Like everyone, I was horrified to hear about the shootings in Newtown, Conn. After the previous horrors of Columbine and Aurora, it's unfortunate to see that nothing is changing in the society of our neighbours to the south.

In fact, things only seem to be getting worse and I can't help but believe this is in part due to the growing sense of fear amongst Americans.

Who can blame Americans for being scared? You go mere miles across the border and are instantly bombarded with propaganda encouraging you to buy guns and other artillery.

It's a huge, powerful nation home to a massive number of people who are not afraid to stand up for their ideals.

Unfortunately, when a country has a population that large with a multitude of different belief systems, they are bound to have conflicting ideas and some extremists who take things too far, as well as other people who are just plain psychotic.

What I don't understand is how Americans can't see the problem that is right in front of them.

Guns and other artillery are treated as a necessity and a right over the border. They are made accessible to a staggering amount of the population, making them easy to acquire even if you don't have the proper documents.

In Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine, he is able to purchase firearms from a bank. Whose bright idea was it to sell guns in what has to be the most obvious target for armed robberies out there?

As much as Americans like to cite their rights as citizens, I have to question what is the necessity of having the right to bear arms.

I don't think some people grasp the concept that if you don't have the right to bear arms neither do the people who are likely to harm you with them. If they are as worried about their safety as they say, it's really in their best interest to constrict the regulations on guns.

As much as they'd like to think that America is the home of the free, the nation is greatly influenced by its dependence on the media.

Everyone wants their time in the spotlight, and this goes for the psychopaths and murderers too. Obsession with fame and glory is huge at this stage in our world's history, and when it comes to chaos and massacres people want to go out with a bang.

Part of the fuel for these mass killings is the drive to have their name go down in history, even if they're going to die. As these mass murders continue to go on, it seems that the culprits are trying to upstage the last one. Each time, they add a new horrific element that makes us all cringe to believe that someone would do such a thing.

America is a hugely important nation in our world, but sometimes I think Americans forget to step back and take a look at the big picture.

Right now the big picture is a country paralyzed in fear: adults buying as many weapons as they can to protect themselves, and children outfitted in the latest trend - bulletproof children's wear accessorized with bulletproof backpacks that can double as a shield.

Would Thomas Jefferson still have said "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms" if he could see the havoc that is striking America today?

Jackie Duck is a Grade 12 student at Dr. Charles Best Secondary.