A Christian's View on Gun Control

Introduction

On April 20, 1999, Patrick Ireland woke up to a seemingly normal day of his junior year in high school. And, up until lunch period, it was. Patrick had done a good job at maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and being a key player on the school's basketball and baseball teams (Cullen 77). But, on that fateful day, he decided to divert from his usual schedule of eating out for lunch and went to the library with his friends, Makai and Dan. Everything was fine until a teacher burst into library, screaming. The teacher continued to scream at the students to get under their desks and hide. Confused but obedient, Patrick and his friends hid under a table. Silence reigned until the library door flew open and two pairs of feet walked casually into the room. Gunfire suddenly ripped through the silence and sprayed towards Patrick's table. Makai's leg was immediately hit. Wasting no time, Patrick went to assist his friend. But, Patrick rose too high, and Dylan Klebold, one of the shooters, noticed him. He shot his shotgun at Patrick, hitting him in the head and foot. Patrick collapsed on the ground and blacked out (Cullen 77).

He was only partly conscious when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold mocked and shot many more of his fellow peers, including his other friend Dan. Once the two shooters left, Makai and Dan attempted to get Patrick out of there, but were unable to. Patrick's limp form and Makai and Dan's injured legs did not help the situation. Makai and Dan were forced to leave Patrick in the library. Patrick did not fully regain consciousness until much time after. He attempted to stand and move, to get out, but he couldn't. He looked around for a way to escape. Through his blotchy eye sight, he noticed light pouring in through one of the broken windows. He began to pull himself in that direction, unable to crawl or stand. It took him three hours to reach the window. He pulled himself up onto the window seal and leaned out of it. Below, he heard voices yelling for him. The SWAT team was scrambling to catch him. Patrick, who was disoriented and terrified, leaned head first out of the window and attempted to fall out. While the SWAT team tried to talk him into waiting for them to get ready for his jump, he seemed to not understand as he swung his legs over and fell from the second story into the arms of the SWAT team (Cullen 77).

Patrick's story is terrifying and heartbreaking. Yet, there are countless other stories about the horrors of school shootings. Americans look back to the Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland shootings often, shocked and confused as to how something so tragic and horrible could happen. As the deaths of innocent lives pile up and the fear for students' lives escalates, the people of the United States look for an answer in hope of solving this horrible problem.