People used to visit places like churches, grocery stores and schools without fear, but that is surely not the case anymore. Shooting massacres and the drastic increase in gun violence have brought fear into the lives of many people.
Public events like the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, are fun to go to but with shooting massacres like the tragedy at the Las Vegas country music concert and Gilroy Garlic Festival, it’s easy to understand why attendees may feel on edge at open venues. These acts of terror are happening in everyday public settings where the lives of so many, including children, are taken away. Research conducted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization, shows that firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens and the first leading cause of death for Black children and teens. The constant risk of a public attack is changing the country’s culture.
Event organizers can do more: they should look at security measures in place first and be up to date with changes. With events like festivals, security always seems to be the question in mind. The larger the crowd, the tougher it is to get a better understanding of the quantity of security personnel.
But security will never be enough, especially against automatic weapons that are designated for war, and can kill a crowd of people in seconds. We need our elected officials to do their jobs and pass legislation to protect us from gun violence and mass shootings.
The issue ultimately lies in the hands of the people in government. There have been more than 300 shootings so far in 2019 according to CBS News. The fact that no new laws have been put into effect simply shows that congress doesn’t seem to care about the lives that were lost.
Recently the San Francisco Board of Supervisors came out to say that the National Rifle Association is a “domestic terrorist organization”. They approved a resolution to investigate the relationships between its contractors and vendors and the NRA, but the NRA sued the city of San Francisco in response.
The city was not able to continue its investigation in result of the lawsuit, which is a missed opportunity on the city’s part. These are the types of changes that would begin to spark a change. To see who and what the NRA is funding is vital to know.
Having a fun and care-free society is a dangerous illusion. With what feels like shootings occurring on a daily basis, stricter gun laws seem to be the only option that would genuinely make a difference. Our elected government officials think that sending out a tweet offering thoughts and prayers does more than actually setting new policies.
These seem to be just empty words because thoughts and prayers are not actually doing anything to save lives. What would actually save lives is if there were stricter gun laws and people stopped valuing guns over human beings.
