Enough is Enough

There have been so many debates over guns, the right to carry, the process of getting them, it's all so tiresome. We all just want to be safe, but people interpret safety in different ways.

Personally, I love going to the shooting range and learning how to properly shoot a gun. I love when I do well and hit that bullseye. However, that doesn't mean I want to bring said gun home with me. I was enticed when living in Arkansas, probably because it was so common to own a gun there, guns appear in numerous profile pictures across social media, but I have no desire in the here and now. There's no point. If someone comes in my home, I have a hunting knife and I know what to do with it. A gun locked away in a safe is no more of a protector.

I get angrier with each of these school shootings. This will not be a popular statement, but it seems that people are giving "the right to bear arms" a greater value over people's lives. Children's lives. It is unfathomable and unconscionable to me.

I don't understand how we can't all want stricter gun laws. How we don't all want our country to be safer. How is it a debate that mentally unstable people should have to go through more background checks? And honestly, how are background checks themselves debated? If you have no violent history or red flags, why are you so worried about passing these checks? You should be fine if there's nothing of alarm in your history. And if you do have something to flag or be concerned about, then, yes, either you shouldn't have access to a firearm or you should be subject to more checks, which may just clear you and you still get your precious weapon in the end.

I get people want to have their pistols for protection, their hunting rifles, etc., but why on Earth would any regular Joe EVER have need for a semiautomatic or assault weapon? Seriously, if there's a real reason an everyday citizen would need access to that, please tell me in the comments below because I cannot see any reason for it. There is absolutely no plausible reason, in my mind, for your typical citizen to have a gun that can fire dozens of rounds in seconds. You don't need that for duck or deer hunting. That type of weapon is meant for war, to kill multiple people quickly.

This is exactly why mass murderers love to use them. AR-style rifles have appeared in some of the deadliest shootings in recent years, including the Las Vegas country music festival, the Orlando nightclub, a church in Texas and Sandy Hook. Fully automatic weapons have been banned in the US since the Firearm Owners' Protection Act of 1986, why are we not as concerned about semiautomatic? The AR-15 has been labeled “America’s most popular rifle” by The National Rifle Association. That's not a good thing...

It's time for government leaders to stop worrying about their payoffs from the NRA. They represent We, the people, not a trigger-happy group that has veered considerably from their original purpose, to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis." It's time to stop sending only our love, thoughts and prayers. What does that change? Nothing. It puts a cartoonish bandage on a problem, until the next horrific tragedy. Every time, we say "Enough," but when will lawmakers finally listen? It's time to act.

To donate or find our what you can do to help end gun violence in America, visit Everytown.org.