Dark America: The Endless and Vicious Cycle of Gun Violence

Courtesy of March For Our Lives

From execution-style killings of kids in Chicago to school and club massacres across our nation, America is destroying itself from inside because of violence that relates to the use of firearms. We have law enforcement officers murdering unarmed civilians with seldom any consequence or punishment, we have children gaining access to weapons located in their homes, taking them to school and wreaking pure havoc and we have racist protestors invading places of worship slaughtering helpless congregants. Does anyone notice none of this has to do with standard gang violence or street killings as much as premeditated mayhem on members of our communities?

Politicians are lining their pockets with contributions from lobbyists who want to relax gun laws even further, turn our schools into maximum prison-like settings by arming teachers and school faculty with firearms (that is the most ridiculous solution to date) and increase the flood of hi-impact rounds and weapons available in retail settings. There is no serious move to increase the depth of background checks or stop the free flow of weapons and weapon technology available to the average un-trained firearm consumer/user.

To be clear, our right as Americans to bear arms should NOT be taken away, but why in the world do we need military grade weapons made available to the everyday person? Power has a tendency to corrupt and the power from a military grade weapon is something the common user may not be able to handle…so why tempt them by making it available?! Why give an already twisted mind such as school and worship center shooters the ability to lay down dozens of human beings with a rapid magazine change, drum magazine which holds 100-plus rounds, or a weapon that sprays rounds on automatic with the flip of a lever?

No reasonable person would agree to allow this to happen over and over and over and thus we implore everyone of voting age:

Please Get out and vote on Tuesday, November 6 and help end “The Most Vicious Cycle”

Courtesy of March For Our Lives

Internationally-respected March for Our Lives activists teamed up pop icon Kesha and her younger brother Sage, director Ben Smith at Mill+, ad agency McCann, to create a music video that dramatizes the cycle of gun violence and reminds young people that voting is the only way to end it. Just like gun violence in America, the video repeats over and over again. The film features a song, written the day after the Parkland shooting by Sage who was a senior in high school at the time. The song is performed by Sage, Kesha, and up-and-coming rapper Chika. The film includes a memorial scene, honoring actual victims of gun violence from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the Pulse Nightclub shooting, as well as everyday gun violence in different parts of Chicago. Footage supplied by David Hogg, from inside his classroom the day-of, is also included, to remind viewers of the personal nature of the gun-violence epidemic. Everyone involved hopes to increase voter turnout and change gun laws forever.

With 96 gun-related deaths each and every day, America finds itself in a never-ending cycle of gun violence. The only way to stop that cycle is to vote for politicians who support common sense gun legislation. And young people can make a difference in that vote. However, only 28% of people under 29 plan to vote in the upcoming midterm election.

Links to the Single “Safe”:

Created by: The March for Our Lives activists, Kesha, Sage, Chika, Mill+ and McCann.

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Tags: #MarchForOurLives, Chika, Dark America, gun laws, Gun violence, Kesha, McCann, Mill+, Politics, SAGE, The Hype Magazine, Vote

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.