Opinion

Let’s protect people from guns instead of protecting them with guns

Jana Guerra, Reporter|March 2, 2023

Pistol behind lock and chains symbolic of gun control.

It’s only February, and this past year alone there have already been about 81 mass shootings nationwide, but this month, there was a violent rampage at MSU, on Feb. 14 where an active shooter went on a spree and killed/injured multiple students. It’s disheartening to say, but unless real action is taken, these shootings will be dismissed as statistics, fade away as news headlines, and the same vicious cycle will repeat itself.

There seems to be this weird patriotism connected to the resistance to gun control. The Second Amendment always comes up in conversations when it comes to gun control and this sort of “culture” has been cultivated through the resistance. People who are self-proclaimed “patriots” and pride themselves in their devotion to America seem to be tied to their weapons and it’s become a bulk of their identities.

However, while “protecting” the Second Amendment and being tied to guns could be a factor in wanting less gun control, another factor could be, plain and simple, money. While the NRA is lining the pockets of corrupt politicians, people are being shot to death. As it turns out, politicians who push for less gun reform are coincidentally the same ones being paid the most by the NRA.

After the Uvalde shooting on May 4, 2022, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was interviewed by FOX. “In 2013, I introduced legislation that would spend $300 million on federal grants to harden schools to make them safer, to make them more protected,” Cruz said. “I have introduced legislation to save schools like this. Elementary schools behind me can get federal grants to harden their security to put in bulletproof doors– bulletproof glass.”

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We shouldn’t have to add bulletproof glass to protect our children. It is also interesting to learn that once politicians are no longer running for office, their stances on common-sense gun control laws shift.

— Jana Guerra

But what Cruz fails to mention is that if stronger legislation on gun reform was passed, we wouldn’t have to spend $300 million on protection for schools. We shouldn’t have to add bulletproof glass to protect our children. It is also interesting to learn that once politicians are no longer running for office, their stances on common-sense gun control laws shift. It’s unfortunate to see how politicians care more about their public image and appeasing their desired demographic than the lives of people.

Background checks are another issue that gun reform could solve. When people buy from licensed gun vendors, they must go through a background check in order to own said gun. In spite of this, many gun owners receive their guns from privately owned businesses and do not have to go through a background check.

“Most Americans want common-sense gun controls, such as requiring background checks and not allowing children to carry,” English paraprofessional Cindy Fey said. “The gun industry and its soulless lobbyists are holding the country, hostage, with their big donations to greedy members of Congress. Gun deaths go down in states with tighter gun restrictions. Gun control works.”

The many loopholes in background checks only increase the risk of an unknowingly dangerous person owning a gun.

“It is not possible to monitor who has access to guns at home or really any way to stop someone from bringing a gun,” a student said in an NSN survey. “It is a threat here as much as anywhere else. I live in a state of heightened awareness and concern here as well as in many other public places.”

So now, the next question is, as a student or staff member, what can you do?

A majority of the students here at North are under 18, therefore they cannot really do much to vote these politicians out of office. Something that students can do is push awareness onto those who are eligible. However, those people 18 and over can vote these politicians out of office. Raise awareness and vote, vote, vote.