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EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
WEDNESDAYS • March 21, 2018
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INSIDE Charlottesville’s Nazi chronicles- 2 Defending NOI’s Louis Farrakhan - 8 Who wants more of Wakanda? - 10 Notable women memorialized - 13
Richmond & Hampton Roads
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Should guns be in schools to protect students? STAFF AND WIRE
When it comes to the issue of gun violence in the United States, it is safe to say that bullets don’t discriminate. While there does tend to be a double standard related to the media attention and societal support certain groups receive versus others when it comes to ‘dealing with’ the issue of gun violence in America, the pain that all parents, families and friends experience due to these traumatic experiences is the same – heartbreaking. America has found itself once again experiencing a tragic act of domestic terrorism, where young people and adults have been tragically gunned down because the assailant had easy access to obtain guns. This access eventually led to the loss of multiple lives as a result of them carrying out a mass shooting. For example, the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that happened last month in Parkland, Florida, has sparked an outcry from many people in the country, particularly many of the students who were impacted by the shooting and are now demanding changes in the gun laws in this country. It also sparked nationwide school walkouts in protest of gun access where schools allowed students to voice their opinions of the matter by walking out to a designated area of their schools to stand in protest before returning to classes. Students also branched out independently throughout the nation to protest this demising issue that won’t go away. Nineteen-year-old domestic terrorist suspect Nikolas Cruz is the latest reason for this most recent tragedy. He legally purchased a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle in February 2017, a year prior to killing 17 people. According to various reports, Cruz caught an Uber to Marjory Stoneman
This photo of a gun-totting Israeli teacher has been making rounds lately to enhance the need for such a measure. Douglas High School, and then proceeded to walk inside the school carrying a black duffel bag and a backpack. Cruz hid loaded magazines in his backpack, until the very moment he decided to pull out his newly acquired AR-15 rifle and start blasting away at people. As the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass school shooting has been added to the list as one of the deadliest school shootings and acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, it has now also been added to the list of tragic mass shooting incidents that have seemingly and sadly become the norm in this country. Again, the world sat in terror watching in horror as politicians and lawmakers, who are entrusted to
lead and serve, offered the victims and their families little more than their thoughts and prayers via social media, sound bites and scripted press releases. Many people remember the tragedy that took place on December 14, 2012, when 20-year-old domestic terrorist Adam Lanza killed 20 1st graders between the ages of six and seven years of age and six adults with an assault rifle at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Since the Sandy Hook shooting, there have been roughly 240 other school shootings that have taken place in the U.S. with at least 438 people being shot and 138 people being killed.
Many have argued that this continued loss of life reinforces the recurring narrative that America is strongly encouraging a culture of gun violence, particularly because of the flat out refusal of lawmakers to take action and pass any sensible bipartisan gun control legislation. Over the years, the relationship between gun lobbyists and those who make policy has seemingly produced an unwillingness to advance responsible gun safety legislation, and it has caused a major divide amongst many people in this country. Now, instead of clearly addressing the unrestricted access to high-powered, military-style
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