Shots fired. Lives lost. How much is too much? The gun laws are getting out of hand and it is terrifying. There have been too many shootings in 2018, too many lives taken, for the sole fact that gun owners won’t give up their guns.

I am tired of hearing all the news stories and seeing all the social media posts about mass shootings and all about how prayers are going out to the friends and families who lost someone. It’s time to actually make a change.

This year alone, 18 shootings have taken place in America. 18 shootings that have taken away lives and made our whole country hesitant to feel safe in public places. Texas has a law passed for open carry, and I think it’s time for a new approach.

My sister, a student at The University of Texas, has on two different occasions found guns sitting in public settings, with no owner in sight. Our government says that they have thorough background checks on their gun buyers, but is that enough? Anyone could have picked up those guns and that is the most terrifying thought to me.

The gun owners in our country? Or gun owners in our country use the following counter argument “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” They blame mental illnesses, but then never give the proper funding and support for people with mental illness. And if mental illness is the problem, then there should be better background checks on the gun owners.

But my main point. Let’s just get rid of the guns. We are sacrificing our right to bare arms for our right to live. This year, the terrorist attack in Parkland, Florida, caused the loss of 17 innocent students. These high school students did nothing but go to school, and they died.

The remaining students of Majory Stoneman Douglas High School have stepped up the ante. They have gathered rallies across the state, and with a resounding amount of support, we are still moving forward. A big spokesperson for this movement is Emma Gonzalez. She is all over social media and news outlets talking about the shooting and how enough is enough.

Emma Gonzalez is 18 years old, she shouldn’t have to be the adult. Our politicians are being children. Our politicians, our president, is on Twitter harassing these students for having their opinions. They are calling them immature and children, but as far as I’m concerned, there is nothing more childish and immature than going onto a social media platform and attacking young adults who have been through such horrific events.

There have been too many situations where our politicians have said that “exposing our children to gay culture will be too confusing for them” but imagine having to explain to your kid why a school, or a movie theater, or a business headquarter was shot up. Try to explain to your kid why they no longer have a neighbor because someone took their life. Try to explain why they have to stay in their house all day because they haven’t found the shooter yet. That sounds pretty confusing to me.
It’s 2018. It is insane that we are still dealing with this.