(Note: This article is categorized as an Op-Ed. As such, all opinions are that of staff writer Kelsey Byrd’s, and do not reflect the ideas or thoughts of Memorial High School nor the MHS Journalism staff team as a whole.)

Last class, I had the chance to write about the Atlanta shooting. In what appears to be yet another instace of a white supremacist- uncontent to let his mere bigotry alone plague this planet- drove to three different spas and opened fire on array of strangers, killing 8 people total, 6 of whom were Asian in a probable hate crime. Through my research, I became acquainted with the victims in the refrains that one who never knew them could- I read sentiments from family members who tried to carve their grief into verbal memorials of those they lost. That familiar ache of pain we humans feel when this type of senseless slaughter happens took place, a type of heavy sadness that cannot quite be articulated properly. 

But I published the Atlanta article. I read it over, felt content with its tribute and was able to walk out of the room and think of other things, like what article I would write next. Whatever article might have been never got to happen. What did happen was a man went into a grocery store on a sleepy Monday evening in Boulder, Colorado and killed 10 people. Among the 10 was a police officer named Eric Talley, who was the first cop to respond to the shooting and lost his life because of it. 

They were at a store. They were at a spa. They had family and friends who thought the world of them. They leave irreparable loss. They were simply Americans doing some of the most mundane and peaceful things available to them, and they were gunned down in an instant. It’s all so familiar- these mass shootings happen and we grieve, but the inevitability of them occurring seems to be a predicament many Americans have come to accept. I won’t pretend I’m any different; I’ve written a variety of articles on here voicing my support for gun control after the latest act of terror, but I also was able to publish those articles and move on afterwards. The tragedy of what I was discussing didn’t escape me, but neither did my lack of influence or meaningful difference on the issue.

But as I drove to school this morning and looked at the window, I saw the beautiful American flag rippling in the wind. All flags were ordered flown half-mast by President Biden in consequence of the Atlanta shooting. And with the Boulder shooting so fresh on its heels- less than a week apart- it occured to me that there is no point in even raising the flag. The President will surely want the flags to be flown half-mast for what happened in Colorado, so half-mast the flags will stay until the country can go a respectable amount of time without a mass shooting.

That is our reality. The reality of a country so riddled with gun violence that flags can be ordered half-mast and have that represent two different shootings. Something has to change, and it has to change now. There will always be evil people, and with that evil comes the recognition that there will always be evil acts, like public shootings. But the rate of which they happen is not just a way of life anyone should take normalcy in. The level of mass shootings in America is an abomination and affront to human decency, along with being a product of gun culture and gun readiness in our nation. Legislative change to our gun laws should be severe and thorough, not just promises of meaningless thoughts and prayers. 

We, including myself, cannot get in the mindset that what we say is of no consequence. Every American should voice their support for common sense gun control measures, because that’s how society speaks in a unified state that they will not allow this to be our normal. Our flag is meant to be flown at full length and those killed in Atlanta, Boulder and all those before them are meant to be alive. 

So yes, change needs to be demanded, not asked for. In the fight to make this happen, we should also take the time to read about those lost in these shootings. They aren’t just a statistic or a number to be added to the body count. They were valuable members to society and their presence meant something to those they loved. They should still be here. But for now, the flags will have to be flown half-mast.