Jacob Francy, 26
Wednesday, January 22nd, Antioch High School was yet another victim of the school shooting epidemic in America. Two students were fatally shot; one being the main victim Josselin Corea Escalante. The other was the shooter, a 17 year-old Soloman Henderson, who turned the gun on himself. Tennessee hasn’t seen this kind of violence at a school since the 2023 shooting at The Covenant School which killed six people.
Just as the news was breaking, Governor Bill Lee, sent his “thoughts and prayers.” Some online critics have noted that “thoughts and prayers” have yet to work, regarding gun violence in America.
Our Republican supermajority in the state legislature has passed permitless open carry, allowed teachers to carry on school grounds, and refused to regulate or stop the endless flow of guns in the state.
Universal background checks, which could end the gun show loopholes, would ensure every buyer of firearms is mentally and physically capable, responsible, and mature enough to have one.
Requiring licenses and training for gun ownership, as we do for vehicles, would ensure every carrier has the proper knowledge and understanding of how to operate the weapons safely. Banning assault weapons would take away the risk of letting people with bad intentions do as much damage as they want while still allowing people to defend themselves with handguns.
America is called the “greatest country on Earth”, but we are still the country with the biggest problem of killing each other.
What did we do when car accident deaths skyrocketed? We mandated seat belts.
What did we do when a lethal disease spread like wildfire? We made a vaccine.
But what have we done when thousands of children are being killed by guns every year? Nothing.
Our lives are being placed below the importance of people’s ability to use a weapon invented for the main purpose of killing or injuring something or someone. By adding more guns into the equation, we are fighting fire with fire and bullets with bullets. We have to stop the mass flow of firearms reaching our schools, churches, synagogues, mosques, Waffle Houses, gas stations, and train stations.
I, on behalf of the “lockdown generation”, beg President Trump, Governor Lee, and Speaker Sexton to please help save our children’s lives. We come to school to learn, not to duck from bullets.