Editorial Contest Winner: Kevin Jacobson “Enough Gun Violence”
How many more people have to die before the government takes action? There is a direct relationship between gun availability and gun violence.
Everyone already knows this, but no politician will ever take action because the gun lobby and the NRA have too much power for any politician to mount a significant campaign against them.
The only way to ensure that there is change in the current system is for people to stand up go into the voting booth, and elect leaders who aren’t tied to the hip with the NRA.
We need to unify and declare that gun violence is not acceptable, and that guns need to have higher regulation.
I should not be able to go into a gun shop at the age of 18 and purchase an assault rifle.
John Jiler • Dec 5, 2018 at 2:09 pm
THE NOTORIOUS NINETEEN
Dear Editor;
Autumn is deepening, and seniors are thinking harder and harder about their next step. For many of us, your generation is the hope of the future. The Parkland high school shootings galvanized young people across the nation to passionately advocate for common sense gun laws. Now, as your attention turns to college, we want to turn our admiration into action.
With the help of the Brady Center, the new Gabby Giffords consortium, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, we’re reaching out to high school journalists across the country with our list of the NOTORIOUS NINETEEN—the states with dangerous, inadequate gun laws. Many of them condone the open carry of weapons on college campuses, but even those who don’t have encouraged or tolerated a state-wide lawless and violent culture. Our mission is to make these states known to high school seniors, whom we encourage NOT to apply to college in:
ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARIZONA, ARKANSAS, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, IDAHO, KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, MONTANA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NORTH DAKOTA, OKLAHOMA, TEXAS, UTAH, WEST VIRGINIA, or WYOMING.
We’ll be following up with letters to college presidents, Governors and legislators of the “Notorious Nineteen.” If they’re curious why their state-wide college applications are down this year, we’ll be happy to tell them!
Thank you for considering the publication of this letter in your newspaper. This is how the world changes. Good luck throughout senior year…… and beyond!
Best,
John Jiler,
Coordinator,
Committee for Scholastic Action On Guns