Gun Violence: America’s Own Disaster

A glimpse into the national epidemic: gun violence

It seems as though everytime I turn on the news there has been yet another act of gun violence. No matter the location,at a night club, concert, or even school, it has become a seemingly everyday occurance, and we as American’s are becoming desensitized.

The Washington Post has found that “more than 187,000 have been exposed to gun violence at school since Columbine” https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-history/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2c10c37721fa. These are entire generations of students and children who have been affected by gun violence in an area where guns should be far away. I remember I was in middle school when I learned about what happened in Columbine back in 1999. Ever since that day I felt less safe at school; however, I’m incredibly grateful that neither I or someone I love has been exposed to any sort of gun violence at school, but simply because I have not personally experienced it does not mean it is not becoming a national disaster.

Through the course of my first year at UCR I was excited yet anxious to begin anew in Riverside because I knew in the back of my head how easy it would be for someone to open fire on campus. I recognize this maybe a little blunt or on the nose, but it’s the truth. We must talk about what is happening to our students and most importantly we must talk about gun reform. The course Literary Response to Disaster and Repression hit those hot topics that people seem really hesitant to talk about. In the class, we disected a novel by the name of “Animal’s People” written by Indra Sinha. The novel explores the life a boy named Animal whose spine was severely damaged from the Bhopal Gas Leak. I find myself drawing connections from the novel to the situation that’s happening in real life.

The National Rifle Association is profiting from the suffering of countless victims much like in the Bhopal Gas Leak. Increase gun violence means an increase in gun sales. The claim is “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” said Wayne LaPierre index.html which we all know is not the case. For example, there was a “12.6% increase in long guns” after the Parkland shooting those of which include weapons that were used by the assailant https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-february-gun-sales/.