I am writing this on Sunday the 21st of September. This comes after watching clips of the President of the United States saying how much he hates people during the closing remarks of Charlie Kirk’s funeral. This was preceded by Kirk’s wife Erica forgiving the man who shot her husband on live television. I believe that Charlie Kirk’s death was a horrible thing that happened, and I am sad for both his family and friends who knew him. But it was the rhetoric used by the president of the United States during this event that caused the death of Kirk and caused the death of many other people. It is the radicalization of young men and women that is the cancer killing our way of life as Americans. And it is only being perpetuated by people on both sides of the political aisle. We are in an America that I did not wish to see; an America where the opponent has become the enemy.

Donald Trump is not keen to fix this issue. When Kirk was first pronounced dead, the President didn’t waste time to blame the radical left for the killing of Kirk. His administration then proceeded to crack down on those he deemed “against him,” with the firing of news anchors and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. He doesn’t want people calling him out for using the same rhetoric that got Kirk killed. Kirk was killed by the rhetoric the left used against him, which was only egged on by the rhetoric used on the right against those on the left saying the exact same thing. Trump will not change his tune. We must change our tunes, however, or we will become the reason for our own downfall. We must recognize that when it comes to these senseless killings of people, there is a main enemy. That enemy is the mental health crisis, armed by guns that we refuse to regulate. It is both a gun issue and a mental health issue.

When it comes to the mental health argument, which is the main argument cited by right-wing opinions, we can see that they will make no effort to pass legislation to fix it. They passed cuts to Medicaid, which also included major spending that would have gone to mental health initiatives that they were so willing to support when they spoke about it on the campaign trail. They make cuts to education department grants specifically targeted towards the betterment of mental health within our schools. They made cuts to Covid-Era funds towards mental health resources that made millions of people better during a time of such isolation. We need mental health services, because there is a mental health crisis that is affecting us; especially when we are still armed.

Guns are the other part of the issue. My state, Massachusetts, has some of the best state gun restrictions in the country. Who else has had the lowest rate of gun-related deaths in the country, also Massachusetts. Stricter gun laws lead to less death since less guns leads to less people being shot; makes sense logically. When it comes to other states with less restrictive gun laws, they experience more violence. Just last night there was a shooting in Nashua NH at a wedding. Had that person gone through the proper training to receive a license in order to get that gun, had they had a background check run on them for potential reasons why they shouldn’t own a gun, then that person may not have had the gun he had. But then people scream “what if it was illegal? What if it was an illegal gun? Anyone can get a gun as long as they do it illegally!” Then why aren’t you going after illegal guns? That is the issue I have when it comes to the left on their gun stance. They claim that restricting legal use is the key to fixing the issues, yet they lose the narrative that they also need to bring resources to law enforcement to properly track down and get rid of ghost guns; something that isn’t achievable when you defund police.

So, what are we to do? Simple. We need to use our voices effectively. We need to stop pointing the finger at one another and point the finger at the things hurting one another. For a party focused on a pro-life mindset, I am confused around the support for firearms. You don’t want to allow abortion, yet you are so keen on not restricting the proper distribution of weapons for anyone who would like to shoot up a catholic elementary school? If you’re so keen on giving people the right mental health outlets, then pass the funding to mental health resources instead of twisting mental health problems as a scapegoat towards trans and gender non-conforming individuals. As for the left, you must understand that when it comes to the protections of the marginalized groups affected by harmful rhetoric, you must also disown those who praise the death of other human beings. “You have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.”

It is my opinion that Americans need to make better choices. We must stop referring to one another as enemies. We must stop electing those who are willing to call other people enemies if we want them to do. We must pass legislation aimed at tackling the deadliest thing in America, gun violence fueled by political extremism. To do that, we must pass sweeping reforms to guns, their ownership, their illegal usage, and their proper distribution. We must push funding for more mental health resources so that people go to someone to talk about their issues and who they are and want to become rather than giving them a gun and saying, “that person thinks you shouldn’t be here.” We must do these things, or we will fail. To lose our respect for one another’s opinion and opposition is to lose the respect of the rest of the world; to be seen as a lesser country than what we have always been able to be. But this is something that I can not change myself, though I will advocate for it. To quote Lincoln (again), “In your hands […] and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.” It is up to everyone else to decide what we do, and when we do it. But, if it helps to have a reference, I’ll say this. I want us to act like the greatest country in the world again.