Finding a Solution

The past couple of years have been a crazy time for the U.S. Every time I look at my phone, I see some huge news story of something new. Between Covid, the war in Ukraine, and the current state of our economy, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Since then, there has been an alarming increase in people suffering from depression and suicides. But along with that, crimes and shootings have also increased at alarming rates, leaving the rest of us wondering just how much is going to be enough.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a shooting in a supermarket in New York, and only a few days later, there was a shooting at an elementary school in Texas, leaving nearly twenty children dead. Even after that, there were several more shootings over the weekend, some at high school graduations, times that are supposed to be celebrating the accomplishments of young people getting ready to embark on the rest of their lives. What makes these headlines even worse is that instead of coming together to find a solution for this, everyone is so caught up in their own opinion that they shut off any possibility of change.

This makes me incredibly angry, sad, and afraid.

First off, I am strongly anti-gun. I refuse to be around one. I believe that anything that was created to hurt another living creature is something that shouldn’t exist. With that being said, they do exist, and unfortunately no matter what we do, they are all too easily obtainable. It is important for there to be background checks. However, this isn’t always effective. The shooter in Texas had nothing in his background that would have raised red flags, so he easily passed.

It also raises a good argument, criminals don’t care about gun laws. They will find a way. All it takes is a friend or family member to obtain one for them. It also shouldn’t be right to unarm people who could stop a shooter. He had shot his grandmother and had stated online that he was going to the school. Where was somebody when he walked into that school? The questions remain.

Which leads to one huge point, if somebody says that they are planning to shoot anybody, don’t assume it's an empty threat. That is not funny and shouldn’t be brushed off. If it is said, for God’s sake tell it. I saw one reply to that boy’s post, “what does your gun have to do with me?” How did that person feel when they found out about the shooting, or did they even care? I suppose some people won’t care until they lose somebody they love in such a horrific manner, and that is devastating. Report if anyone threatens violence, it could save a life, it could save yours or your child’s.

What are some solutions? This is not an easy question because there is no easy solution. Nobody wants metal detectors and an armed guard at their children’s school, but unfortunately, it may take that for now. Children also need to be talked to about the possibility and what they can do. Hiding under a desk isn’t effective. They need to come together, block the door with furniture and find something that they can use as weapons if someone does get into their classroom. Throw backpacks, pencils, furniture, break through windows to climb out. Anything, fight to live.

If the gun that is used belongs to anyone else, arrest that person as well. This will teach people to be more cautious about their guns. And anybody who knew ahead of time that there was a threat and chose to remain silent, they need to be held accountable as well. They have blood on their hands. There needs to be more resources for people who feel like they could hurt themselves or others. Silence is not the answer.

For those who say there isn’t a problem, I feel sorry for them that they are so closed minded. We don’t need to wait until the problem is at our own door. If there is one person that dies from a gun, that is one person too many. It takes us all working together to make change.