My life is in the hands of people I do not trust. I have hardly begun to live, and to have my life taken away by a gunman, in my school, or on the street, somewhere I will die completely alone, has become a very real possibility. This tragic fate has been thrust onto so many children, most younger than me, that it is difficult to have any sort of hope in the government’s decisions anymore. Politicians have, time and again, illustrated in their decision making that the well-being of children is less important than funding by the NRA. How many innocent children must be murdered before our government takes notice of the changes that need to be implemented? Our country has gone down an incredibly dark path, one that puts the right to bear arms above the right to live and to feel secure in your own school. There are a few key policies that must be modified in order to prevent school shootings.

As a girl who has grown up in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is primarily Republican, I have heard time and again the conservative viewpoint, and to be frank, it disgusts me. Ranting about the Constitution, these gun rights advocates argue that Americans need their freedom to wield weaponry and defend themselves in this way without questions asked, for it has been the rule since the founding of America. They fail to recognize that the Constitution was written at a time in which men only had access to hunting weapons, and small, hand-held guns. There were no AR-15s, and automatic weapons of war were not available. As America grows and changes, our regulations must be revised. Absolutist gun law advocates will still preach that the founding fathers intended for weaponry to be readily available for anyone to access. However, I believe that if the founding fathers were able to see what is happening now, they would be repulsed.

Some pro-gun people tend to bring up the point that stricter gun laws will not solve the problem. After all, criminals or mentally ill people can obtain guns illegally. While this is true to an extent, most mass shooters have purchased their guns legally. More specifically, in the last three decades, 82% of weapons used by mass shooters have been bought legally. (Washington Post) This statistic illustrates the fact that guns are easily obtained by anyone who wants them, without a thorough background check. Background checks only take minutes presently, and there have been many instances where people who should not have access to guns have “slipped through the cracks” and been able to obtain them anyway. (The Trace) The weak framework of present background checks practically pave the way for these people to acquire the tools needed to carry out a mass shooting. Defense is no longer part of the equation when it comes to weaponry. Therefore, background checks need to become more thorough, with extensive research of medical and criminal records. The same laws that protect a man who keeps his guns in a display case, untouched, are costing the lives of thousands of innocent children.

The sick, cruel reality of how the lives of children are being taken advantage as a result of selfishness and ignorance shows that our nation is devoid of justice. Growing up in this time period of violence and cruelty has opened my eyes to how horrendous life can be. These children who have died will never have their voices heard, their rights protected, their lives respected. Their families are devastated and there is no consolation, because the same patterns occur again and again. There is no way of predicting when terror and death will rear its ugly head once again, leaving bloodstains on the history of our nation. So, I am here, as a child, scared, vulnerable, and unsure of the future, demanding change. Changes must be brought about and will not just happen as a result of tragedy. Democrats and Republicans, as the people of the United States, must come together and face the truth. And then, as we come to terms with the violence that has permanently left its mark on our nation, we must prevent these horrific events from ever happening again. We, as a nation, must rebel. We must throw riots, cause an uproar, and cement into the minds of the people in power that we will not cease until progress is made, until these politicians see what must be done.

As a start, background checks must become more thorough and include documents such as medical records to ensure that mentally unstable or people with questionable behaviors do not have access to weaponry. Gun laws must be strengthened and revised to ensure that children’s lives are being taken into careful consideration. Security must be heightened in all schools, with police officers observing any shady activity taking place, and any suspicious characters being watched closely. Any precaution that can be taken must be taken, for a human’s life is immeasurable in value, and once it is lost, it is lost forever.