In the New York Times' "Room for Debate" section, there are numerous articles on the topic of school shootings. For example, the article "School Shootings Have Already Killed Dozens in 2018", written by Daniel Victor, includes descriptions of the hundreds of schools affected by these tragic events, most of which many of us have never heard of due to how common these shootings actually are.
Thanks to the media today, especially social media, people across the United States have been able to read and learn about these events occurring in schools in every state. Furthermore, this increase in exposure to such situations have led teens to rise up and voice their own opinions, spreading news about marches or protests to create stricter gun laws. Not only do they protest in attempt to make a change, but students also attend these marches as a way to show respect to those who have lost their lives or those who have lost loved ones to shootings. In fact, Mayfair High School has even participated in these marches during the 2018 school year.
Additionally, this would all cease to be possible if it weren't for increased communication, especially through social media. Today, it only takes a mere second to send a text to someone in a foreign country, a tweet on Twitter can go viral overnight, or an Instagram post can be shared to millions. With the media, the possibilities for communication are endless, which is how news of school shootings were able to blow up quickly despite the people involved being in another state.
Moreover, because of more efficient methods to communicate to strangers or friends across the globe, it is no surprise that school shootings, especially high school shootings, have increasingly been a topic for discussion all over America. The event itself is horrific, cruel, and unfair especially to the students, teachers, and parents who have to go through it. However, why has nothing been done to change this? Why have laws not been put into place even after the people's outcry for help? Of course, the topic of gun laws and whether or not there should be restrictions can be extremely controversial, but the fact that someone as young as fourteen can obtain a gun with ease should be an eye-opener to people all over the nation.
-Lana Nguyen
I do not think that the acquisition of guns should be a ton more strict, but rather I think that people should learn to keep their guns in safer locations. School shootings do not only happen because the student has bought a gun from a store or a dealer, but rather they took it from a family member or from someone close to them who doesn't keep their firearms under check. Not only do school shootings come from this, but also domestic violence, accidental suicides, and public shootings as well.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the before someone can buy a gun they should do a background check and fill out a licence that must be renewed every year. The background check and licence checks if the holder has had any mental illness or if they had been arrested for any violent or nonviolent reasons.
I think reducing the problem of school shooting down to the need for stricter gun laws is dehumanizing the issue. The fact of the matter is that the kids shooting up schools are deeply distressed. Instead of trying to keep troubled kids from acquiring guns, we should be trying to keep kids from becoming troubled. Dumping blame on our current gun laws and walking out of school in protest wont solve anything. This is because the heart of the problem is within the school. The solution to the issue of school shootings doesn't lie in the hands of the law makers but instead in the hands of the students and staff.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the only gun law that should be corrected is the one that there is no minimum age for a child to legally own a rifle and rifle ammunition. Other than that, I believe that they are fine the way they are. I find all of the new and increasing restrictions on firearms to be unnecessary. Apparently, new restrictions are making rifles extremely slow to reload, where users have to actually disassemble their guns just to reload. The thing about these school shooters, and other shooters in general, is that they don't give a single care in the world about gun laws, and they can always acquire fully automatic rifles with whatever cool attachments they want from the black market. They always have a way around those gun laws. I believe that there could be a solution that could possibly resolve some, not all,
ReplyDeleteof these school shootings. Parents and teachers should start treating bullying and depression as serious issues that causes a large amount of these shootings, rather than video games and the media making teenagers more violent. Those that are pushed to the edge are the ones that end up committing those horrific actions. Taking away our second amendment will not stop these people.
If we ban fully automatic weapons, someone with a strong enough drive to commit a crime of that stature will more than likely be inclined to turn to the black markets as a way to obtain a firearm. We don't need gun control, we need mental health control. Protect people, not guns.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree that mental health contributes to the misuse of guns around the country from what has happened over the years. However, as whole we should do a better job at opening facilities for people who have mental health issues to provide help for them & to prevent such incidents. In regards to gun control, I actually think it is necessary to make sure guns are not easily accessible to those who would abuse them. In an analogy, it’s similar to acknowledging that a burglar can break into a house in many ways to get in, but why leave your door unlocked?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete