As a 16-year-old girl living in suburban America, I have seen reenactments of the infamous massacres that took place at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland, and I have an older brother who lives just 10 minutes away from the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo where the May 14th shooting occurred. The routine procedure of a lockdown: turning off the lights, locking the door, and huddling in the corner is practically muscle memory to me. I know all too well the pit that forms in my stomach after opening my iPhone and seeing that yet another dozen innocent children were murdered without reason.  

If states with stricter gun laws are proven to have lower rates of gun violence, and most Americans support creating stricter gun laws, why haven’t we made any changes yet?

As lawmakers, judges, and citizens go around and around in circles engaging in the futile argument over whether or not the Constitution allows for gun control, another deadly and unnecessary school shooting occurs. Many who are against gun control claim to defend the Second Amendment, but the fact is, when this amendment was written, the most common firearm could fire a meager 3 shots per minute. 

Guess many rounds per minute the AK-47 can release. About 700. 

Those who oppose gun regulation hold an outdated sentence written in 1791 in higher esteem than the 3,597 children who, according to The New York Times, died last year due to gun violence – not to mention the millions more who live in constant fear that they will be next. Until our laws catch up with modern technology, these horrific mass slaughters will continue to occur all around our nation. 

Politicians, who (on average) haven’t seen a classroom in 40 years, ironically are the very people who are making decisions about the fate of those of us who sit in these classrooms for 6 hours each day. According to The University of Chicago News, a shocking 71% of Americans are in favor of stricter gun laws, yet 26 states don’t even require a permit to carry a gun. The same politicians who claim to put the interests of the American people first are failing to carry out the desires of those they claim to represent. This year alone has already seen “more mass shootings than days” and our government is too divided and preoccupied with self-interest to do anything about it. 

Almost 10 generations have passed since the founding of our nation, and almost 3 generations have passed since our first modern mass shooting. The American attitude of ignorance and procrastination must end with this generation.

1 Northeastern Global News

2 Forbes

3 ABC News