In 1988, Winona Ryder broke out in the teen cult classic, Heathers, a movie centered around the feeling of frustration with high school “friends.” Winona Ryder’s character, Veronica Sawyer, falls into a relationship with the new kid in town, Jason Dean. The two “accidentally” kill Veronica’s best friend, and then are caught up in multiple other murders, framing them all as suicides. When things get out of hand, Veronica attempts to get out of the Bonnie and Clyde situation, only to find out that her beau is planning to blow up the school. Luckily, this was the 80s and our heroine has a gun that she uses to shoot and injure the crazy teenage boy, ultimately saving the school. We even have shooting sports like airsoft that teaches teenagers marksmanship and how to take care of their Airsoft Parts so they can continue competiting.
In the past couple of weeks, the topic of gun control has been on the forefront of the minds of Americans everywhere in the wake of a school shooting in Florida. The shooter was a mentally ill nineteen-year-old boy who had legally obtained the guns he used. Since then, students from the school where the shooting took place have flocked to Capitol Hill and the Florida State Capitol to demand gun control. The media has called and cried over the supposed 18 school shooting in 2018 alone. Trump has put out a few ideas to subdue the outcry for reform. There are companies out there that are trying their best to develop gun detection systems to help to protect homes and businesses. Throughout the last few weeks, we have seen dishonesty and naivety in the media, leaders of our country, and everyone in between.
First of all, this wasn’t a gun issue. Nicholas Cruz, the shooter in the Florida school shooting, had been reported to the FBI, expelled from his school, and the local police had visited his house 36 times. If the government didn’t take care of it at the school level, the county level, or the national level, what makes you think they should take our guns away from us? Clearly, you can’t trust the government with everything, so why would you want to surrender a self-defense weapon to them? The second amendment was created so the people could protect themselves against the bad guys and against the government if it came down to it.
If you implement gun control, the bad guys aren’t gonna check the handbook before they buy a gun illegally. In Europe, where some of the strictest gun laws reside, acid attacks, stabbings, bombings, and trucks running through crowds have increased. In 1938 Germany established gun control, and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews and others who were unable to protect themselves were rounded up and killed. In the 20th century alone, 56 million people were murdered because they were unable to protect themselves due to gun control. The Soviet Union, Turkey, Germany, China, Guatemala, Uganda, and Cambodia all contributed to that number. However, Switzerland, who has the lowest gun related crime rate of any civilized country in the world, issues every household a gun and trains every adult that has a gun. Gun control kills.
The media has fallen in love with articles about the supposed 18 school shootings in January and February alone. In reality, two of those incidents were someone shooting themselves on school property. Four times a bullet was fired through a school door or window, and no one was injured. Three times a gun was fired on school grounds, also no injuries. Three times there was a single injury, twice, there was more than one person shot. Three times there was a shooting that killed less than two people. Nine out of 18 supposed school shootings were not school shootings at all, and 8 were defused quickly. Now, a single casualty is one too many, but I can guarantee that these situations would have been defused even quicker had teachers and faculty members been armed. As a high school student in a country school, I want my teachers armed and trained to take down any crazy that may walk in. Luckily, President Trump has the same idea.
In a tweet, he expressed his appreciation for armed educators and suggested they ought to get a raise. That decision is ultimately up to the states though, something he also mentioned in that tweet. Trump revealed that he wanted harsher background checks, specifically on the mentally ill, raising the age to purchase a long gun to 21, and ending the sale of bump stocks. The majority of gun violence comes from the hands of someone who is mentally ill. I’m all for increasing background checks. I know I’ll pass with flying colors. However, I strongly disagree with raising the age to purchase a long gun to 21. I look forward to the day I turn 18, move to Virginia for college, and get my concealed handgun license as soon as possible. I want a gun on my hip as soon as I legally can for when the crazies come in. I also want the freedom to buy the gun I want, whether that be a gun I keep in my purse, or a gun I hunt with. Too much can happen between the ages of 18 and 21, especially to a young college girl. If you can be drafted at 18, why shouldn’t you be able to buy a gun? Now, a bump stock essentially is a device that turns a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon. Many people think they’re too bulky and don’t work near as well as they claim to. Because I’m not an owner or user of a bump stock, I really don’t have an opinion on whether they ought to be banned or not, but I also don’t really know why any law abiding citizen would need to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute. If you have an idea of why bump stocks are useful, educate me. Lord knows that those that disagree with me will try to.
Taking away our guns is not the answer. Arming the good guys more than the bad guys is the answer. The bad guy had a gun in Heathers but was thwarted by a good girl with a gun and better aim. Have a brain. Have a gun. Have good aim.
Savanna Graves first found a passion for politics and government on the 2016 campaign trail for her father. Since then she has been increasingly involved with Turning Point USA, Future Female Leaders, and PragerU, organizations that spread the message of small government and capitalism. She plans on attending Liberty University in the fall of 2018 to study political science and journalism. Views expressed in this column are hers and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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