On June 12, outside a popular gay bar in Orlando, Florida, 49 people were killed in a massive shooting. But so were five people in Albuquerque, three in Chicago and one in New Orleans. In fact, there were 42 shootings around the country on June 12.
According to the Gun Violence Archives and Vox, in addition to those killed outside of Pulse nightclub, 18 people, including five children, were killed by gun violence that night. In the wake of the worst mass shooting in modern history, “thoughts and prayers” won’t do enough to fix this nation’s massive gun problem. Regulation will.
Omar Mateen, the Pulse shooter, had previously been interviewed by the FBI: once in 2013 and again in 2014. Mateen was still able to purchase a military-grade weapon. In fact, he used the same kind of gun used by the shooters in San Bernadino, California; Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut.
The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms, but that right is not absolute. Nothing in the Bill of Rights is. As an American, you have a right to free speech, but not if you endanger the well-being of another citizen or threaten national security. America regulates the Bill of Rights every single day. What makes the Second Amendment any different?
Gun control is a touchy subject, but the fact of the matter is that no one should be able to own a military-style assault weapon, especially if that individual has a questionable mental health status, previous criminal charges or has been interviewed by the FBI (twice). A shotgun used for killing deer is different from an AR-15. The United States can regulate the Second Amendment without abolishing it.
So far this year, the United States has witnessed 136 mass shootings ­— that is, a shooting where four or more people are wounded or killed. That’s almost one mass shooting per day. Something needs to change. But if twenty 6 year-olds being gunned down by an assault rifle in their elementary school classroom hasn’t made us change anything about this nation’s gun policies, will anything?
Pulse was a safe space for the LGBT community. It was a place where people could feel comfortable with their sexuality and relax without being judged or mocked. Being gay is not an easy lifestyle in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, LGBT teenagers are twice as more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
Being a person of color is also hard in this country. In 2010, African Americans were 55 percent of homicide victims, but only 13 percent of the population, according to the Pew Research Center.
Being LGBT and a person of color is especially difficult. In addition to having to deal with the pressures that our society places on them every day, members of these communities now must also deal with the possibility of being shot for simply existing.
“Radical Islam” is not to blame for this tragedy. A religion cannot take an assault rifle and shoot 49 people. Lawmakers who treat the Second Amendment like one of the Ten Commandments and constantly reject gun reform policies are to blame. Responsibility for the death of these innocent people falls on all of us.
Beth Carter is a 19-year-old mass communications sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.