There was this little girl. She came into school everyday with a smile on her face. Her world of rainbows and butterflies came to an abrupt end as she started to grow up. She learned about school shootings and suicides with guns involved. Playing nerf guns with her brother suddenly wasn’t a game anymore. Underneath that knowledge, I am still that little girl.

 May 13th, 2019 was the day I went to my camp friend’s house to sleep over in New Jersey for a reunion. I had never been to her house before, but since most of my friends that I bunked with were there, I didn’t think much of it. Especially since we were each other’s best friends. We knew almost everything about each other, and would talk on facetime on a weekly basis. Suddenly, I noticed a large rectangular box against the back wall of the basement, feet away from where all of our sleeping bags were placed. 

 “What’s that?” I whisper. 

“Oh...It's gun safe” she answers, “I don’t know where my mom put the key”

“Who wants to try to open it next?” my friend asks after 4 attempts of picking at the padlock with her bobby pin.

My heart sank. 

“Every day in America, 32 children and teens are injured and seven are killed by gunfire, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Each child killed will never get the chance to hug their families again or take in their last breath. Although guns may be kept at home for protection, children are extremely curious. How difficult would it be to unlock the loaded gun and shoot? In addition, children may develop severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD from these traumatizing events. We must ensure this upsetting tragedy is prevented in the future. It is absolutely gut-wrenching to see families grieving the loss of their small children. “fewer than 20 states have enacted laws to hold adults criminally liable if they fail to store guns safely, enabling children to access them.” That means more than half of states are not holding responsible adults accountable if children are harmed from their unlocked gun. 

Who’s next?

Unfortunately, gun violence is beginning to seem like an everyday occurrence. “Of those who live in a home with a gun, a startling three in four report at least one gun is either unlocked, loaded or stored with ammunition, according to the survey.” We cannot continue to watch the number of firearm related deaths increase. The idea of deadly weapons being accessed by children who don’t know any better is absolutely heartbreaking.  

We need to save our future leaders of this world. If not, your child may be next!