Evacuation procedures, fences to keep out shooters, teachers having to decide if they will throw themselves in front of a bullet or not, strangers with semi-automatic weapons ready to take out an entire classroom.  As a student in the United States, these appalling scenarios should not enter my thought process as I arrive in my supposed sanctuary, school.

Because of our country’s insufficient gun laws, schools which are meant to provide a safe and comforting learning environment have been tarnished with the fear of massacres.

I have lived in the city of Piedmont my entire life, and have always felt safe and at ease in my home and around town. I grew up in somewhat of a bubble, unaware of the threats and danger that troubled our country. However, since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, I have not been able to return to my blissfully unaware state. I remember watching the news, awestruck by the horror of the situation, baffled that something like this could happen in our country, the country that I was proud to call home. Unfortunately there have been 74 school shootings in the United States since Sandy Hook, and I am losing my pride.

Schools across the nation are adopting procedures to prepare for shooters. Even Piedmont, which prides itself in safety, has taken precautions to train teachers and alter the school in the event of a shooter. Teachers are shown videos to mentally prepare themselves, and to teach them the correct actions to take. The school board has discussed building a fence. Drills to practice correct conduct are held. The district is preparing itself in case of a massacre. But should they have to? Should anybody?

Many have linked these massacres to mental illness, but I think that that’s a cop out. A person suffering from mental illness may indeed act in a violent way or lash out, however if a gun is not readily available or accessible to them, a mass murder would not be as likely to be carried out. Without semi-automatic weapons available, a person, mentally ill or not, could not easily murder 30 people in a matter of minutes, like during the the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, in which 32 students were murdered. In 1990 a mentally-ill man in Australia shot and killed thirteen people. After that mass shooting, laws were created restricting the ownership and use of semi-automatic weapons, and since then the number of deaths by firearms has decreased by 47 percent.

My question is why are people not angry. Why are there not protests in the streets, calling for government action and protection. Why do we hold candlelight vigils commemorating these students, and then move on without change. How many shootings will it take until our country  will acknowledge that a law created over 200 years ago is ready to be revised, and that the ownership of deadly killing machines is not worth this?

I want to be able to go to school with a fear of finals, not meeting a violent death. I don’t want my teachers to have to decide between themselves or their students. As a member of the human race I am concerned, and I refuse to ignore the issue just because it hasn’t happened at my school.

Schools should not have to adapt for mass shootings. The government and their laws should adapt to insure a safe country.  Our lawmakers must be brave enough to stand up to the NRA, and we must demand it. We must hold our government accountable for our student’s and all citizens’ safety. We as a country must choose to be more intelligent, more courageous and more moral.