What Kills more than an AR-15 ?

Prior to writing this article, I had little to no knowledge about the opioid problem within this country. I did not know the numbers, the scale or the impact.

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, I found that in 2015 over 20.5 million americans age 12 and over had a substance disorder involved with opium.

To my surprise out of that 20.5 million, 591,000 people had a use disorder involving heroine.

It was also stated that there were over 20,101 deaths related to opioid overdose in 2015.

Fellow columnist Riley Larson stated that, “I think that the opioid epidemic in this country needs to be addressed, it is an issue that the likes of which we have not seen since communist China in 1971.”

If the reality of the numbers shown here are in fact as harsh as stated, I believe that there is a problem within this country that is vastly understated.

Given this statement if I could speak to all the writers, columnists, media outlets, politicians and the students who have been so active in advocating for gun control, I would ask them all one question. Why are you turning a blind eye on an issue that ruins more families and takes more life than any AR-15 that a madman wields?

The reason I write this article is to exemplify that the media and the political left are very skilled at picking which issue to use as a ploy to insert their policies within society.

However, this does not discount the problems of mass shootings within our country and our schools. Mass shootings are a very real issue, and a reminder that responsibility must fall within the individual to insure that we look out for each others mental stability, and promote an environment in which all people have the ability to lead a promising life.