One of the most
controversial topics in our country is Gun Control yet it is one of the most
misunderstood areas of political discourse. With the rise of mass shootings
since Columbine the American public is at large with the amount of support for
stricter gun legislation; among the group are students. In this generation of
millennials and generation Z, the access to social media through technology is
as easy as checking the time on your wrist watch. News travels and it travels
fast. No easier could generations before them assemble a protest with hundreds
of students in such short time than these two generations.
Could this new generation
of teenagers change the reciprocity of our political arena? I think so. They
are changing social media, language, companies, etc.… Why would that not
include politics? There is a surge of fear going around Washington D.C.
Congressmen are afraid that by shutting these students out they will lose
support and lose their districts; they are afraid that by supporting them, they
are also shutting out support from older generations and thus by not providing
full support for either side, they are merely floating in a large body of water
afraid to swim in either direction and there is no progress.
We have seen in polls
that a majority of Americans support tougher gun legislation and fifty percent
of gun owners are also in favor of gun legislation. Other polls have found that
on average self-identified republicans, independents, and democrats want
congress to do more to address gun violence. If the people want it then it
should be addressed. Florida has just
recently introduced a state gun control bill that could change the face of gun
laws. The bill will address the need for mental health services, a waiting
period to buy a gun, and increases the legal age to buy a gun.
Gun control is not an
infringement on anyone’s second amendment rights but rather it is a restriction
to the kinds of people we want to carry dangerous firearms. Do you really need
an assault rifle to protect you from something that may statistically never
happen? Do not hide behind self-defense, because studies demonstrate that the
likelihood of an armed good guy shooting an armed or unarmed bad guy are
extremely rare.
Does this generation of
students leave a print on society? If they don’t they won’t back down, you’ll
hear from them soon enough. This new generation refuses to be known as the mass
shooter generation or the tide-pod generation. They are proving to us that
social media is a powerful tool, that technology is at their disposal, that
their voices do matter, and that change is demanded not given. They demand to
feel safe while they pursue an education.
I really appreciate this post! When you or anyone says “gun control,” what does that consist of? I feel that the “control” part of it is the most difficult part of this situation. This will leave open a lot of areas for several discrepancies such as race discrimination, gender discrimination, situational discrimination. What I mean by situational discrimination is someone that may have a situation that could prevent them from obtaining a right to bare arms based on unrelated scenario. For example, someone that may be considered ineligible because of their living area and respective crime rated. Consider this, if everyone was armed during every mass shootings, there would have been a huge reduction in casualties during those events.
ReplyDelete-Rob D