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What Will It Take For These Elected Assholes To Take Action On Guns?

Pulse Club Shooting

Over the weekend, there was yet another mass shooting which left 49 innocent victims dead and 53 more injured. The gunman {who I refuse to name}, who is of Afghan descent was involved in a running firefight with off duty police officers working as security as he forced his way into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL before firing an assault rifle indiscriminately inside before calling 911 to pledge allegiance to ISIS.

There has been 182 mass shootings in 2016; there has been six since Sunday’s massacre at the Pulse Club alone. Yet, congress refuses to do anything other than offer “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families; thoughts and prayers will not bring back all those innocent lives lost to gun violence.

Presumptive presidential nominee for the Republicans, Donald Trump reiterated his stance that if everyone in the club was armed with guns, it would have been a different story. And I agree, it would be a very different story, it would have been much worse. In a dark, noisy chaotic environment like a nightclub, 200+ alcohol fueled people all pulling guns and firing at perceived threats, what could possible go wrong?

The saddest thing is that it has become so normalized that we get mad for a day or two before moving on and forgetting about the dozens of victims of gun violence. In my home country of the UK; there was one mass shooting at a school in Dunblane, Scotland and public ownership of guns was swiftly restricted.

The issue is that so many members of congress take contributions from the National Rifle Association. Like all money in politics, these “donors” want something in return, Hillary can talk up the myth that money from interests they regulate does not affect their policy positions, but that will never make it true.

Don’t even get me started on the second amendment; which reads “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. Let’s start with the first phrase “A well regulated militia”; a bunch of untrained gun owners does not make a militia and it certainly is not organized in any way, shape or form, that’s for sure.

The second part “being necessary to the security of a free State”, just how? SHOULD the government want to take away your “free state”, no amount of guns or assault rifles will stop them. The second amendment is from a bygone age vastly different from today, time for an amendment for the modern age.

I would love to see a complete and total ban on public gun ownership; but that is next to impossible, so the next best thing is tighter control on guns, both in ability to purchase them and how to store them. There has been a number of cases in which children have shot parents because their firearm was not secured and out of reach of their children recently; this is far from responsible gun ownership.

I believe the average person is not responsible enough to own a deadly weapon; with gun ownership comes great responsibility. There are a lot of responsible gun owners, who store their firearm securely and take common sense precautions; but sadly a lot of guns are in the hands of people who seem to lack common sense, c’mon why store your gun in the back seat of your car where your child can get hold of it?

I understand that tighter gun regulation will not solve the problem, but if just one life can be saved because a person could not purchase a gun because of a mental or criminal issue, it’s worthwhile. In the Orlando shooting, the person who murdered 49 people had been investigated twice by the FBI on suspicion of terrorism, yet was still able to walk into a gun store and purchase an assault rifle, wow!

In Kansas, my state of residence, a 2015 change in gun laws means a permit is not required to purchase a firearm, nor is it a requirement to register said firearm. You cannot legally buy a car and drive it without registration, a license and insurance, so why are guns allowed to be sold without this documentation?

Back to congress, you can keep your thought and prayers; they mean absolutely nothing when you have the power to fix the problem; but keep taking the NRA money and do their bidding, never mind the thousands of people that are killed or injured by guns, we’re sick of congress’ do nothing mentality.

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