Editorial: We are the change

The fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting passed with little recognition last December. In the elapsed time since the tragedy took place, it feels like no progress has been made on the gun safety front, despite the worrying increase in frequency of gun violence, especially within school campuses. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 239 mass shootings have occured nationwide since Sandy Hook, culminating in 138 gun-related deaths. The most recent in Parkland, Florida has only elevated tensions surrounding an already hot-button issue.

In response to these rising tensions, a previously under-heard demographic of protestor has come to the center stage. Student voices have recently begun to play an open, vocal role in fighting for their rights as students and citizens. Headed by powerful teenage figures like Emma González and Cameron Kasky in the #NeverAgain movement, students all over South Florida and the country have voiced their discontent with legislative efforts from politicians, asking for their senators and congressmen to do more in order to keep their schools safe.

In response to the Parkland shooting, students across the United States have organized walkouts, protests and other such actions to alert legislation that change needs to take place as well. As young people see the amount of youth advocacy for changed legislation, more and more and encouraged to have their voices heard.

The staff at the Spartan Shield wishes to add our voices to the movement and to bolster our words, opinions and hopes for the future of gun legislation. The state of gun control is not acceptable: we are tired of platitudes, and will not — and cannot — suffer the injustice of being brushed off or ignored any longer. The 17 lives lost to gun violence in the last week alone have reminded us that change is long overdue.

We believe there needs to be change in our world. Too many lives have been lost in these tragic events for it to be acceptable. Unfortunately, no simple solution exists for this issue; there are many moving parts that need to change in order to solve this problem completely.

This is a gun issue, a mental health issue and a public safety issue, and to disregard one or many of these realities is irresponsible.

The first of many issues which must be addressed is the need for stricter gun laws, which is multifaceted in its interpretation. No matter where one lands politically, it is an easily acceptable middle ground to say that, in this country, it is far too easy to purchase a weapon, especially assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons — far too easy.

According to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), in Florida, there is no need for a permit to purchase a pistol, rifle or shotgun. This means that there are absolutely no restrictions, and purchasing a gun is as easy as buying a bag of apples at the grocery store. Even in Iowa, only handguns require a permit to purchase, and the sale of rifles and shotguns seem to go largely unchecked.

To think that people still think these laws are strict enough is baffling. Across the nation, there is repeated proof that there must be stronger legislation put in place in order to protect citizens from gun violence. There should be a required permit to purchase guns, as well as numerous background checks for mental health problems, or previous offenses.

While gun control is an important piece of the puzzle, mental health also plays a key role in instances of gun violence. The stigmatization of mental health issues in the United States, along with difficulty getting appropriate treatment, is a crucial problem that the country is currently facing. America’s “gun issue” is just as much a mental health issue, and to alleviate one should ideally come with positive change to the other.

If it is to be attempted at all, mental health care and awareness in the modern world must be done correctly. And while “correctly” is a subjective term, there are certainly ways that are more beneficial to the community than others.

Without the proper channels through which one could find the right help, it is not as simple as calling for “insane monster[s],” as NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch put it at the CNN town hall Wednesday night, to lose their access to guns. Throwing slurs and insults around — calling for the “crazy” people to be banned — does nothing for a country that is so rocked by uncertainties and rifts already. In order to effect real change, there must be a legislative backing to our mental health advocacy, rather than empty-handed fear mongering.

Currently, 5.6% of the nation’s budget of $3.32 trillion is allocated to mental health services (a number which, if President Trump’s projected budget cuts are approved in any manner, stands to decrease drastically). In fact, from 2017 to 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services decreased funding for mental health programs by $252 million. Part of the many pronged attack on gun violence must involve a better funded mental health service so that at-risk people can be helped, rather than simply thrown in jail after violence is perpetrated.

While there is no simple “fix” to gun violence in America, there are certainly many ways people could be working to improving the situation. There is no country in the world that experiences gun violence on the scale that the United States does, and there is absolutely no reason for this to continue.

Concrete, quantifiable change is not only necessary at this juncture for preventing further mass instances of gun violence, but for improving the nation’s health in general. The United States cannot continue to pride itself on being the first-and-foremost if we allow our children to die in heinous and preventable crimes.

Keep the discussion alive and don’t allow Marjory Stoneman Douglas to fade from the news. #MSDStrong.

Click on each photo below for complete coverage over issues surrounding the Florida shooting and its aftermath.