Open Letter To America Regarding Mass Shootings

I'm so scared. I'm so scared for the people I love and the people I have never met. I'm scared for their children. I'm so scared of saying something on here and being criticized for not doing enough, or for thinking that my words are somehow valuable or part of some great solution. I acknowledge that they're not. I know I live an inherently privileged life as a white male in this country and my awareness of that fact really doesn't help anyone. I'm paralyzed. I have spent a good part of the last 2 days in tears.

I'm saying this because, while I know I can help people and continually seek out opportunities to do so, I also know there are a lot of people who are as unsure as I am as to what to do in this very moment. You're not alone in that feeling of anger, frustration, confusion and terror. If all you can manage to do RIGHT NOW is say something on Facebook, then say something on Facebook RIGHT NOW. One foot in front of the other. This is an epidemic.

I'm assuming many of us were doing the same thing last night. We were probably glued to the TV, watching in disbelief as the tragic events in Dallas unfolded. I don't know about you, but it made me sick to my stomach to watch unsuspecting police officers picked off one by one like aluminum cans at a shooting range. I understand that we have an issue with police-involved shootings in this country. What happened yesterday was not the answer to this epidemic. Many officers were wounded, five people lost their lives. Five people with families. Five people with children. These mass shootings have become all too frequent. Something needs to change, and the only way that can be accomplished, is if we the people demand that change, and become more involved in making a difference. We can't just sit by and accept what's happening as normal, because it's not normal. What if it was your family? Or my family? It's doesn't have to be someone close to you to affect you. I'm a gun owner, but the guns that were used yesterday should not be available to the general public. They were military grade assault weapons designed for warfare. When are we gonna say enough is enough? How big does a problem have to become before we, as a country do something to fix it? How many innocent people have to die?

I don't want to get into a debate over gun ownership. Like I said, I'm a gun owner, and I don't intend on changing that anytime soon. What I will propose is that our government enforces restrictions on firearms, so that they don't get in the hands of the wrong people. Even a heavily armed S.W.A.T team is defenseless if they don't know where the shots are coming from.

I ask, that as Americans, we stand up for what is right. First, we all need to be on the same page and agree that there is a problem that needs a solution. Sadly, there are still people that point fingers at our government when things like this happen. It isn't guns. It isn't the President. It isn't because of a certain organization. It is because an individual decided to buy a gun for the purpose of murdering innocent people. All lives matter. We need to move passed racial segregation. We need to unite, and do what's best for America. Hate breeds hate. Violence only creates more violence. Like Gandhi said;