Post date: Mar 23, 2018 1:04:21 PM
Rhea Rechav-11 February 14, 2018 was the day seventeen innocent, harmless students were shot in cold blood in the walls of their own high school. It is up to us, as the next generation, to protect ourselves, our futures, and our country to ensure a tragedy such as this, never happens again. Since Sandy Hook (2012),there has been 1,607 mass shootings in the United States. We have witnessed three of the worst shootings in American history in just a matter of months. This is not a debate, rather a conversation.
No one is trying to take away anyone’s guns. Stricter gun laws and more intensive background checks are being pushed, so guns do not get in the hands of the wrong people. People fit to own guns will not be affected by these changes.
Nikolas Cruz, the murderer responsible for the seventeen lives lost in Parkland, Florida; was eighteen when he legally purchased his first long gun. At the time of the massacre, Cruz had access to ten guns; seven which he obtained legally. Cruz was nineteen years old when he killed those students.
The age to purchase a semi- automatic long gun must be increased. Eighteen year olds are not allowed to purchase a can of beer, yet they can purchase a semi-automatic rifle? In late February, a poll was conducted by CNN, in which 71 percent of respondents supported the raising of the age limit to 21 to purchase any sort of gun, Democrats and Republicans alike.
Cruz instantly passed a background check, simply because he had no criminal record. He suffered from severe depression, ADHD, autism, made many threats on social media [calling himself a professional school shooter, racial slurs, posting pictures of many long guns], was expelled from his high school, the police were called on him 39 times, and multiple tips were left to the FBI. Yet this teenager was still somehow able to legally obtain seven guns.
Some say things can be changed within the walls of our own high school, without the help of Congress. Sit with the kid who is alone at lunch. Talk to the girl who sits in the corner by herself. Even if you do not know someone, give them a compliment. Be kind to everyone, and the world will be kind right back.
Unfortunately, this may be too good to be true. Some of the so called “weird kids”, who everyone all of a sudden is very nice to, have expressed they feel embarrassed and humiliated.
To them, they feel as if people are only being kind to them because they think they may be a potential school shooter.
They feel ashamed to be known as the kid who needs everyone’s sympathy and kind words, only because people think of them as a threat and as a danger. Even if there are good intentions behind honest acts of kindness, some may interpret the situation completely different and create more problems than solutions.
Possibly one of the simplest and uncontroversial things our country can do is to increase the safety within the schools themselves. Metal detectors, bulletproof glass, automatic locking doors, and improved security systems are all steps we can take to further improve the safety within the walls of our schools.
Now is the time things must change. It is time to speak up, speak out, and make real change happen in this country. Hand in hand we will be certain to make sure a tragedy like this is only a part of history class, not in the lastest news story. #neveragain