There was some sad news this morning from Colorado. Twelve people died and fifty nine were wounded during a shooting spree in a movie theater. Being of a normal age to process this information, I was extremely saddened for those who died and their families. (I say, “Being of a normal age” because when I was younger, I wasn’t effected by the news of deaths, especially of those I didn’t know personally.)
Now that I reside in Canada, I’ve heard some opinions on last night’s events, but they were different from what I was expecting. Many people here blame the US for allowing our citizens to have guns. A few people have told me, “If your country made guns illegal, this wouldn’t have happened.”
I understand what people mean when they say things like this, but I have to disagree.
There are crazy people everywhere. Not just in the states–every country in the world has a percentage of mentally unstable people. We may not hear about crazy things they’ve done, and the percentage is most likely way smaller than those that reside in the US, but nevertheless, they are everywhere. Remember the massacre in Norway last year? And what about that guy in Canada who, just a couple of months ago, cut up some guy and mailed his body parts around? Yeah, because that’s totally normal.
I agree that without guns it’s harder to kill a mass amount of people. But these days people figure out how to use bombs and crash planes, and burn places to the ground. Psychopaths are narcissistic and want to hear their name in the news. They want to have people talking about them. Ex. Casey Anthony. They’ll find a way to kill a lot of people if they want to.
The reason we have guns is not to kill people and animals. It’s because our country gives us the right to keep and bear arms. This is part of our country’s history. Think back to when our constitution was formed. People needed guns. Every household had one because they needed to protect themselves and their children. Throughout the years, our country became more advanced and modern–the need for guns slowly disappeared. People still had them, sure. But they weren’t a necessity.
People are going to constantly ruin moments of comfort. The citizens of the US and Canada used to not need a passport to cross over the border between countries. Remember when there was barely any airport security? When I was in elementary school, I never had to do a lock-down drill in case a shooter came in. But now everything has changed. We have to be extra careful, extra prepared, and always be cautious of danger. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just the way it is.
Feel free to blame guns. But please don’t blame my country.
Lily In Canada 