It seems like everywhere you look this week are inspirational quotes and encouraging words saying to hug your children and appreciate what you have. And although I find those comforting to a degree, I have to say that I’m not just sad, I’m mad. I’m enraged, angry and simply put – fed up.

I’m tired of people having to die in this world to see that it isn’t just the people committing the crime, but the guns being held that are doing the killing.

Before you yell at me about the necessity of guns, I’m not talking about guns used for hunting or animal control. I’m referring to guns like semi-automatic weapons – the ones that have no purpose in this society except to kill. These guns are more common in war zone than on a hunting trip. How are these guns even being allowed to be sold to non-Armed Forces individuals?

Please don’t tell me that it’s our constitutional right. When the Constitution was written, these weapons didn’t exist. Yes, you had the right to bear arms because arms were basic pistols, swords and knives, not machine guns and automatic rifles that can kill massive amounts of people in just seconds. So no, I don’t think it is our right to have these weapons. It’s not an American right issue; it’s a human rights issue.

We have 20 children and 6 adults now dead because our country felt these kinds of weapons were acceptable for any adult individual to own. You don’t need to take a special exam, you don’t need to take a class, you just need to pay money, wait a few days and then go on a killing spree. There is something wrong with this formula.

And for those who say, “Well if more people carried guns, someone could have stopped him.” I beg you to read this. It’s an in-depth look at the mass shootings of the past 30 years done by Mother Jones, a nonprofit left-leaning news organization that specializes in investigative, political, and social justice. Sixty-one killings were identified and analyzed and it was determined that not in one single instance was a killer stopped because of civilian using a gun.

The answer seems simple to me. Stop selling them. Will our economy take a hit? Yes. However, I would rather save the lives of innocent human beings than worry if our country is filling the pockets of gun-makers. Just imagine it. Imagine a world where people deal with their problems without guns. I can – it’s called England.

After the 1997 shooting of 16 kids in Dunblane, England, the United Kingdom passed one of the strictest gun-control laws in the world, banning its citizens from owning almost all types of handguns.

And it’s time to admit we are doing something wrong and look to others who are doing things right. If we don’t learn, we can’t change. And we need to change.

Danielle Herzog is married and a mother to two children. Read her every Wednesday on momaha.

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