According to Insider magazine, there have been 289 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2019. As students at Aspen Country Day School, we’re lucky but still scared for our safety. Forty thousand people died in 2018 from guns and suicide alone. There have been roughly 230 school shootings since Columbine.
We go to the private school in Aspen that consists of some of the most privileged kids in the state, but we still have the fear of being killed. Every morning we get on the bus with a little bit of fear in the back of our heads about when the next shooting will be. We ask ourselves, are we next? If the kids that live in one of the safest towns in America are scared, think about how kids in huge public schools feel. Everywhere we go we look for an exit just in case. We must make this one of our main priorities. Have you ever thought about how the children of America feel?
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has made gun control and gun laws his main focus. If we elect John Hickenlooper to Senate, changes will be made. We must change, and we must change now. Children are dying, lives are being lost — how much more can America take? Visit https://www.hickenlooper.com/ for more information.
Siri O’Connell, Stewart Corona, Claire Bradshaw, Bode McDowell, Shelby Grueter
Eighth grade, Aspen Country Day