Put the guns down (339)

       It has been a tough time for our district the past few weeks as we have lost some of our own. Most recently, a sophomore from Washington has lost his life because of a gun and it has shook the community. He was part of the basketball team, baseball team, and football team so he was very well known. Guns are so easily accessed now a days and gun violence and laws are being pushed in the media because of recent issues. Political candidates go back and forth in debates about whether guns should be as easy to get as candy and people everywhere have strong opinions on this issue. It never really hits us how easy guns are accessed until it hits home, though. When movie theaters are shot up, when innocent elementary kids are at risk because of a psycho with a gun, or when an innocent African American teen gets shot and killed does it only become prominent to us. This time, though, it was a child that had so much going for him. It was a team mate and a peer who now leaves an empty spot on the field or court and an empty desk in the class room. People always use the justification "the person shot the gun and the gun didn't shoot itself", but the shot wouldn't have gone  off if the gun wasn't accessible. Little kids carry around guns just like they carry around books because we have been desensitized to the multiple shootings around the world. When another mass shooting happens we shrug it off because it happens all the time, when we should actually be asking ourselves what is wrong with the world. Instead of handing out guns, we should be handing out our heart on our sleeve and making this world a better place for our children and our children's children. We always talk about global warming and leaving a better world for out children with a smaller footprint, but what about leaving better children for our world?