I am going to be one of many people writing about this this week BUT that only underlines the importance of the subject! Guns are a horrible thing and when you look at what happened in Orlando this weekend it just shows how bad things can get. I am not only talking about the mass shooting which is the biggest in the US to date, but also about the shooting of Christina Grimmie the day before. Killing people is horrible whether it is one person or many and access to weapons that make it so easy should not be as easy as it is in the most places in the US.
Like every time a shooting like this happens the debate of whether the second amendment should be changed or not, but nothing ever changes. There are so many people saying “it’s not guns that kill people, it’s people that kill people” and yes, the people who use the guns are the responsible people behind shootings, BUT if you make it easy for someone to access weapons, which are designed to kill, the guns are still a problem. I mean even if I shoot and kill someone in defense, the gun is KILLING someone. And yes terror attacks do happen in other countries as well, BUT being able to just randomly shoot someone with a weapon you bought a couple of days ago in a store or the weapon was a birthday present for your 21st birthday, THEN we have to question the way people can access weapons.
Furthermore the gun issue outlines one of the biggest issues of the American Political system: that if you have enough money and an afford to lobby and fund enough people in congress you can get your way no matter what problems it may cause. I know that it is delusional and naïve to think that politics can be independent from lobbying and outside pressure and to a certain extend I think lobbying and pressuring certain issues is an important part of politics, but if money determines whether an issue is being put on the issue and predetermines votes it is simply not right, especially if there is a large outcry from within the population of America to have stricter gun laws!
Another issues about the shooting in Orlando is that too many people seem to focus on the background of the shooter rather than looking at his attack purely from the point of view of it being a HOMOPHOBIC act (yes in our incredibly progressive society racism and homophobia as well as sexism and so many other discriminations still exist). It has become so easy for us to simply say there has been an attack, that person must be from ISIS. Acts of violence and terror happen daily for all kinds of reasons and for all kinds of backgrounds and by judging too quickly we make divisions within our society too easy!
It’s a sad world where you have to be lucky to be born as a certain race or gender, with a certain nationality, religion or sexuality determines how people see you and treat you and that determine whether you are seen as an easy or good target or as the definite killer and terrorist. It is awful that other people let it define you and make it harder for you to break through these views within society. You should not have to try to convince people that you’re religion is peaceful and is about love and not hate and violence, that you should not have to try to convince people that you’re sexuality is just as normal as everyone else’s and that your skin tone doesn’t determine your personality or crime rate.
Every single one of us matters just as much and it is tragic that people don’t see that in countries that claims to be so developed and tolerant, where people like Donald Trump, who has shown so much indecency in the Orlando shooting, have the chance to become the president of the most influential nation of the world is shocking and terrible.
Finally I also want to say again that over the terrible things that happened in the Pulse club in Orlando, Florida, we cannot forget about the horrible death of Christina Grimmie because we need to stand against violence no matter if it is against one person or 100s, whether it is shown on the news or daily killings in conflict areas such as the Ukraine, Syria and so many other areas of the world.
castawayminds 
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