No weapons please!!

75 years now

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

75 years from now, in 1945, two entire cites were destroyed completely by a nuclear bomb. Flight B59 carried little boy, the code name for the nuclear bomb that destroyed many generations of people in Japan within a few seconds. Everything turned into ashes within seconds before people had time to know what was happening. Hands stopped to remember what happened.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were victims of the first nuclear weapon in the world. Within seconds, around 80,000 people were killed in Hiroshima alone. Many more died in the following days. The death count was only increasing each day due to the radiation the bomb generated. In the first millionth of a second after detonation, the burning bomb forms a fireball heat which produces an enormous amount of energy in the form of x-rays, heat and light. Anything inside the heat ball will be vaporized in a second. The heat that is generated would be so intense that anyone within the radius would be the victim of severe and fatal burns. The fireball, in turn, creates a shock wave which is so strong that it can destroy buildings.

People didn’t die just because of the blast but also because of the fire that generated due to the blast and the radiation. It was a day of great loss! The casualty count was not accurate due to the fact that many victims got burned to death, in turn burning all record of their existence.

A blast victim said to be sitting on stone steps seemed to have left just a shadow after absorbing the fireball heat. 

“Each person had a name. Each person was loved by someone. Let us ensure that their deaths were not in vain”- Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing during his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech. 

For 75 years, Japan is living in America's protection. As memories fade and survivors passed away, Japan's commitment to not create nuclear weapons is fading. The US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly saying it is time the country started defending itself. And for the first time, the country is wondering what will happen if the US stops defending the country with threats from China and North Korea. With the technology advancements, Japan can create nuclear weapons easily if it wants to.

Srilanka 

At least five Indians were killed due to the suicide bomber which struck Shangri la hotel on 21st April 2019. A series of six blasts took place within a short span of time.  Three churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka were victims of the country's worst terror attack. More than 500 were injured in the attack.

     

There is almost no public debate on gun control in Pakistan

The Islamic State is believed to have carried out the blasts on Easter Sunday although there is no proof for this.

The casualties were from the UK, Denmark, Portugal, India, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Bangladesh, the US and China.

Beirut explosion

At least 135 people died due to a blast caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer in agriculture but it can also be used as an explosive and in certain conditions, it can be deadly which is why Ammonium nitrate should be stored in a safe place. Fertilizers are commonly used to make bombs because they are cheap and easily available. There have been fertilizer bomb attacks in the past like the attack in Oklahoma City in April 1995 which killed around 168 people.

Experts believe that the blast had one-tenth of the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb. Maybe it is time to find green alternatives for such fertilizers.

                Ammonium Nitrate stored in bags

Suicide weapons 

Suicide weapons were not only used during warfare but also in terrorism. Suicide bombs are vests packed with explosives worn by the attacker who is willing to sacrifice his life for mass destruction. Such attacks are usually carried out in crowded places or public places to instil terror in the target population. They are worse compared to other terrorist attacks because of the ability to conceal weapons and mass killings.

An RDX explosive-laden belt worn by a 17-year-old girl led to the death of former Prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

Nuclear Winter

Nuclear winter is said to occur when 100-kiloton bombs detonate. Black carbon or soot lifts up into the stratosphere due to the firestorm that generates after the bomb detonation and the absorption of sunlight further heats up the soot in the smoke which in turn could block a portion of the sun’s light from entering the earth. This could cause the surface temperature to drop drastically. The surface temperature could be the same or colder than a particular region’s winter or sometimes colder for months or years which will make life on earth impossible.  All the crops will die due to the cold weather and if the humans have not already died due to the temperature drop they will eventually die due to greenhouse effect that is caused due to dead organic matter and corpses. Though the nuclear winter scenario continues to receive criticisms, we are at a higher risk of nuclear weapons if they get into the wrong hands.

Ozone

A study by Michael J. Mills et al., published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008, conducted a computer model study in which a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could cause a near-global Ozone hole causing health problems for humans and environmental damage for at least a decade. The study considered a scenario where each country used 50-Hiroshima sized nuclear weapons on each side.

Protect the Ozone layer

Open carry banned

In 2013, Starbucks asked its customers not to openly carry guns into their store. Target followed the same in 2014. In Texas, retailers must use big signboards in English and Spanish with open-carry policies.

No gun zone

Germany revised its gun control laws after the Winnenden school shooting in 2009. Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that the government's goal is "no weapons in the hands of extremists." Whoever owns a gun will be checked every five years and they will have to justify why they need a gun.

Walmart requested its customers not to openly carry firearms in its stores following the shooting in El Paso that killed 22 people at its store in August 2019.

As of December 29th 2019, there have been 414 mass shootings according to GVA (Gun Violence Archive).

The sad part is a group of the under-30 crowd in the United States, who didn't know what an assault weapon is participated in protests to ban assault weapons.

Education

From 1945’s Hiroshima attack until 2020’s Beirut explosion, the damage caused by assault weapons, Chemical weapons like fertilizers and weapons of mass destruction continues.

No weapons please!

The first nuclear test was carried out in 1945 by the United States. Radiation exposure can cause radiation sickness, cancer or even death depending on the amount of exposure. They also have an impact on plants causing DNA damage and reproduction problems.

Children and college students need to be educated on the seriousness of this issue. Nuclear weapons and their harmful effects should be taught in high schools so that the youngsters are more aware of the consequences of nuclear war and weapons testing. Young people can make a lot of positive changes and it is indeed mandatory to teach them about the nuclear risks and usage of weapons.

Even unused nuclear weapons can cause destruction. Weapons were introduced to protect a nation from enemy countries during world war. But if it is only killing more than protecting, producing and using any such weapons has to be banned. 

Just a modern gun? Or a weapon to kill?

                            

We have to start asking questions to ourselves and to others about this issue. Ask questions to our political leaders as to whether they are handling the nuclear risks and the measures they have taken to improve security especially of women and children. What will happen if a nuclear weapon gets into the hands of terrorists? Are they really necessary? Production and usage of assault weapons and weapons of mass destruction should and must be banned.