The Covid-19 Pandemic is one of the worst things to happen to the world in the past few decades. The pandemic has caused damage to both people’s lives and to the economy. There have been little to no good things to come out of the pandemic, and quarantine in general, but one of the arguably good things that happened was the reduction of mass shootings in general. School shootings had been a prevalent issue in the US, but due to the pandemic, which caused most schools to go online, the number of school shootings has decreased. The pandemic had such an obvious impact on the number of school shootings that March of 2020 was the first March in the US, not to have a school shooting since March of 2002. This show’s a major problem in the US, as the reason the number of shootings have decreased was because the pandemic forced people to stay their homes. The US has always had a problem with the number of school shootings, mass shootings, and shootings in general, due to poor gun laws, and how easy it is to procure a gun legally or illegally.

While shootings have decreased in the US because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we cannot rely on the pandemic being the only thing stopping shootings from happening in our country. This pandemic is coming to an end, because the vaccines for Covid-19, for the most part, were able to “flatten the curve.” Many people want to return to the old normal and leave the pandemic in the past where it belongs, but many people have also forgotten about the problems that had existed pre-pandemic. These problems are currently overlooked, due to the pandemic being a much larger issue, but these problems are still due to return as soon as the pandemic ends. States like Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and other (primarily Republican) states have decided to do full re-openings or partial re-openings. These states are allowing most businesses to reopen, they are removing mask mandates, no longer telling people to stay quarantined, and removing their social distancing practices. While the states re-opening is a very debatable thing, they are still deciding to re-open, which means that for the most part, people in those states will revert to their pre-pandemic lives.

To most Americans, pre-pandemic life seems comforting, as most Americans do want to go back to their lives pre pandemic. There is already a looming issue that is guaranteed to come back to the US unless there are significant changes and reforms, which are the major shootings in the US. In the recent few weeks, there had been a significant spike in shootings reappearing in the US, as a result of the states re-opening or loosening their pandemic restrictions. In the seven days between March the 16th and March the 22nd, there were seven mass shootings. Even after March 22nd of 2021, the number of mass shootings happening in the US kept increasing at a very high rate. On April 3rd alone, three shootings happened, with 3 dead and 19 victims. This shows an awful pattern of hate happening in America, due to the pandemic and tensions rising in America.

The rise of mass shootings may result from many people feeling resentment and hate due to what is happening to them because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. However, there is arguably a much clearer and much more direct cause of the shootings happening in the US, which is quite frankly, the ease of acquiring a gun. US gun laws are far too loose because, Republican lawmakers, and Republican states, decide not to make the gun laws stricter. They claim, “People will always find another way of getting these weapons,” or, “Making stricter gun laws go against the US Constitution and my rights as an American citizen.” These beliefs are both incredibly wrong. Stricter gun laws will directly impact the number of shootings that may happen in our states. While some people may go very far to try and hurt others, there is only so far they can go before someone catches on to what they are trying to do, such as law enforcement and their families. Making stricter gun laws will help law enforcement make it so that someone’s life will not depend on if someone else is having a “bad day.” Not a single person deserves to have their life end just because one person decided to have a “bad day.” Republicans constantly preach about their rights to own a gun, but they forget about other people’s right to live and be happy. 

In the Republican party, it is seen as a fact that making stricter gun laws go against the Constitution and their Second Amendment rights, allowing them to own a gun. These people forget that the part that would be going against their rights, would be making it so US citizens could not own guns as a whole. However, even this would not entirely go against our rights as US citizens, because we could always make a new amendment making it so that the Second Amendment is nullified. Another flaw in the Republican party’s belief about making gun laws stricter, being against their rights, would be that the Constitution itself believes in, “[a} well regulated Militia, [which is] necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” (The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution). The right to bear arms is a right that is supposed to be regulated, as said by the US Constitution itself. The founding fathers of America could have never seen such weapons existing in the future, so that they could have never accounted for such things. They had intended the Second Amendment to fight tyranny and never for anyone to have a “bad day.” The US gun laws have never been used to fight tyranny, and realistically, if the US wanted to become a militaristic state, there would not be much that could be done to stop this from happening. 

Shooting season has begun in America, and there is nothing that is happening to stop these shootings. Many Democrats have proposed laws to make gun laws stricter, but none of these ever become national laws, and nothing ever happens to stop shootings. Democrats are useless in stopping shootings, and Republicans refuse to admit any problem with gun laws. If we do not act quickly, there will be hundreds of more victims of mass shootings. We as a country must work together to do something. Time for Biden to prove his worth….