The arguments presented this week have been many: to arm teachers, to arm veterans and have them guard schools, to put metal detectors at schools. Lawmakers say criminals do not follow the law, so what good will more laws do? Or the problem is the way kids are raised these days, that kids are over medicated and it is a mental health issue. They have said it is everything except what it is—easy access to firearms that should not be on the civilian market.

The ArmaLite AR-15 rifle, the preferred weapon of school shooters, was originally developed for the U.S. Military in 1958. Anyone who tells you the AR-15 is not a military rifle is either ignorant or lying. There is no reasonable purpose in the civilian world for this rifle. If you say you are using it for hunting, well then you are a shitty hunter because there is no reason you need twenty rounds (or more) to hunt deer, squirrel, rabbit, or Bigfoot and his unicorn.

Arm teachers, arm veterans and have them guard schools, and put metal detectors at schools: We do not give our schools enough money to buy pencils, where is the money going to come from to hire these armed veterans? Where is the money going to come from for metal detectors, staff to run them and staffing for them? As for arming teachers, are we expecting teachers to go out and purchase a firearm, pay for training to use it and pay for ammunition used to get proficient with it? Or is that on the taxpayer? Or is this a “have a teacher go out and buy a hand gun on their own, carry it and hope for the best? Of these solutions offered, two of them put children in the crossfire. Or better yet, say a teacher leaves a firearm in the bathroom. Think it won’t happen? I know of soldiers who have ruined careers for leaving a rifle in a field latrine—and they had it drilled into them to always know where their weapon is at all times.

Criminals do not follow the law, so what good will more laws do: When I heard this argument the first thing I asked was, “So if criminals don’t follow laws, then why should we have any laws at all?” I have yet to get an answer to that question. Basically we are seeing the party of “law and order” turn into the the party of anarchy. That being said, up until the late ‘70s/early ‘80s drunk driving was, at worst, a traffic violation in most states. People got fed up with the fatalities and injuries caused by drunk driving. Laws were passed changing it from a traffic violation to a crime and police tested for blood alcohol content, first at .10, then .08, and some states are even lower. The drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. Drunk driving deaths have decreased with those law changes. Has it been eliminated, no—but enough people got pissed off about a problem, laws were changed and now fewer people are killed by drunk drivers. The excuse that criminals don’t follow laws so what’s the point of having more of them is easily disproven by this example.

It is the way kids are raised these days, and how they are over medicated: “It is the way kids are raised these days.” Whenever I hear that phrase, I picture the person saying that standing on their front stoop yelling at kids to get off their lawn. If there is one constant in this universe it is previous generations berating younger generations. There is nothing wrong with the way kids are raised today. And kids are overmedicated?—this one stuns me. Evidently all kids are overmedicated, and that is causing mass shootings in schools. If a child is on medication, that medication is between the child, the child’s parents and their doctor. It is none of your goddamn business if a kid is taking medication.

It is a mental health issue: People in Germany have mental health issues. People in Japan have mental health issues, people in all four corners of the earth have mental health issues. Guess what, mass shootings only happen in the United States on a consistent basis. The difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world—the rest of the industrialized world provides health care to everyone and they also do not offer unfettered access to firearms.

How can we stop this madness? Stop electing politicians that accept money from the NRA would be a start. NRA money is blood money—and anyone who takes their money should be labeled as an accessory to these horrible acts. They have blood on their hands through their inaction, and they need to be reminded of this every single day.

No parent should ever have to lose a child to senseless violence that could have been prevented. I am tired of the arguments. I am tired of the excuses. At no time is anyone’s right to a firearm more important than the life of a child. If you think your rights to own a gun are more important than the life of my child, then you are a selfish asshole and a part of the problem, not the solution. Human life trumps your gun rights.