By Samantha Werkheiser
Editor-in-Chief
There’s a sickness in this country and it appears to be spreading.
Last Valentine’s Day yet another tragic massacre happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Florida.
Seventeen people lost their lives to unnecessary and preventable violence.
I am deeply saddened by this recent shooting, but I’d be lying if I said I was shocked by it.
Occurrences like this have become all too common in this day and age, so much so that we have become used to it.
There have been 18 shootings so far in 2018 alone, this is absolutely horrifying.
What is even more horrifying is that this was absolutely preventable, yet it still happened.
The fact that the FBI knew about the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, well before this happened.
Cruz stated multiple times on social media that he planned to be a school shooter, yet he was able to obtain several guns.
How does this happen?
Sure, the FBI admitted to not doing all that they could, but that is not enough.
An apology will not bring back the innocent lives that were lost in this most recent tragedy.
They need to start taking threats like this more seriously, especially when they are explicitly stated on public forums.
President Trump continues to push off revising the gun laws, or making them stricter.
He continues to say that following a tragedy isn’t the appropriate time to talk about gun laws, but when is the time?
These shootings keep happening, so much that they are no longer surprising.
There is no “good” time to talk about these laws if we’re going off of what Trump says because these shootings are always happening.
It’s clear that the current gun laws allow for people with severe mental distrubances to obtain guns.
This is a huge problem, and I feel that the psychological screenings should be made stricter.
Having to take an actual psyche performed by a professional should be required for applying for a license to carry.
I also think that if a person resides with anyone who has a mental illness, then they will not qualify for a license either.
When people go in to renew their carrying permits, they should also have to retake a psyche evaluation, to make sure they are still sound enough to carry a weapon.
It may be controversial, but I also feel that a screening of a person’s social media should be done as well.
Sure, applicants may not receive their licenses to carry quite as fast, but it has the potential to make things safer.
It also means that people would be even more apt to watch what they post on social media.
For those that are worried about not getting approved for their licenses, then perhaps they truly shouldn’t have a gun.
The people who have a clean record and good mental health shouldn’t be concerned with not being approved for a license to carry.
It saddens me to know that we live in a country that seems to care more about having guns than protecting the children in our nation.
As a nation. I feel like our priorities are in the wrong place.
The truth is, I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even know if I have the right ideas or suggestions to make this kind of violence stop, but I do know that it does need to stop. We cannot go on like this.
Email Samantha at:
swerkheis4@live.esu.edu