Speech On Gun Violence

We the people of the United States. We the people who have walked the streets of St. Louis in fear. We the people who are sick and tired of senseless violence in our nation. We cannot stand to have the blood of our people, Democrat, Republican, or otherwise being spilled on the streets of our city. We the people demand action. Action that will save lives. Action that will ensure that weapons of war are not flooding our streets and our schools. This issue is deeply personal to me. I have personally experienced the harm that a weapon can bring upon a family. I have personally witnessed gun violence in my own home, a place where I thought I would be safe. I have witnessed the fear that mass shootings and threats of them have brought

If there is a shooting, where will I hide? What would I do? Will I run? Will I fight? Will I die? I take note of the people surrounding me. Are these the people that I will die with? Who will be the hero? Who will be slumped onto the ground next to me? Why are these questions that I must ask myself? Why have I been traumatized in such a way? Why is this even a problem in the first place? This is a bipartisan issue. How many more people have to die before our elected officials will make change in this nation. I have to agree with Dylan Thomas in saying: We will not go quietly into this good night. We will not allow for this senseless violence to continue. We will not allow for our politicians to be bought by gun lobbyist. We will fight. We will not rest until not one more person; not one more student; not one more child has to live with the effects of gun violence. We will not rest until a student can go to school without the constant worry of being murdered. We demand change. And we will get change through the power given to us by our democracy:

Vote out those corrupt representatives who place the rights of an AR-15 above the safety of the American people. Vote out those who refuse to take measures to rid our streets of violence. Vote out those who choose to plug their ears when they hear the cries of their people; the very people that put them in office in the first place. The main argument against gun control is that we should arm people in dangerous areas so that they can defend themselves. So let me ask you this: If we had a problem with individuals throwing rocks at each other, would we solve that problem by giving everybody else rocks? It simply doesn’t make sense. A common misconception of this movement is that we want to ban all guns. We do not want to do that. We only want to put in place common sense measures, such as a ban on bump stocks, waiting periods on gun purchases, universal background checks, and a limit on magazine sizes. These measures will be the first steps in preventing future tragedies such as the massacres in Parkland, Vegas, and Sandy Hook. People will argue that the right to own these weapons of war is their Constitutional right. And that is the beauty of our government. It was designed to be changed as time moves on. And times have