Christopher Cervantes
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On Dec. 2, a tragedy took place in San Bernardino, California. Fourteen people were killed in a shooting during the Inland Regional Center’s holiday party. The perpetrators, married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, injured 21 others. They were pursued for four hours before eventually being gunned down in a firefight. The massacre was the deadliest since the Sandy Hook shooting, with the FBI investigating it as an act of terrorism.

In the wake of these events, the debate over gun control has been raised to a new level. Given that Malik was reported to have pledged support to the extremist group ISIS, the aftermath of the tragedy has morphed into a melting pot of various political stances, with a multitude of politicians bringing up their respective platforms.

Here we go again.

According to the private research group ShootingTracker.com, there have been approximately 353 mass shootings this year. According to the website’s criteria, a mass shooting is defined as an event or related series of events in which four or more people are shot, likely without a cooling off period each with their own levels of notoriety and publicity. That is 353 times people have or should have discussed the effectiveness of current gun laws. That is 353 times where nothing has happened.

The old saying goes, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” When the same problem occurs hundreds of times, then something is obviously “broke.” Whenever someone discusses and debates gun control, there is a set pattern (almost like a planned script) of what is brought up. Someone will say gun control needs to be stricter, followed by a rebuttal along the lines of protecting constitutional rights. Then social media will fire off, adding more fuel to the inferno. The debate will then be put on the backburner until further notice, with nothing really being done.

At this point, political talk regarding gun control has become repetitive. When something becomes repetitive, it can become a constant. What happens when something becomes a constant? People become accustomed to it. Something needs to change. I’m not saying that guns need to be outlawed (or even if the change has to be related to gun laws), but there is a fault somewhere in the current way we run things. Whether it be a tweak or a complete redo, we just have to do something. Not just talking about what you could do, not using current events to elevate your campaign platform, but actually doing something. Given all that has happened this year involving gun violence, it shouldn’t be this difficult, nor that much to ask.