Credit: @wikimediacommons
At concerts, nightclubs, the movies, schools and now at a video game tournament. It seems no matter where Americans go they are at risk of being shot by a crazed gunman. Where is safe? It’s obvious that whatever we are doing to prevent these mass shootings is not working.
The left will blame the guns, and the right will blame mental health and the video games. But will any legislation ever get passed? Will anything ever actually be attempted? What’s the point of all the conversation and arguments when nothing ever gets attempted?
Since this latest tragedy happened at an eSports competition, many online video game personalities had their opinion to throw in. Prominent YouTube personality Liam Allen-Miller stated on Twitter, “Even if tighter gun control only stopped 1% of gun violence in the U.S., that would have been 95 lives in 2018 alone so far. That’d be 186 injuries. That’d be 4 children. Just 1%”.
And he doesn’t even know how right he is. According to gunviolencearchive.org, as of Aug. 27, there have been 38,000 gun-violence related incidents in 2018 alone. 447 children under 11 have been killed by guns, and 1,889 teenagers have died.
But, how can we feel safe? It’s obvious a “gun free zone” sign is not enough. It’s also obvious that an armed guard on campus or on-site is not enough, like in Parkland. So the next place to look would be to legislation and regulation.
The government needs to do something, anything at all to attempt putting an end to this. There could be more stringent background checks for firearm purchases, mental health reform or banning certain types of guns outright, yet none of these ever even get seriously considered, why?
Perhaps the single most powerful answer to why nothing gets done is the National Rifle Association’s powerful lobbying practices. The NRA is an organization of millions of gun owners across the country. It is not a single entity that stands against gun control bills, however, it is a giant organization with dozens of lawmakers, including the vast majority of conservatives, in their pockets to ensure that they will not vote against their wishes.
It is also important to remember that while the federal government and Congress can pass gun control laws, it is also up to the states to pass meaningful legislation. In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting the Florida state legislature actually passed some good legislation; while its effects are yet to be seen on the short-term it is good to know that one of the worst shootings in history is enough to spur some lawmakers to actually make some laws.
Regardless of what side of the aisle and gun control debate you fall on, it is obvious that something must be done. In Jacksonville, a young, white male with mental health issues was able to acquire a firearm and use it to injure or kill a dozen people in two minutes. Early reporting states that he simply lost his match at the video game, and that was enough to set him off on a childish murderous rampage. Why was someone like this able to acquire a firearm? Did he get it illegally? A gun show? A relative? All of these possibilities need to be explored and looked at as avenues to explore and employ some meaningful regulations. Even if it only saves one person’s life, or stops one mass shooter, it was worth it.
Responsible gun owners should not fear legislation. A perfectly responsible, upstanding and perfect gun owner who practices safe gun handling always has nothing to fear from tighter gun control. If guns are harder to get, these people will not be affected.
Also, like Jim Jefferies said in his now-viral gun control rant, “In 1996, Australia had the biggest massacre on Earth. Now, after that, they banned the guns. Since the gun ban in 1996, there hasn’t been a single massacre since.” Many nations on earth have much lower gun violence rates than the United States. Have they cured mental health? Have they fixed petty crimes and gang activity?
The shooter in Jacksonville will not be named in this article, nor will any other shooter from other tragedies of the last few years. It is immediately apparent, according to many leading psychologists that putting these monsters in a lime- light will encourage future copycats. There is no need for giving them a kill score, blasting their face to the country or comparing them on a list of top violent.
Instead of publishing the names and faces of these horrific monsters, we should focus on the victims. Eli Clayton, 22, of California and Taylor Robertson, 27, of West Virginia had their lives taken in the most meaningless way possible, and it’s important to remember them. It’s most important to remember them instead of the monster that should have his name forgotten to time.
Even if this practice by the Lions’ Pride and by some other media outlets stop even one shooter or death, it was worth. And that is really all this is about, saving lives, no matter how few and no matter at what lengths. Something just had to be done to make us feel safe.
