Letters

Who survives this?

When I first heard about the shooting in Texas, I thought it was disgusting that an 18-year-old would shoot his grandmother, then go into a school and shoot 19 students and two teachers. Now, because of this and other events like this, parents have to worry and be frightened that the second their children walk out of the car door and into a school, this might be the last time they see their children.

Can we survive this? These children were so young, they barely got to do anything yet in life. A troubled kid goes into an elementary school and takes these young, precious children’s lives. And what about the kids and the teachers who did survive? They are terrified that this might happen again. They’re sad because their friends and their teachers were killed.

Why would someone do that, especially an 18-year-old?

I can’t fully describe how confused and upset I am that someone would actually do this, and I think that it’s horrific and terrifying that any 18-year-old would just take the innocent lives of young children away. They never got to go to prom, go to college.

How can an 18-year-old buy a rifle meant for war, and yet need to be 21 to drink alcohol and buy cigarettes? If they increase the age of gun purchases, this won’t do anything, because there are still people who will go into a building, any building, and just start shooting with weapons meant for self-defense. This was a right that we were given through the Second Amendment: the right to bear arms to protect ourselves against an enemy. It seems we can now use these weapons for horrific reasons instead of why we were given the right to use them, as a form of self-defense and for the defense of our families. These offenders are destroying the Second Amendment and abusing the privilege and the right to use a weapon meant for war and self-defense, not the destruction of children.

Do we survive this?

I may be 12 and not know what is needed to stop this — but it must stop, it must end, because when will enough be enough?

Other shootings like this have happened in the past, and nothing was accomplished. Yes, people were caught and brought to justice, but it still goes on, people are still dying.

I may not know what might be done, but how do we defend ourselves? Are children receiving the guidance they need? Whose job is it to teach right from wrong? Parents? Teachers? Clergy?

This death by unexplainable acts must be put to an end. What can I do? How do we survive this?

Jack Grzan

Sag Harbor

The author is a student at Pierson Middle School — Ed.