Recently, there have been a gun shooting that took away three young innocent lives in Mukilteo, WA. Jake Long, Jordan Ebner and Anna Bui. All of them at age 19. What makes it surreal is that I have a lot of mutual friends with Anna and who knows? Maybe we would have met one day through a friend. Even though I did not know her, she seemed like a sweet and kind soul. God please help these beautiful souls and our country.
I feel my heart swelling up with sadness as I see gun shootings increasing in our country and in my very home state. Gun shootings should not be a normal thing yet it is becoming a norm in our country. The Maryville’s gun shooting that took the lives of four high schoolers did not happen too long ago in Washington state (two years ago to be exact). The fact that these shooters were the age of 16 and 19 already shows how screwed up our gun laws are. It should not be that easy for a practical child to obtain a gun. Also what does it say about our media? Young minds are easily influenced by the media and the messages they input from their surroundings. Of course we can’t blame it all on the media but it does play a part in it. No kid just decides to get a gun and start shooting people. The idea is placed in their minds and the hatred is planted in their hearts.
With every gun shooting that we see on the news, I feel like lives are being stolen in vain. Not “taken away” because when you take something away, you can get it back. Not “lost” because when something is lost, you can find it again. These lives were stolen. Yet nothing ever happens, nothing ever changes. The young lives that are stolen and will never be brought back. Families mourning for their beloved daughter/son, brother/sister or grandchild. Communities filled with fear and trauma. School, a place that should be a safe education environment is not. Everyday I pray that my siblings that are in elementary school go to school and will come back home safely.
We need real gun control. But how do we control a potential murder weapon? Most importantly how do we control the hearts filled with hatred behind the trigger? I do not have any answers to these problems that our country is facing. Whenever my friends and I have these kind of discussions, there is really no easy and obvious solution that comes up. Like with everything else, it is easier said than done. The only solution I can think of that works is prayer and love. Prayer to heal those who are suffering and love to help the brokenhearted. Prayer to change the hatred in people’s hearts and love to help them see the world in a different light. Prayer to keep our loved ones safe and love to help people put their guns down.
Words from a Ngobody 