used in self-defense. Do you know what will make me feel safer? That I know every day I walk out my door, I know that no one will able to shoot me, because they don't and they can't own a gun. And how can we do that if all we do is restricted the ownership but not banned the gun itself?
So let me tell you what I think, cause this is my blog, and this is my opinion. Ban gun, all of them. Not just one or two, but maybe, you know, all of them.
What about restricted laws? Background check, legal age, restricted conditions? The stricter the better, you don't need to ban it. Well, let's take a look at Mexico. According to theguardian.com, Mexico has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had 11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per 100,000 people) compared to the United States that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per 100,000 people.) Yet this is another proof that gun-control will not work. What we should do is ban guns, in any case, not just try to take control of it.
What we need is not a gun to protect ourselves, it is a better environment where is no gun, and no weapon could threaten our life.
In response to Doan Nguyen’s, Gun Violence: What do I care about it? I agree with you that America is facing increasing number of mass shootings. We hear about mass shootings and school shootings on a daily basis. It’s unfortunate that this has become a norm when tuning in to the news today. I totally get that you would like to ban guns altogether. However, realistically that will never happen. All guns could be banned tomorrow but that will not stop people from getting their hands on them. Assault weapons and semi-automatic weapons are banned but nonetheless a teenager was able to secure more than one of these weapons in addition to, hundreds and hundreds of rounds of ammunition before going out and shooting up his high school classmates and teachers. So no matter if all the weapons were banned, there will be someone, somewhere willing and capable of getting, smuggling, and selling them to someone else. Some other person with no morals, ethics, or remorse, willing to shoot and kill anyone.
ReplyDeleteA person does have the right (a choice) to protect his home and family by bearing arms. However it is the criminals, psychos, mentally disturbed that do not have any business with a firearm. But they know where to go to purchase one. There will always be a dishonest, inhumane, psycho individuals that have no regards for other human beings. Guns will remain a choice for many. This is reality.
Until the law and people change, guns will remain a choice for many. We should take care when leaving our homes, going shopping or anywhere. Be cautious of our surroundings and be cautious of other people. Don’t take freedom to go and come as you please for granted. There are so many souls that are pleading and begging for freedom to return to their homes and families. So many lives destroyed by evil, mean, violent, vicious individuals. Taking away at gunpoint to a place so dark it’s impossible to think of nothing else. I wish for their safety and pray for those that have succumbed to gun violence. I also wish that we lived in a society that everyone loved and respected one another and violence and guns were in-existent. Perhaps if gun manufacturers cease to manufacture guns perhaps guns will eventually cease to exist. But again is that being realistic?!