Don’t let Kentucky politicians loosen gun laws

On the one-year anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland Fla., which took 17 lives, the Kentucky Senate voted to approve a bill allowing people to carry a handgun without a permit.

The bill would allow people over the age of 21 to carry concealed firearms and other weapons without a license. The bill passed in the Senate on a 29-8 vote and is headed to Kentucky House of Representatives.

If the bill is passed, Kentucky would join 14 other states who allow their citizens to carry concealed firearms without a permit.

Although the bill is not in effect yet, there is opposition to its potential consequences including the new dangers it would bring to the public and law enforcement.

Additionally, the bill would do away with a mandatory eight-hour training session needed to receive a concealed carry permit. This would put dangerous weapons in inexperienced hands, which creates a long list of safety issues.

Also, the timing of the vote was insensitive, because it gives more freedom to gun owners on the anniversary of a day that America saw (once again) the dangers of guns in the wrong hands.

Perhaps, the Kentucky Senate could have held a day of memorial in honor of the innocent children who lost their lives, as many other organizations did.

Some may argue that this is a small issue being taken out of context, yet this issue shows the standard of forgiving and forgetting when it comes to mass shootings.

In America, we have politicians comfortably sitting in offices funded by the National Rifle Association, making and voting on bills that could one day be the difference between life and death for innocent civilians.

Then, when these tragic events happen, we as citizens are offered “thoughts and prayers,” and a brief discussion of gun control before politicians move on to the next issue their wallets want to attack.

Time and time again this sequence of events takes place without change, causing some to fear that change may never come.

Yet, there is hope stemming from the younger generation of Americans. When they aren’t being yelled at for eating avocado toast and Tide Pods, Millennials and Gen-Zers are calling for the right to live.

Perhaps a side effect of seeing your friends die while at school, a concert, or a bar is the incurable need to stop others from having to suffer from this as well.

Shooting survivors, such as David Hogg and many others, have taken the spotlight in the gun control debate.

Furthermore, they are not letting amoral politicians and insensitive bill passings stop them and we can’t either.

As a community of Boone students, staff, and faculty, we have to stand and show not only our support, but our willingness to help change the policies and bills that are affecting our lives.

We, as Kentucky citizens, must vote if we can, and if not urged others to in order to get the insensitive politicians out of office and hold them accountable for their harmful actions.

With enough people, time, and action, we can replace guns  with civilian safety as the top priority for legislators.