Opinion: Is the Second Amendment really protecting Americans?
Monday morning, a school shooter entered an elementary school in Nashville and killed six people, including three kids. When we think about these horrible school shootings, I begin to question the Second Amendment’s real meaning from a foreigner’s perspective.
At 10:13 a.m. Monday morning, Nashville police received a call that Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old former student, entered the Covenant School and started shooting. Three children, ages nine and younger, and three adults were killed by the shooter.
Two of the weapons were legally bought in Tennessee.
— Staff Writer Agnes Sorensen
The school is a private Presbyterian school with kids from preschool to sixth grade. Hale attended third and fourth grade at the school in 2005 and 2006, according to the school’s former headmaster Bill Campbell.
Hale used two AR-style weapons and one handgun before being killed by the police at 10:27 a.m. The shooter had no criminal background, but had planned the attack with maps and surveillance of the school. Two of the weapons were legally bought in Tennessee.
This is sad and terrible. These are children and staff getting killed while attending school and work. Many Americans believe in the Second Amendment and their constitutional right to bear arms, but if you really think, what good does this honestly do for society?
I learned about American school shootings in my Danish school. We literally had a unit about it in my ninth grade English class. Before I left Denmark for my exchange year, my friends asked me, “Are you not worried about school shootings in your new school?”
Denmark is a small but safe country. Most people feel safe in public and especially in school. We do not have code red drills. Gun laws are regulated by the government and the European Emission, which makes it difficult to buy a gun.
I believe that the purpose of weapons is for military and police use only.
— Staff Writer Agnes Sorensen
Mass shootings are too common in America. In just the month of March alone, 57 people have died in 38 mass shootings across the country. America is one of the only countries with this problem. I do not understand why people justify the second Amendment when it leads to innocent deaths.
When no one has guns, like in Denmark, there is simply no threat toward innocent people.
It is way too easy to purchase firearms and even a military-grade weapon. Why do people need to have guns enough for a small army? I do understand why some people feel more safe with a pistol, but what good does a machine gun do, when it is meant for war?
Some people believe in more gun control, and that guns only create unnecessary deaths. I get that hunters have a hobby, but I believe that the purpose of weapons is for military and police use only.
We can all agree that school shootings are horrible. If gun control is more strict we can avoid mass killings like what happened earlier this week in Nashville.
Opinions expressed in editorials are those of the writer(s). These views may not represent the adviser, The Prowler, advertisers/sponsors, the Starr’s Mill High School administration or staff , or Fayette County Public Schools as a whole. Please see our FAQs for more information pertaining to the rights of The Prowler’s staff members.
