Ban Military Style Weapons Used in Deadly School Shootings

Target: Vice President Kamala Harris

Goal: Ban military style weapons in the U.S.

The students at Michigan’s Oxford High School shouldn’t have had to know what to do when they heard the first report of a gunshot, but they did. These kids were raised from the time they started school on active shooter drills and turned off the lights and hid in the corners, texting their families for what may have been the last time. Ten students and one teacher were shot in just a few minutes by a semi-automatic weapon. Four are dead, all teenagers, the youngest of whom is fourteen. The alleged shooter, another student, is in custody. But this never should have happened.

This is a fear that parents and children across the U.S. live with every single day. This happens frequently across the country, crossing socioeconomic backgrounds and age groups. The fact of the matter is that there is simply no reason for such a massive amount of weapons of war to be circulating among civilians.

It is also being reported that the gun used by the shooter was purchased by his father four days before this mass attack, and that his parents had met with the school about their son’s troubling behavior right before the shooting began. There is so much that should have been done differently to protect the students, but one thing is clear–this alleged shooter never should have had access to this type of weapon.

Rapid firing and military style weapons are designed to kill lots of people really quickly, which is why they are used so often in mass shootings. Oxford High School explained they took the threat of shootings seriously: they did frequent active shooting drills, didn’t allow weapons on campus, and had multiple security guards. Those precautions don’t stand a chance against a semi-automatic weapon.

How many more people have to die? How many students should have to cower in fear for their lives? How much longer?

Enough is enough. Sign this petition to demand that the U.S. government acts now to pass legislation banning these weapons of war.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Vice President Harris,

On November 30th a gunman opened fire in Oxford High School in Michigan with a semi-automatic pistol. A student at the school allegedly shot 11 people, and four are dead. The youngest is 14. These are children, who have lived their whole lives in a culture of school shootings and drills who still died, gunned down by a peer. The shooter used an rapid firing weapon in the attack. These weapons are designed to kill lots of people in a short amount of time. Period. They are built for killing multiple people quickly, which is why it is ridiculous that they are found in such mass amounts among civilians.

These students engaged in active-shooter drills, banned weapons, and had security guards, but all their precautions are no match for these weapons. It is time to end the widespread access to rapid fire weaponry in America.

Please, work to pass legislation to ban these weapons in the United States.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Fibonacci Blue