Written by: Mindy Huynh
A Bloody Valentine's Day
On February 14, 2018, nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz entered Stoneman Douglas High School, his strides full of conviction, his hands carrying a rifle case, and his backpack holding gun magazines and ammunition. That day, 3,330 teenagers left their homes for school on Valentine’s Day. Fourteen never came home. Three teachers died as they shielded students, helped fleeing students, and opened doors to terrified students. The cost? Their lives.
A New Era
In the midst of a devastating tragedy, friends, peers, and siblings of the victims founded the Never Again MSD committee, advocating for gun control. More than one month later, they planned the nationwide March For Our Lives movement. Endorsed by public figures and celebrities worldwide, this movement advocated for universal background checks on all gun sales, raising the gun possession age to twenty-one, closing of the “gun-show loophole”, restoring the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and raising money to support anti-violence, all aimed at a better future.
As of May 31, there have been 247 mass shootings this year in the US alone. Gun control measures are needed more than ever when anyone of a certain ethnicity, race, gender, or sexual orientation are targets. The United States pride themselves to be the best or one of the best in many aspects. In addition to holding the highest GDP, wealth, and diversity, we also hold the highest number of school shootings. The frequency of school shootings is fifty-seven times more than all the G7 countries combined. Fifty-seven.
In a world where violence is romanticized in video games, movies, and social media, children are raised accustomed to violence. How can we suppress and discourage violent choices in a gun-riddled world? Gun control.
One Mass Shooting Influences Future Ones
Peer pressure within public institutions like schools and society in general may seem relatively harmless. However, according to sociologist Ralph Larkin, one school shooting can inspire future school shootings, as shown through the series of school shootings between 1999 and 2007, eleven of which were inspired from the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. In many cases, the perpetrators were below the age of twenty-one, but the relatively lax gun control measures allowed them to easily purchase weapons.
A Better Future
The March for Our Lives movement lives on today, more than three years after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, and continues to advocate for stricter gun control measures and continues to raise money aimed at anti-violence work. Since then, Florida has raised its gun-purchasing age from eighteen to twenty-one years-old, student activists continue to demand change for a better future, and more bills have been passed aimed at closing loopholes regarding gun control.
SOURCES:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence