In the light of the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, our country is on high alert. Many are angry, scared, and mourning. Some people demand for tighter gun control and even a ban on assault weapons. Others argue against it and many scramble to buy weapons fearing the laws will soon become tough.
Gun control has become a huge issue now but I feel this is a two-sided coin. On the one hand, I think assault weapons should not be so easily obtained. Don’t get me wrong, I support the second amendment, but I’ve noticed assault weapons seem to be the main culprit in these incidents and they should be heavily regulated at the very least. But other firearms that anyone can buy legally shouldn’t be targeted by this. The weapons are merely a tool manipulated by an individual and I think many forget that. But I honestly don’t think it matters if there are strict guns laws or not. If someone wants to get a gun and do something crazy that badly, they’ll jump through whatever hoops necessary to do it. The debates and attacks on gun control are distracting us from what’s really important: school security.
We need to crack down on security in schools. It can be as simple as watching the doors or installing bulletproof windows. It could be as complex as getting metal detectors, more security guards, or more cameras. Some people might disagree and say this is ridiculous. But is it really? I don’t think so.
Although school budgets are extremely tight, if extra security means government intervention, then so be it. But it can’t stop there. This needs to be extended to other places as well. We can’t forget that these gun massacres are not exclusive to schools. I’m not saying turn our theaters, malls, churches and other places into maximum security facilities, but if security guards are more aware and have more of a presence, it might be a step in the right direction towards the overall safety of the public..
I understand that these incidents occurring every once in while are what this country is used to. I also understand that this particular tragedy, while not the worst of its kind, is most notable because of its setting in an elementary school. It’s a whole new level of inhumanness; if the line hasn’t been crossed before, it definitely has been now.
But why did we let this go so far? I feel that if we would have paid more attention to this in the past, less of these tragedies would be occurring. I also fear that people will let this slide and just write it off as another tragedy. But we can’t ignore this. We need to tackle it head-on while it’s still fresh in our minds and do something about it.