Introduction

I am Wellington Verduga Macias. I am a Computer Engineering Technologies Major. I started back in 2017 and dropped out 2019 when I enlisted into the US Army. I have been servicing since then until recently when I transitioned into the US Army Reserves. Even though I enlisted, I have never consider myself a big “Army” guy. Patriotism and Nationalism are concepts that don’t sit well with me. I respect it but I find them to be extremely volatile. I respect and love this country for the opportunities and chances it has provided me but I believe that patriotism and nationalism most often that not results in being blindsided to issues inside your country.

Recently, I have been talking and thinking a lot about the endemic that mass shootings have become in the US. It is the reason behind the meme I picked. I feel like we know what’s wrong and the solutions are out there in front of our faces but extremism in proudness, patriotism, nationalism and many other values blinds us from them. We want to keep our constitutional rights but fail to keep them in check. We provide liberties but when those comeback to hurt people we refuse to accept the mistakes and blame something else. It is surprising that there are people who fail to notice the relationship of mass shooting with semi-automatic high power rifles and how out of hand weapon ownership has become. A kid recently turned 18 can buy himself an semi-automatic high power rifle and quantities of ammunition that matches military. Later, that kid takes this new earned power and uses it in an ill intentioned manner. After such events happen, people wonder about everything else(police response, civilian intervention and political affiliations) beside that fact that without that semi-automatic rifle, most likely less harm could have been done. If I were to put it into the meme: The first block would read NRA, the second would be giving automatic rifles and the third would be I don’t know why there are so many mass shootings.