On October 1, 2015 at around 10:30 a.m., nine people were killed and nine were injured in a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The gunman, 26 –year-old Chris Harper-Mercer, shot point blank at the professor and then demanded each student to stand up and state his or her religion. So, not only was this a mass shooting but a religiously targeted one, too. He then proceeded to shoot each Christian student in the room and later killed himself as the police attempted to apprehend him.
The fact that the shooter targeted Christian students is obviously horrific, but I’d like to focus on the terrifying fact of the normalcy of school shootings in today’s society. I am tired of hearing about another school shooting and the lives taken for no reason. What can we do to prevent these shootings from happening? But more importantly, when will there be a change in our response?
Since Sandy Hook in 2012, 142 school shootings have occurred , four of which were on college campuses, according to MTV News. In 2015 alone, there have been 294 mass shootings where four or more people were killed or injured by gunfire. These statistics shocked and horrified me. How can so many people be influenced by these horrible, tragic deaths and yet no real action has been taken to help prevent them?
“Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine,” said President Barack Obama in his press conference on the shooting. “My response here, at this podium ends up being routine. We’ve become numb to this.”
When will Americans realize how serious this issue really is? Maybe it will have to hit closer to home for some people to recognize the seriousness and the increase of these shootings around the country. It’s becoming less of how to prevent them and more of when will it happen next.
Imagine waking up and getting ready for class . You step out of your home or dorm and walk to class, just like a normal, routine day. But instead of coming home after class and starting on some homework or finishing up that episode of “Friends” you were watching, your mom has to go to the morgue to identify your body. Is that routine, America?
Security precautions need to be made on campuses throughout the country and the astounding amount of gun violence in America must be dealt with using more regulations and safety precautions. It is not right that people have grown accustomed to hearing about shootings like it is a normal thing.
As a college student, I don’t want to go to class in fear of what may happen to me or any other fellow college student. How can we help stop or even just begin to prevent instances like this one from happening?
For starters, we can report about it, spread the news about it, and keep it flowing through social media and on our campuses. The word has to keep being spread in order to not forget about this shooting until the next one happens and we reminisce and try to remember the details, ‘Oh, yeah, nine people were killed in that one.’ Gun laws and weapon abuse get discussed for a little bit until it slowly dies down and more shocking news is released and we forget about the conversation. We have to keep on fighting for these victims who can no longer fight for themselves. We can never stop fighting for justice and never forget the nine lives lost in this tragedy.
cover photo courtesy of Flicker