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Original Oratory
Oral Interp
“Lockdown, Lockdown Shut the door! Turn the lights off say no more, go behind the desk
and hide, wait until it's safe inside! Lockdown, Lockdown it’s all done!” NOW it's time to have
some fun.
According to the gun violence archive, there have been a total of 340 mass shootings in
the United states in 2018. The Thousand Oaks shooting happened on the 311th day of the year,
which put the United States at an average of one mass shooting a day. On February 14th, the
students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas were faced with the deaths of 17 of their classmates and
this sparked a turning point for Americans across the country. After the tragedy, Everytown for
gun safety, March for our lives, Moms Demand Gun sense, and several organizations were
created to protest the current laws we have in place on guns and how we treat these situations in
the U.S. But what have lawmakers done to prevent future mass shootings? We hear from
politicians “We send our deepest condolences” or “We send our thoughts and prayers.” but these
thoughts and prayers haven’t become action. It takes more than just thoughts and prayers to
change the amount of shootings we see in the U.S. If we want affect change, it will be up to vote.
We need to speak out, reach out, and vote.
Think about this…. Columbine. 13 deaths. Lots of thoughts and prayers… No action.
Virginia tech, 33 deaths. Sandy Hook- ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 20 1ST GRADERS
dead. Lots of thoughts. Lots of prayers. No action. This shooting drove president Obama
to tears who then pushed for more reform and prevention of this kind of tragedy. But
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congress hasn’t done anything. And how could they? These politicians don't live in a
world where we have to guess if our classmate has a gun in hand. We can no longer rely
on politicians to solve our problems.
We need to speak up. Take a page from the Speech kids at Parkland who used their
training the same way we are doing here today. To call attention to this issue. And not
only did they call attention to the problem. They kept talking about it. Refusing to be
silenced. They spoke in their neighborhoods,in their home state, at their nation’s capital.
We need to do the same. Speak up and force people to look at this world we live in.
Make them see that gun violence is a public health issue for Americans ages 12 to 18. A
recent study from the pediatric publications says everyday 19 children are killed by a
gun. Every year, 1,300. In that same year there are 6,000 that end up in the hospital from
non-fatal gunshot wounds. This is a problem. With guns being a large cause of death
among teenagers in the US, we must do something to spark change and protect the future
of this country. With that first step being, Reachout. Reachout to civic organizations in
our communities., reach out to local politicians, to our state governments, and to our
federal government. We cannot sit idly by witht the belief that because we are not 18 and
cannot vote yet, t...
