Bonus #7: New Generation, New Hope--Kathleen Paxtor

The debate on gun control has become a huge national debate throughout all of America. People are either for guns or they’re not. I personally believe that stricter rules to attain a gun should be implemented. I moved from a really small town that is full of people who live out in the country and carry guns at all times. It is all they know and what they have been taught for years. Unfortunately, because people have been allowed to carry and obtain guns easily they feel like it is their right. And in a way it is, the Constitution does allow the right to bare arms but that was back then. The Constitution can be amended when needed and that time is now. When children are dying everyday and in masses isn’t a sign to control guns then what is? Is easier access to carry guns worth the life of a child? Imagine if that was your child, put yourself in the lives of those parents that have lost their children to guns. People argue that gun control is unfair but the killing of children in inhumane.

I don’t think guns are necessarily bad, I just think that they are necessary at all times. I understand that people that live in the country have a necessity for them. Some people need them to protect themselves from bears or deer, but I don’t think a 16-year-old kid should be able to get a gun so quickly. Back when I graduated high school there was an incident of this kid who was also a senior that got in trouble for having his gun in his car. He had gone hunting that morning and left in in his truck. Somebody found out and told on him and he got reprimanded and was not going to be able to walk at graduation. In instances like this I understand that it was an accident, that he hadn’t purposely brought it to school with him but what if he had been a psychopath? It would’ve been just as easy for another 17 year old to have access to a gun and brought it to campus. Gaining access to guns is so easy and so unnecessary. In this last year we have had about 20 school shootings; we are only 3 months into 2018. When is enough, enough?

This up and coming generation has decided that it is time to end the death of innocent children. After the Florida shooting many teenagers have had enough and are organizing rallies against guns. I have hope for the future because these teens are the future. They are unafraid to voice out their opinions regardless of the backlash. They will grow up to be lawmakers that do not have close-minded views. This generation has suffered through many things that will hopefully allow them to influence the future. Teens are now more open-minded than the older generations that have governed for years; as the older generations die out so do the close-minded organizations that will make room for growth as a country.