REVOLUTION: Due to inadequate action from lawmakers after yet another mass school shooting, students across the nation demand change.
By Isabel Morehead, Staff Writer.
On February 14, 2018, Nicolas Cruz, a former student at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, opened fire in his former school and committed one of the deadliest mass school shootings in history. Cruz was active for 6 minutes, and at the end of his rampage, 17 people were dead and at least 15 more were injured. This is yet another in a long history of devastating mass shootings in the U.S., and there seems to be a recurring pattern in each of them. In Parkland, as well as in Sandy Hook, Orlando, and Las Vegas, semi-automatic weapons similar to the AR-15 were used to commit the shootings. As a solution to the violence, some lawmakers and activists have proposed reinstating a ban on semi-automatic weapons. And yet, even after the latest in a string of mass killings committed by this style of weapon, lawmakers are resistant to banning this type of gun. Why are politicians hesitant to ban these guns? Is it because of their strong belief in second amendment rights? In these turbulent and deeply saddening times, Americans have to ask the question: at what point did the right to own a gun become more important than children’s lives?
After the most recent mass school shooting, students and gun control activists have called for stronger gun control measures, including a ban on semi-automatic weapons. Republican lawmakers and gun rights activists have strongly opposed the ban, insisting that this would not solve the problem. Those who oppose the ban say that banning these weapons won’t make a difference, that shooters will find a way to carry out their killings. But as seen in other countries, stricter gun laws and bans of especially dangerous weapons have succeeded in decreasing mass shootings and gun violence. In Australia, after a mass shooting committed with a semi-automatic weapon cost the lives of 35 people, the country enacted sweeping gun laws and restrictions, including thorough background checks, longer waiting periods for purchasing a gun, and a ban on the sale and importation of semi-automatic weapons. In the 20 years since the laws were put in action, there have been no mass shootings. For 10 years, from 1994 to 2004, the U.S. instated a ban on semi-automatic weapons, and during that time, there was only one year when more than 20 people were killed in a mass killing. But in the last 14 years since the ban was uninstated, there have been 10 years where more than 20 people had been killed in mass killings. This demonstrates that a ban on semi-automatic weapons is a viable solution, as it had effectively reduced the number of people killed in mass shootings.
No American should ever be able to own a semi-automatic weapon; semi-automatic and automatic weapons are weapons of war. There is no reason that a civilian would need a semi-automatic weapon, especially semi-automatic rifles. Semi-automatic weapons are often used in mass shootings, as they are designed to inflict the maximum amount of death. The gun used to carry out the Pulse nightclub shooting was a .223 SIG Sauer MCX rifle, a gun modeled off the AR-15, which is designed to fire quickly, and manufacturers of the gun say that experienced shooters could fire up to 45 rounds per minute. Because of semi-automatic guns’ ability to fire many bullets very quickly, shooters are able to cause dozens of deaths and injuries in a matter of minutes. In the six minutes that the Parkland shooter was active, he was able to shoot at least 32 kids. Semi-automatic rifles are accurate up to 500 yards, or more than a quarter mile, making it even easier for shooters to hit their targets. Semi-automatic weapons are weapons of destruction and designed specifically for war, which is where they should stay.
As this is another in a long list of mass shootings in America, the people know how politicians will react when pressured to change gun laws; they will say that this is an unfortunate tragedy, but now is not the time to talk about gun control, or that any laws they could enact wouldn’t do anything to stop mass shootings. If lawmakers don’t act now, the public will start to move on from this tragedy, and nothing will change. Politicians may say that this is not the time to talk about gun control, or that nothing they could do could prevent this from happening again. But the students and the public are done waiting; we need stronger gun regulation now, more specifically a ban on semi-automatic weapons. Now is the time for politicians and lawmakers to step up and do something about this epidemic of gun violence.