I was in Ninth Grade when the Columbine shooting happened. That was the first major school shooting that has become somewhat of the prototype for the ones that followed. The things I remember were confusion, a class meeting in one of the art classrooms, I remember the school library getting an overall and the cubicles being removed. I also remember weird things like my favorite professional wrestler, Sting, ditching his trenchcoat for a while because of the so-called "trenchcoat mafia" hysteria surrounding the shooters. In other words, no one really knew what to make of it.
The craziest part of it? Nearly 19 years later and not much has changed. After Columbine, they blamed video games, they blamed pop culture, but nothing changed. There have been multiple shootings since Columbine, some worse than others, but they've taken place at schools, offices, movie theaters and churches, Everywhere American are supposed to feel safe, they aren't. And the politicians, especially those Republicans who take an exorbitant amount of money from the National Rifle Association have used their power to stop laws and regulations limiting access to firearms designed to save American lives.
I thought the Sandy Hook massacre would be the thing that did it. At the very least, that the senseless murder of elementary school children would be the very thing that collectively made all Americans say, "no more." But it wasn't. After a deranged gunman walked into that school and murdered children, some Americans fought like hell to change the gun laws, others just shrugged.
That's enough to leave anyone with a sense of hopelessness. America - the alleged greatest country in the world - was held at gunpoint by the gun lobby and a construed interpretation the Second Amendment.
After Sandy Hook, I used my social media as a platform to call for greater gun control regulations. There, I was only met with arguments and obstinate resistance. After the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, I wrote to my Congressman and Senators, but being from Connecticut, my representatives were already on the frontlines of the gun control debate.
In October 2017, a gunman opened fire on a concert from a hotel window. He was able to modify his semi-automatic rifle with a bump stock, allowing it to fire at a rate comparable to a fully automatic weapon. 59 people were killed, 422 injured by gunfire - no change to the laws or regulations.
Some politicians have tried to curb access to guns. There have been calls to limited the amount of ammunition allowed, banning assault-style weapons, stricter background checks. But nothing has been done because Republicans in Congress are bought and paid for by the NRA. Nothing has been done because people interpret the Second Amendment completely wrong.
And let's cut the crap about "what counts as an assault rifle." The AR-15 - the modern weapons of choice in mass shootings - is a an assault rifle designed to kill humans. By definition it's a semi-automatic version of the standard military issue M16. It's highly customizable, it's magazine fed and it fires 5.56×45mm NATO rounds, ammunition designed for combat.
The AR-15 is easily accessible because of America's seriously relaxed - even non-existent gun laws.
I've spent 19 years confused. 19 years hoping that the government would do their duty and implement laws to save lives. As a father, I'm left worrying about sending my kids to school. As the husband of a school social worker who works with mentally disabled youth and has in fact taken part in active shooter drills and has dealt with potential threats, I live in a state of fear for my wife's life.
It doesn't have to be this way, it shouldn't be like this. But this phenomena doesn't happen in other countries like Japan and the United Kingdom that have taken action after tragedies. But here in America, we're left with an organization like the NRA - currently under FBI investigation for helping the Russians funnel money to a presidential campaign - who puts out propaganda-like videos calling Americans to arms themselves against other Americans. This organization gives millions of dollars to Republicans to suppress gun laws, and rather than being a group of enthusiasts for things like hunting, sports and proper use of guns, they've become a political group that does nothing but stoke tensions in America and put lives at risk.
We've seen what Republicans offer to stop these shootings. They offer thoughts and prayers. But even as they think about them and pray to a chosen deity, the shootings keep happening. There's not going to be a divine intervention to stop these killings.
For his part, the President of the United States is meaningless and simply continues to degrade his office in the face of tragedy. Awkwardly posing for a smiling "thunbs up" picture after visiting victims and tweeting nonsensically as usual, but politicizing the deaths to attack his own FBI (because they are investigating his criminal activities).
All of this is enough to leave anyone feeling hopeless. But following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, something changed.
For the first time, students are at the forefront of the discussion. Students are calling on politicians to change things. They are calling out the meaningless rhetoric, a weak president's inaction and they are going after the NRA. These young Americans have been relentless. They weren't even alive when Columbine happened, but I listen to them and they speak for me. I see these kids on national television speaking out with purpose and conviction. Usually by this time in the news cycle, a mass shooting is no longer a major headline (as sad as that is), but the young voices coming out of Florida have already planned a march, they are calling for action and they are demanding change.
These kids are the voice of everyone who has called for gun control, they speak for everyone who has wanted to restrict access to firearms for those with violent histories or mental disabilities. These kids are the voice that the Columbine generation has been searching for over the last two decades.
It's working. Republicans donors are suddenly ramping up the pressure for lawmakers to get something done. There is increased pressure on the NRA. The kids are directly calling out the GOP and the NRA, politically, the optics are terrible and these groups know it. The NRA is becoming as toxic as they should be and Republicans are left scrambling to find their moral compass.
The future of America has a voice, it is powerful and they are demanding change. We should all stand with them.
