Feb. 14, a day when love is in the air, and couples show love and affection for one another by buying each other candies and roses. But instead, another school shooting took 17 lives away. A 19-year-old boy, Nikolas Cruz, who was a former student of Stoneman Douglas High School, had a premeditated plan to become “a professional school shooter.” 

According to Fox News, Ben Bennight, a YouTube video blogger, reported to the FBI that Cruz commented on one of his videos stating he was going to be a professional school shooter. 

CNN stated, “Law enforcement officers responded to Cruz’s house on 39 occasions over a seven-year period.” Although there were many disturbing signs that should have alerted FBI and police about this young man committing such a heinous crime, they took no actions. 

No one seemed alarmed or to care about the Instagram posts of Cruz with guns and knives, or the fact he was in his backyard having shooting practice with a BB gun. 

There were many signs of a mentally disturbed young man who needed help, but no one took action. What does this say about the people who are in charge of our country? 

President Donald Trump tweeted, “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” Yet, Trump doesn’t mention once about guns being an issue, but instead blames citizens for not reporting Cruz as a problem. 

A shooting happens, thoughts and prayers go out for the families and loved ones involved, as a country we debate about it for weeks and all of a sudden everyone forgets. 

Congress doesn’t do anything to stop this, then out of thin air it happens all over again; a vicious cycle, one would say. But when does it stop?

No one ever seems to notice the heart of the issue. Our country is more worried about immigration and building a stupid wall. And yet, our last concern is about the people who are citizens of our country that are willing to do crimes like Cruz did. 

White males have committed more than half of all the huge massacres in the United States between 1982 and 2017. According to Sky News, 54 of the gunmen were white, 16 were black, and seven each were Latino or Asian. 

But since more than half of the massacres were done by people that are white, we as a country don’t want to admit this is an issue or even an act of, dare I say it, terrorism. In many perspectives, Americans call this ‘a mentally disturbed person.’  But for some reason, if this person was a person of color  it would be labeled differently. Why?

What is the real issue here? It seems like our government cares more about guns than shooters taking innocent lives. If no action takes place, school shootings and massacres will continue to happen. Gun control is a topic of discussion that can be an endless debate, but until lack of gun reform directly affects you or someone you know, it is hard to imagine.

Let’s change laws now before someone strikes again and takes the lives of innocent people Because we all shouldn’t have to lose someone to know the pain this causes on a community or a home. We need change now. Or are we going to wait for the next massacre?