Imagine growing up in a country where people cared more about a controversial ad rather than guns. Imagine growing up in a country where mass shootings became a daily thing. Imagine growing up in a country where people become desensitized to shootings and forgot about them the next day. That is what America has become, with over 154 shootings alone in 2018 the government doesn’t plan on doing anything anytime soon. Growing up, I have always had one fear. Guns. Watching shows that involve guns gives me goosebumps. 2 of my uncles have been shot before in a robbery which terrifies me even more. I remember clearly, on December 14, 2012, my entire family was drinking hot chocolate and we were watching tv when we found out there was a shooting. From the minute I found out there was a shooting my started having a mini panic attack because it scared me so much. Even though I was only 10 years old I understood everything. The thought that a 20-year-old would shoot and kill little children terrified me. Ever since then I have been even more scared of guns.

To begin, when I was in third grade I remember I overheard my mom talking to my grandma about how my uncle had been shot. The second I heard that my stomach dropped. My uncle had been shot in the stomach and in the left leg 3 times. He was on his way home from work when he was stopped by 4 guys in ski masks. When they told him to empty his pockets he refused, got shot, and was left to die. Thankfully, someone passing by saw my uncle and called 911 and saved his life. He had to get emergency surgery and recovering was a difficult process. That incident really shook me and every time there’s a shooting I get pretty shaken up. I’ve never really talked about this kind of stuff to anyone before because I feel like I might get judged but, this is something that everyone needs to be aware of.

When people find out there was a shooting they tend to forget a couple days later because it has become such a normal thing but, I don’t forget. Gun violence is something I can talk about for hours because it is a subject that everyone needs to worry about. When the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting happened I didn’t stop thinking about to for a couple months. After that high school shooting, I began to do some research and found a lot of things and found out how easy it is to obtain a gun. An estimated 40% of gun transfers happen in the United States yearly and are sold through private sellers that don’t require background checks. States also slack in giving the required information to the government and, names of people that are not allowed to own weapons. To continue, a terrorist can get a hold of a military grade weapon with a simple background check. Not only that, if gun traffickers are caught they only get charged for selling without a license and do not serve any jail time. When I found all this information I was extremely shocked because it is so so easy to get obtain a gun.

There have been a lot of shootings since 2000 but if people continue to fight and make sure voices are heard we can make a change. After the Douglas high school shooting there has been a lot more coverage on guns and banning them but, we still need to keep bringing attention to it because it is something that is taking away lives. Every day we go without trying to fight for gun control we are one day closer to another mass shooting and more lives being taken away from innocent people. We need to fight for people who can’t anymore and make sure the government starts taking control.