Rachel Bozalis - Shooting at Washington's Cascade Mall

Friday evening, a man armed with a hunting rifle entered the Macy's department store and killed five people. His motive is unknown, however officials are fairly certain that he acted alone. The shooter has yet to have been found, forcing the small community to remain on lockdown. After the shots were initially fired, the whole mall was evacuated, but little information was given to those in the mall. They were congregated in a church for safety and were told to come back the following day to retrieve their cars. The mall remains an active site as the investigation continues.

The number of shootings in our society has recently skyrocketed, with a new one nearly every week. Be them from terrorist attacks, mentally ill people, or random bouts of anger, stories like these dominate the news all too often. They affect large cities, and smaller towns like this one, with one man claiming he never would have thought something like this would happen there. Everyone is susceptible to attacks like these in today's crazy world, meaning everyone must be prepared and cautious. While this is a controversial opinion, the increase and frequency of these events highlights the need for strict gun control laws. Our government should be doing everything in its power to protect us, meaning that guns should only be sold to those with intense background checks and a medically checked, mental stability. Those who are against my opinion often use the second amendment of our constitution, the right to bear arms, to argue against my stance. However, at the time when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written, America had just come out of a controlling monarchy that had taken away numerous "unalienable rights" by not allowing them to do anything that would help kindle a rebellion, via a standing army and the Intolerable Acts. There was almost no technology and little federal order systems like the police, etc to protect them and enforce laws, meaning that they needed to have firearms to keep themselves and their families safe. The constitution was written with the intention of being amended to adapt with time. Times have changed, and recent news suggests that it is time for the constitution to change with it.

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My sincerest apologies if my opinion offends anyone, this post has no intention of starting a political debate but rather state my opinion. :)