Jack and Lucy sit at the back of the classroom during maths, talking, Jack looking up every ten seconds to check that the teacher was still busy writing on the board. "I hate maths, it is soooo deadly boring," Lucy whispered. He winked at her just as the door banged open with a deafening crash. The teacher dropped her piece of chalk her mouth forming into a perfect 'O' shape. A wide-eyed man held a rifle in front of him finger resting on the trigger. Lucy screamed. It was the last sound Jack would ever hear come out of her mouth. She fell to the ground with a crash never to complain to him about maths ever again. Never again.
In the USA citizens are allowed to carry guns as part of their everyday lives as declared in the Bill of Rights. Anyone can walk into a store such as Walmart (like K-mart for Australians) and buy a gun, yes just like that. Living in Australia, this notion seems completely ludicrous however in the USA it is considered completely normal. On February 14th 2018 a horrific school shooting took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded, making it one of the deadliest school massacres that had taken place in the USA. It is upsetting to think that something of such extremity has taken place on multiple other occasions. Seven-thousand pairs of shoes were placed outside the US Capitol to remember all the children that were killed by gun violence since the Sandy-Hook Massacre in 2012. Seven-thousand kids is too many, such a dramatic loss of lives for something that can be so easily fixed if these people hadn't pulled the trigger.
This must be stopped! But what seems like a simple change to the law is actually much more complicated. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted by the American people on December 15, 1791. That was centuries ago and the law was made in the context of that time. An unwillingness to step back and consider significant changes to the law is resulting in the loss of innocent lives. It doesn't have to be this way, although it may seem impossible to change from the inside. The NRA (National Rifle Association) were and still are big supporters for the campaigning of the US's current president Donald Trump. Their influence in the presidency of Donald Trump is significant, they spent over 11 million dollars in donations to the campaign and invested a further 19 million to oppose Hillary Clinton. Their power and influence play a significant part in this debate.
However, there now seems to be a mood for change. Students all over America are walking out of their schools to protest and fight against gun laws. 'March For Our Lives' is a group of young people who oppose these laws and want change. So many young people all over the country are standing up and saying enough and I am joining you. I am not a student in the United States, but even though I may not be there, even though you can't see me, I want you to know that I am walking alongside you. I am only 14. The children that were killed that day were around the same age as me and to put myself in that situation, in their family's situations, makes me cry. My thoughts are with all the families and friends of the children that were killed that day and I want you all to know that my heart goes out to you and I hope that you can find strength in such a dreadful time.
You may think that I have no right in voicing my opinion because I am not a US citizen, however I am a human being and from the outside all I can see is a stubborn argument, self interest and far too much unnecessary death. The idea that children attending school are regularly shot at is mind-blowing to anyone outside of the US. We are scared to step foot inside your country. The government says that citizens need guns to protect themselves, however if there were no guns in the first place they wouldn't need to protect themselves. In 1996 Australia had a mass shooting where 35 people were killed. That was it for us, gun laws were immediately put in place to restrict gun ownership and unsurprisingly, we are all functioning well without our guns.
This must be stopped! But what seems like a simple change to the law is actually much more complicated. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted by the American people on December 15, 1791. That was centuries ago and the law was made in the context of that time. An unwillingness to step back and consider significant changes to the law is resulting in the loss of innocent lives. It doesn't have to be this way, although it may seem impossible to change from the inside. The NRA (National Rifle Association) were and still are big supporters for the campaigning of the US's current president Donald Trump. Their influence in the presidency of Donald Trump is significant, they spent over 11 million dollars in donations to the campaign and invested a further 19 million to oppose Hillary Clinton. Their power and influence play a significant part in this debate.
Approximately 3534 people have been killed by
guns so far THIS YEAR [2018] in the USA!
However, there now seems to be a mood for change. Students all over America are walking out of their schools to protest and fight against gun laws. 'March For Our Lives' is a group of young people who oppose these laws and want change. So many young people all over the country are standing up and saying enough and I am joining you. I am not a student in the United States, but even though I may not be there, even though you can't see me, I want you to know that I am walking alongside you. I am only 14. The children that were killed that day were around the same age as me and to put myself in that situation, in their family's situations, makes me cry. My thoughts are with all the families and friends of the children that were killed that day and I want you all to know that my heart goes out to you and I hope that you can find strength in such a dreadful time.
You may think that I have no right in voicing my opinion because I am not a US citizen, however I am a human being and from the outside all I can see is a stubborn argument, self interest and far too much unnecessary death. The idea that children attending school are regularly shot at is mind-blowing to anyone outside of the US. We are scared to step foot inside your country. The government says that citizens need guns to protect themselves, however if there were no guns in the first place they wouldn't need to protect themselves. In 1996 Australia had a mass shooting where 35 people were killed. That was it for us, gun laws were immediately put in place to restrict gun ownership and unsurprisingly, we are all functioning well without our guns.
I have thought long and hard about writing this article but in the end I felt that as a young person it is important to have a voice in things that matter. If I have offended anyone, I'm sorry.
~Fizzy~xo
