Teens Urge Congress to Ban Assault Weapons - Speech 2

The RAC is proud to bring thousands of teens to Washington D.C. for our annual L'Taken Social Justice Seminars. After three days of intensive programming and learning about some of the many issues we advocate for, participants travel to Capitol Hill to meet with their members of Congress and advocate for the causes they care about. 

Leading up to Wear Orange (June 7-9), we are sharing a few of the many powerful speeches that were delivered by our L'Taken participants during our 2023-2024 season centered around the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. Our youth embody the power of the Reform Movement to make our voices heard. 

This speech was written by Avi R., Colby H., and Elle R. from Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA. This is the second speech in our 2024 Wear Orange series. You can find the other 2 speeches here: Speech 1, Speech 3.

In today's society, we have become desensitized to numbers. We live in a world in which victims are just statistics. No matter how you put it, a simple number, 650, is not enough. 650. That's the number of mass shootings in the United States in 2023 alone. This mere number isn't nearly enough for the 48,000 American citizens that are killed by guns each year. If you took just one minute of silence for every parent, every child, and every friend who has lost their lives to gun violence per year, you would be silent for an entire month.

Today we are advocating for a ban on assault weapons. While this will not stop gun violence, it will put us one step closer to a peaceful society. From 2015 to 2022, mass shootings where the shooter used an assault weapon resulted in twice as many people killed and 23 times as many people wounded compared to incidents where the shooter did not use an assault weapon.

This issue is not a new one, 29 years ago the United States reached a similar conclusion that we have today. An Assault Weapon Ban was already implemented in 1994, and it was successful. There was a dramatic 25% decrease in gun massacres and the people that died in these massacres decreased by 40%. So what could have gone wrong? The ban expired in 2004, and Congress foolishly decided not to renew it. In the 15 years following the ban's expiration, there was a 347% increase in fatalities during gun massacres. Researchers estimate that if the ban was in effect from 2005 to 2019, it would have prevented 30 mass shootings that resulted in 1,478 people shot. 1,478. Yet another number. Somehow, we Americans lack the decency to recognize the value of a life. 1,478, each and every one of those people had a life, a family, and a story, before they were shot because we failed them.

The Talmud teaches us that "one who takes a life, it is as though they have destroyed the universe, and one who saves a life, it is as though they saved the universe" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). Each time a life is lost through gun violence, a world is destroyed. 48,000 people are victims of gun violence a year. That's not just 48,000 lives and worlds, it's the worlds of thousands of families and communities as well. Acting to prevent gun violence will save infinite lives, infinite universes.

Judaism is rooted in both the power of the individual and the strength in community, both of which are monumentally impacted by gun violence and both of which have to have a role in this necessary change. Rabbi Hillel, a Jewish religious leader, stated, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?" I've heard this quote about a million times through my years at temple but I never actually considered the extent to which it resonates with every single aspect of my life, now more than ever in regards to gun violence. As individuals, we are obligated to demand an end to gun violence for ourselves, our communities and our children starting right now.

I could walk you through the plans I've made in my head for every class in case the unimaginable happens, a reality we've had to familiarize ourselves with. Or the procedure if that siren ever rings. How many times I've imagined having to sit in terrifying silence, not being allowed to unlock a door to a student who didn't make it inside on time. Or the nightmare of being the one stuck on the other side of a locked door. Going to my friends' funerals, or them coming to mine. The Torah underlines the fact that human life is precious and a gift from God, and as Jews we cannot stand by while these massacres continue to get swept under the rug.

School should be a safe place, where students can go and learn skills to progress through life and learn vital skills to better themselves and envision their future. School should never be a place where students and educators alike are wondering if they will be the next victim of a school mass shooting. I know for myself I have felt that exact feeling before when waking up for school and being told that someone at school had a gun and a kill list. You instantly feel terrified for your life, your friends, and the people you care about. You are so scared that today could have been your or someone you know's last day. I could say this is a problem and we need to fix it. But, I bet you have heard that a thousand times, and partially correct except it is not a "problem" this is much bigger. It is an epidemic that is widely spreading in America, and I worry that it could come to any of our schools.

My parents told me that if my school was under attack by a shooter, I shouldn't be a hero. I shouldn't try to help anyone, just run and hide. But, I'm not content with running and hiding. So here I am, trying to be a hero. I refuse to run away from mass shootings, I refuse to stand idly by when there is something I can do.

With your help, maybe we could put a dent in the number of mass shootings and the number of lives lost. We advocate for the ban of all assault weapons, while being far from a complete solution, this is the first step that we must take to end gun violence. Between 2015 and 2022, mass shootings with four or more people killed where assault weapons were used resulted in 23 times as many people wounded and twice as many people killed per incident on average. By implementing this bill we will see a dramatic decrease in mass shootings, just as we saw 29 years ago. I shouldn't need to convince anyone about the effectiveness of this bill, we have already seen the substantial decrease in gun violence that will follow implementation. By depriving future shooters of highly dangerous weapons, we can give so many people the ability to become more than just another statistic. In addition to banning assault weapons, this bill will also ban the use of "bump stock" attachment. The bump stock enables a semi-automatic weapon to fire at a similar rate as an automatic one. During a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, a gunman killed 60 people and injured 869 while utilizing the enhanced killing capabilities of the bump stock.

On behalf of all the people that this bill will save, we graciously thank you for cosponsoring The Assault Weapon Ban (H.R. 698). But our fight against gun violence doesn't end here, in the future I encourage you to continue to support similar pieces of legislation. I beg of you to share with your peers the importance of ending all gun violence. Thank you.

Some of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. have been the result of assault weapons, weapons of war that are intended to shoot rapidly in a short period of time. You can join these teens and the larger Reform Movement by urging Congress to ban assault weapons.