Chaos hit the streets of Las Vegas on October 1, when a gunman opened fire on a group of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. Hidden high and tucked away in a hotel room on the thirty-second floor, he set off over two- hundred rounds of ammunition into a crowd of twenty-two thousand people.  He had been stocking his hotel room with an arsenal of firearms and ammunition for days.  The ability to carry out a plan of this monstrosity is what caused the uproar of many regarding the United States’ current gun laws. 

The shooting in Las Vegas falls into a series of violent massacres that have involved the use of firearms.  Just last year, the shooting of an Orlando nightclub took the lives of forty- nine people, becoming one of the largest shootings in United States history.  The Vegas shooting death toll now surmounts the Orlando shooting number, having fifty-eight killed and over five hundred wounded. With the increase of violence when using firearms, one would think that actions would be taken to try to prevent future mass shootings from occurring; yet little has been done to deal with this matter.

The topic of limiting citizens’ rights to firearm usage has continually been dismissed and avoided by public officials. Predictably, the NRA (National Rifle Association) came out with a statement to address this recent debate in fire usage, claiming, “banning guns from law-abiding Americans based on the criminal act of a madman will do nothing to prevent future attacks.” The association lacks factual support in their stance on why to not limit gun control.  They did, however, address the need to change the current policy on bump stock modifications.  Such devices can be used to allow guns to become automatic weapons like that used in the Vegas shooting. Chances to address the issue of gun violence were also avoided when President Trump held a press conference in response to the Vegas shooting.

According to President Trump in the Washington Post, “What happened in many ways was a miracle.” In no way, shape, or form was a preventable act such as this to be regarded as a miracle.  Trump later in his speech diverts attention away from reforming gun laws to instead addressing how quickly the police responded to this tragedy. It is this dismissal of blatantly apparent issues in our nation that has led us to be stagnant in changing our second constitutional amendment for so long.

In other recent news, another mass shooting has occurred in Texas involving an armed man in a church.  The Texas gunman took the lives of twenty-six innocent victims in a place that is usually seen as safe and sacred.  Weapon use has become animalistic, as a holy place has been desecrated, a concert affair has been ravaged and families have been destroyed all due to the irrational actions of others.  How long will we stand by and watch as the hands of the deranged take hold of weapons? Actions can be taken and actions should be taken because this nation needs progress.

There has been a repeated trend of politicians’ trying to dull and hide mass shootings that have occurred. One day these heart-wrenching stories are news, and the next day the atrocities are rarely mentioned again.  Tragedies such as the Vegas shooting and Texas church shooting should be seen as signs of the destruction individuals can inflict through possession of firearms.  By ignoring apparent signs of needed reform we are failing as a nation to protect our citizens.  Measures must be taken to end future firearm violence and make reforms to an outdated second amendment.