History of Gun Violence in America: Mass Shootings, the NRA and Our National Shame
When I decided the History of Gun Violence in the United States was going to be my topic for this editorial I faced a conundrum on where I should begin? The wild west and its anti-heroes such as: Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc, or something along the lines of the Al Capone styled mob violence of the roaring twenties? Since I usually attempt to keep these pieces as current, and more in tuned with modern times as possible, I came to the conclusion that since much of what I'll be focusing on will be the scourge of Mass Shootings. So what more infamously memorable event would I start this piece with than the Columbine Colorado School massacre, which happened on April 20th, 1999 ( date courtesy of brittanica.com). I remember that date well, personally, I was a Freshman in High School and at the time 4/20, was a day that was and still is celebrated amongst marijuana enthusiastists. The video footage that is engraved in my memory from that most horrifying day in American History,