As I scroll through social media, my eyes jump from post to post about the mass shooting that happened last Tuesday. My eyes tear up as I see repeated phrases such as “I send my condolences to the families of the victims” or “my thoughts are prayers are with those involved.” As nice as these thoughts are, condolences are simply not enough, and they never were.

It’s time for change. 

19 children and two teachers were brutally murdered at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. 19 children were stripped of their happy futures and endless opportunities. 

According to CNN, this massacre is now the second deadliest since the Sandy Hook Shooting in 2012.

Ten years since that tragedy occurred, and clearly we have failed to make any changes. In other words, we have failed the children of this country.

The problem lies only in America, with 288 shootings occurring in our country since 2009. This number may shock you in its entirety, but what is more shocking is the other countries’ statistics. The second most common country with school shootings is Mexico with a count of 8 since 2009. The countries following up in the list continue to decrease in the number of shootings as you can see here.

This national problem can only be solved with one factor: gun control.

We need to wake up because it should not take 21 innocent lives to realize what this country needs to change.

We must prevent this from happening again because as I said in my last article about this topic, “The only upside and silver lining is that we can change our ways in the future.”

Criminal background checks need to be lengthened and more thorough. Too many dangerous people get a hold of guns and commit atrocious acts with them. If we can get weapon dispersion under control, I am positive the fatality numbers from gun violence will sink.

45,222 people died from gun-related injuries during the year 2020, according to BBC News. If gun control rules were stricter, there is a possibility that many of these people would be living among us right now.

According to Daily Beast, Salvador Ramos bought two assault rifles on his birthday. This raises the question: how did an eighteen-year-old kid get a hold of two dangerous weapons so easily and quickly? More importantly, why is this commonly allowed in our country?

Because this action is legal, 21 innocent people are now dead. It’s time to reconsider and embark on the path to change.

We can and we have no choice but to do better.