Constructive steps have been taken... | 22 Words

It's 2019, and we are living in a society where we are afraid to send our children to school in the fear of them being shot.

It seems barbaric when it's written down in black and white, doesn't it? But, sadly, this is America's reality. U.S. gun control has long been too slack, and the statistics prove it.

And it has recently come to light that, in August alone, ninety-three people were killed in mass-shootings. Yes, ninety-three people in the space of 1 month.

News has broken that Walmart has finally banned the sale of handguns and ammunition, so keep scrolling to learn more of our country's biggest crisis...

 

Let's begin by stating the obvious...

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 What defines a "mass shooting?" The term "mass killings" is defined by the Justice Department as 3 or more killings in a single episode, excluding the death of a gunman.

Though there is no legal definition for the phrase "mass shootings..."

It can be gathered quite loosely with the definition of a "mass killing..." because that's what it is, isn't it?

And our country has been ravaged by horrific mass shootings for decades.

And why is that? Because our government seems to think that it's more important for a person to "have the right to bear arms" than it is to have the right to live safely in their community.

We even have a "Mass Shooting Tracker."

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 When a country needs a website to keep track of its nearly-daily mass shootings, you know things need to change. The Mass Shooting Tracker is a crowd-sourced database of U.S. mass shootings, with the website defining a “mass shooting" as a single outburst of violence in which 4 or more people are shot.

The website keeps track of our country's mass shootings.

via: Mass Shooting Tracker

 And it has laid out the horrifying statistics plain and clear in a graph that organizes each shooting and fatality by month and year. The numbers speak for themselves and highlight just how dangerous our country has become.

It's time for our government to wake up.

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 Because the number of mass shootings across the U.S. thus far in 2019 has outpaced the number of days this year, according to a gun violence research group.

And the statistics for last month are simply terrifying.

According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, ninety-three people were killed in mass shootings in August alone, and a further 253 were injured.

Last month saw a spike in mass shootings.

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 And the spate of violence has left our country on edge and has only intensified the on-going debate over our gun laws.

August got off to a terrible start.

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 Just 3 days into the month, twenty-two people were horrifically killed in El Paso, when a gunman stormed a local Walmart Store.

It was a blatantly racist attack against El Paso's Hispanic community.

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The suspect, a white man in his twenties who was taken into custody, wrote an anti-immigrant manifesto that was posted online shortly before the attack, the authorities said.

This is not to mention the fact that he wasn't instantly branded as a terrorist...

And, just 1 day following the El Paso attack, a further 9 people were killed in a completely fresh shooting.

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 And another twenty-seven were injured when a gunman wearing a mask and body armor opened fire in a busy entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio.

Other shootings were spread out across the country.

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 Varying from Chicago, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Detroit, over twenty different cities experienced at least 1 mass shooting in August.

And the month was brought to a close in the same way that it was opened...

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With one final mass shooting.

On Saturday, 7 people were fatally shot, and a further twenty-one were injured in a brazen daylight drive-by mass shooting in the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa, as a gunman drove on the highways and streets opening fire on residents, motorists and shoppers.

When will this madness stop?

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 Following these tragedies, Walmart has made the bold move to stop selling handgun and rifle ammunition.

They have put a complete stop to these sales...

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 In addition to handgun ammunition, it is reported that Walmart has also stopped selling bullets for short-barrel rifles such as 2.23 caliber and 5.56 caliber.

The ban won't be instant, however...

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 The ban is planned to come into effect once all stocks have been depleted, rather than taking all the unsold ammunition off the shelves.

Constructive steps have been taken...

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 Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, said in a statement: "In a complex situation lacking a simple solution, we are trying to take constructive steps to reduce the risk that events like these will happen again."

It looks like the tragic events of last month have finally sunk in...

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"The status quo is unacceptable," he continued to say.
"We know these decisions will inconvenience some of our customers, and we hope they will understand. As a company, we experienced two horrific events in one week, and we will never be the same."

All we can do is hope and pray that these small changes will make a difference to the gun crime in our country.

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"Our remaining assortment will be even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts. It will include long barrel deer rifles and shotguns, much of the ammunition they require, as well as hunting and sporting accessories and apparel," McMillon explained.

But not everyone is happy about this decision...

Of course, the National Rifle Association just had to have their say. "Rather than place the blame on the criminal, Walmart has chosen to victimize law-abiding Americans," they wrote on Twitter, completely disregarding that these "law-abiding Americans" were the people who inflicted these terrors on innocent civilians.

Whatever the NRA says, Walmart has made the right choice...

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 It'll be interesting to see the transition when the store eventually takes all ammunition from its shelves, and it'll also be interesting to see how our country will adjust to this change. But, most importantly, it will hopefully bring a noticeable change in the numbers of mass shootings that America sadly experiences every year.