Las Vegas Shooting Harms the Lives and Emotions of Millions
Written by Breanna Armstrong, No Bio on Thursday, November 16, 2017
On October 1, Stephen Paddock, 64, started shooting at a concert in Las Vegas, leaving 59 people dead and 527 injured. Police later found more weapons, explosives, and ammo in his hotel room and house. His motives are still unknown.
Many have talked about this on social media, including famous people and our own president. President Donald Trump posted on Twitter a day after the shooting, saying that "[His] warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" However, they haven't talked about how Americans should deal with this.
Many don't deal with massacres like this. The public just tries to forget about it.
Some shootings that have occurred close to Snohomish include the 2014 shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School, where four students died. Or 2016 where three high schoolers died and one was injured at a party put on by students from Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. Just this past September students were killed and injured in a mass shooting at Freeman High School in Spokane, and SHS students reacted strongly, proclaiming the message "Freeman strong!" at football games and during the week, wearing Freeman's school colors to promote their support in the face of this tragedy. As a community, all we do is talk about these tragedies on social media, and then forget the next day or by the end of the week.
Every tragedy should pull us together as a community and country, and the lives changed by the lives lost should not be forgotten. We need to help bring peace to the families and victims, and peace to our neighborhoods by cracking down on those who buy guns to harm instead of heal. There have been too many tragedies caused by others’ hate. The laws differ from state to state: In Nevada, you may own a rifle, shotgun, and handgun without a state permit, and this is how Paddock was able to acquire the weapons that took those 59 lives. If there were more restraints on guns that prohibited the excessive purchase of these types of firearms, many of these shootings may have never happened.
When will this stop? When will the government finally say that all these deaths caused by poor firearm regulation have gone too far? When you speak up. Every person can help end this, and save not just the lives of those innocent civilians, but the lives of their parents, siblings, children, and spouses.
