“Guns kill more people in America every six hours than terrorist attacks did in the entire year of 2014,” according to the Guardian in an article about the recent school shooting in Oregon.
The mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, killed nine people and seven were injured. The gunman was identified as Christopher Harper Mercer, who was enrolled in the class where the shootings took place. The shooter was heavily armed: six guns, ammunition magazines, and a flak jacket. Furthermore, seven more guns were found at his apartment by officials.
President Obama expressed his anger over the National Rifle Association’s laws which make gun ownership very easy. He addressed the gun owners directly, asking them to reconsider if their views were reflective of the organization: “And I would particularly ask America’s gun owners who are using those guns properly, safely, to hunt for sport, for protecting their families, to think about whether your views are being properly represented by the organization that suggests it is speaking for you.”
The motive behind the shooting is still ambivalent. However, an injured student reports that the shooter targeted Christians as the shooter was against organized religion. Some reports also suggest that the shooter was suffering from a mental illness. According to the neighbors of the shooter, Christopher was odd and seemed uncomfortable around people.
The fact that the shooter was suffering from a mental illness and was still able to purchase arms from a federally certified firearms dealer puts a big question on the distribution of arms and the safety of people in schools, colleges, and other public spaces.
This isn’t the first time there has been a mass shooting in a U.S. college. Similar incidents have occurred in the past, taking many innocent lives. However, no large step has been made to overcome these perturbing incidents. It is high time for the government to take sensible gun control measures and make sure that those measures are being implemented.
Politicians have responded to the incident in very different ways. While the Democrats are urging for sensible and strict gun reforms, the Republicans have been blaming the mental illness of the shooter for the entire incident and are refraining from commenting on gun protection laws. Donald Trump has openly said that the issue is about mental illness, not the gun problem, and thus is calling for mental health reforms.
The question is, what are the gun protection laws and are they being implemented or not? And if they are being implemented, then why are there so many mass-shooting incidents in a country like America? The Oregon incident also raises questions about why is it so often the case that school and college students are targeted. Are the schools and colleges of America safe? What measures can the government take in order to avoid future incidents?
One of the measures the government can make sure is being implemented is extensive background checks, to make sure those convicted of domestic abuse and violence don’t get access to firearms. Also, an extension in the waiting periods to buy guns can also help in reducing violent impulses and thus prevent such incidents from occurring.
The United States Constitution’s Second Amendment gives people the right to keep and own arms. However, it is also devastating to know that Umpqua is the 294th mass-shooting event in the year 2015 . The question is whether issuing guns to citizens for self-defence and hunting sports is justified or not. It cannot be denied that access to firearms is exposing the younger generation more towards violence and is thus making them inclined to it.
Now the choice is in hands of government: They can either ignore this alarming issue by claiming that “stuff happens,” or they can take immediate steps to ensure the safety of children in schools and public spaces by reforming gun control laws.
