The time is now to come together in solidarity

By: Dylan Brennan, Columnist 

There were a multitude of pestilent, threatening and downright despicable topics that I could’ve picked this week, but I think we all know which one I simply had to address. Everyone is shocked and stunned about the atrocity that happened in Las Vegas. However, I don’t think anyone is shocked or stunned at the reaction by the talking heads and pundits we’ve been surrounded by our entire lives. From people on the left politicizing the event — like Hillary Clinton, who ridiculed the National Rifle Association on Twitter a day after the shooting — to people obscurely blaming this on white privilege or toxic masculinity — like YouTuber Riley Dennis, who tweeted “#BanAllWhiteMen” — the left has completely lost the plot on crises that should — and make no mistake, that used to — unify the nation in solidarity.

Believe it or not, I am completely and utterly in favor of banning — not restricting, but banning — the now infamous bump stock. A device that completely transforms a legal gun into a ridiculously unsafe version of another should not be allowed. I’ve talked with friends who are regional experts on guns, and they literally cannot come up with any reason for bump stocks to exist at all, aside from firing uncontrollably and rapidly until the gun is emptied.  

Don’t squander this opportunity for the gun control you’ve always pressed for! Now is the perfect opportunity for both sides of the aisle to unite under one legal action. Don’t muddy the waters with political identities or shallow opportunism. These 58 people didn’t die to validate your petty viewpoints. These 58 people died from a lunatic monster who nobody could have seen coming. Thankfully even the hardest-line Republicans and gun groups are willing to take a stand against this. Let us unite not only in spirit, but in action.

Don’t seize this golden opportunity with amendments tacked on to any bill that will come of this, and don’t blame “the other side” for any of the actions by one sick human being. Let Las Vegas not be a horrific event to divide our political gap, but give us reason to hold hands across each side so that we may come together as a nation, and helping our country heal.