“12 are shot dead in Aurora movie theater shooting.” 7/20/12
“28 are killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.” 12/14/12
“14 dead, 22 wounded in San Bernardino gunfire.” 12/2/15
“50 fatalities in Orlando nightclub shooting. Largest mass shooting in US history.” 6/12/16

The largest mass shooting in US history happened this week, and I’m still trying to wake up from a horrible nightmare. Because where I live, 50 innocent lives aren’t stolen in senseless acts. Where I live, people love one another no matter their gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. If they cannot find a way to love those who are different, they will learn how to tolerate them. Where I live, a man cannot buy a gun whenever he wants and use it wherever and however he wants.

At least, this is where I want to live. This is where I live until I wake up and realize that all of this horror really does happen in my very own country. The “promise” land. The place where people come to start a new beginning. The place that outsiders look at and see a country where they can thrive. If this is what we claim to be, America, why is it that innocent lives are stolen from us year after year? Why am I barely even surprised when I see another shooting on the news? More importantly, why aren’t we doing anything about it? 

Someday, my children are going to find out that I grew up in a time where a person can walk in somewhere, with a weapon they legally obtained, and take the lives of anyone in front of them. They will ask me why, and I’ll have to say I don’t know. I don’t know why, and that could be the worst part. No one will ever understand why terrible things like this happen. We can search and search for a reason and some sort of twisted logic, but at the end of the day, it’s simply senseless violence. Nobody should have access to that kind of violence. I don’t know why the shooters were able to shoot. I don’t know why such a horrific and common problem is not being solved.

I feel like I’m screaming, but no words are coming out. “DO SOMETHING!”, I want to yell, but I’m silenced by the authorities who believe that a change does not need to be made. How many lives does it take? How many people have to die until this ongoing massacre ends? When is enough enough? I’ll tell you, enough was enough when the very first person was ever shot by the bullet of an inhumane perpetrator. This won’t stop until something is done.

I need gun control so I can someday raise my family in a place where I know they can be safe, because right now I’m not quite sure what the word “safe” really means. The children going to a normal day of school in Connecticut thought they were safe. The innocent people looking to see a new movie with friends thought they were safe. The 50 lives that sought out a fun night at the club surrounded by those who support and love them thought they were safe. What if someday my sister is the one who isn’t safe? Or my parents? Or my best friend? Or me? More importantly, we need gun control because America is supposed to be a place where we can live our lives in peace and harmony. I want my country to be a place that I’m proud to live in, and I truly believe that gun control will reclaim my faith in the land of promise.