In the past year, the Current has written 13 articles about mass shootings in the United States— not including the articles in this week’s issue. It is safe to say that this topic is not only something college students are concerned about, but are acutely aware of. We hear these stories on the news, we hear from the survivors who “never thought this would happen in (place location here)”. But it did happen and it will continue to happen unless something changes.
According to the Sun Sentinel, 16 states have tightened gun control laws and passed legislation to improve school safety since the Parkland school shooting last February and several other states are currently reviewing proposed legislation. Obviously, this isn’t working since these shooters are still somehow slipping through the cracks.
Everyone has a theory as to why these people are slipping through the cracks and on what solutions can solve these issues but it seems that, overall, it is still inconclusive on all sides. Some blame mental health, some blame gun ownership laws, some blame background checks and, in general, everyone blames the government for not doing anything that is effective. But how could anyone find the “smoking gun”, so to speak, if we aren’t devoting the time and resources to this issue.
Through recent shootings, a general timeline seems to be followed: the event occurs, an investigation is conducted, thoughts and prayers are mentioned, a slow return to normalcy, an increase in security presence, rarely a legislation change and then, the issue magically disappears — Until, another shooting occurs and then this process is repeated again and again. As these events occur it’s expected that areas around these attacks heighten security but then, nothing changes. Take Parkland for example. These students encouraged a massive response after the shooting. They hosted marches, a nationwide school walkout, an activism tour and spoke with countless media outlets about the issue and made this a discussion arguably, at every dinner table across America. Yet, according to the GunViolenceArchive.org, 278 mass shootings have occured since Parkland. The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as “FOUR or more shot and/or killed in a single event [incident], at the same general time and location not including the shooter.”
So what have we learned since Parkland? Not much, since it seems that we are nowhere near fixing this problem even with the uprising of the victims fighting against gun violence. It’s only natural to ask yourself after such a high number, will I be involved in the next incident? The short answer is no one knows, which is a scary thought to say the least. But the fact of the matter is that there is no way to prevent these events. Even if security measures are taken, the security guard can be shot or not be able to prevent the problem as seen in Parkland and more recently at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, Ca. According to the New York Times, a sophomore from California State Channel Islands said, “You can stay out all night at Borderline because there’s major security.”
When you bring this issue closer to home, some major red flags are raised when it comes to NSU. Visitors to the University can pull into the Shark Circle at any time without much security presence other than the police vehicles outside the UC. But most of the time there isn’t actually a police officer in the vehicle. The Alvin Sherman Library has a security personnel sitting inside the building to scan either a SharkCard or public library card. But, they don’t check backpacks or any baggage that is coming inside the area. They might do so during large public events but on a daily basis, there’s not an obvious security presence. The bottom line is anyone can walk onto campus and do anything they want and that worries me and it should worry you.
