I remember the moment it happened. I was sitting on the futon in my dorm room when I got the breaking news update from both Fox and CNN about yet another school shooting. When I read those dreaded words — '10 killed and 20 injured in campus shooting' — I wish I could say I was shocked. I wasn't. The truth-of-the-matter is that I, like many Americans, have become almost numb to these types of situations. Mass shootings have become so common in this country that hearing about another one no longer phases me. It's gotten to the point that it's almost expected for there to be at least one mass shooting/disaster every few months. And that is disgusting.

As to be expected, these scenarios spark fierce national debate over gun control, and people are generally polarized in their opinions. The right claims that owning guns is a fundamental liberty guaranteed to us under the second amendment, and the left advocates for stricter laws and regulations on firearms. When mass shootings happen, like that at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, it is very common for citizens to temporarily favor strict gun laws. This trend is no stranger to Americans, as emotion and frustration quickly override logistics and cerebral thought in the midst of trying times. According to the Washington Post, when 9/11 occurred, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose from 20-30 per year to over 500, and the majority of Americans favored stricter immigration reform. Those numbers have decreased significantly in the last decade, with more people favoring looser immigration laws now than ever before. So, what changed? Well, nothing. It is easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of emotions the instant something goes wrong, but people eventually retreat to their inherent values and beliefs no matter what.

I started to give more thought to where these shooters were carrying out their mission and see if I noticed a trend- I did. Why do most mass shootings take place at schools? Because no one brings a gun to school. Why are movie theaters desirable targets? Because no one brings a firearm to go watch a film.Mentally unstable individuals go to places where large masses of unarmed people gather in one area, not where there is a high possibility that someone is carrying a weapon.

For the past several days, all I've seen splattered across social media have been posts about "When is enough enough?" "How many more is it going to take?" So, I decided to do some research on global gun control and compare it to that in the United States. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime analyzes every country in the world and the respective crime rates, and this information is available for anyone to see. Through observing this data, I noticed several facts that were enlightening:

Fact: The USA has less than 5% of the world's population but roughly 35-50% of all global, civilian-owned guns.

Fact: The USA has the highest gun ownership in the world- an average of 88 per 100 people.

Fact: Honduras, El Salvador, and Jamaica have the worst firearm murder rate in the world.

Fact: The USA ranks #28 for worst firearm murder rate- 2.97 per 100,000 people.

Fact: Puerto Rico ranks #1 for firearm murders as a percentage of all homicides at 94.8%.

So, why is it that the USA isn't even in the Top 20 for any gun-related crime? This is because guns are not the real problem, mentally unstable people are. Guns don't kill people; people kill people.

Through my twenty-plus years on this planet I have deduced one hard, indisputable fact: if people want to get something, they'll find a way to get it. This is the case with drugs, alcohol, and so much more. Increasing gun control isn't going to solve the problem at hand- all it will do is prevent the average citizen from defending himself and, well, allow the entire country to become one gun-less entity, free-for-the-taking by the mentally unstable. We need to realize that guns really aren't the problem; people are the problem. We are too invested in the object that causes destruction and not the person carrying said object. While I agree that there needs to be a better system in place for who can and cannot obtain firearms, completely eliminating them from the general public is not the answer. Arguments against mine may sound similar to this: "It may not eliminate crime in America, but at least it's something. We have to do something." Increasing gun control will indeed do something- good, hardworking citizens will be prevented from acquiring weapons to defend themselves, while deranged individuals will still be able to obtain guns through illegal means. Anyone who thinks that restricting firearms to the military is going to solve this country's violence issue is naive. What needs to be addressed is not how people open fire on college campuses, but why people open fire on college campuses.

It is no secret that the mental health of this country has continued to worsen, especially among college students. As much as people try to prove otherwise, these two entities are inversely related- as mental health declines, mass shootings rise. The only way this can ever be solved is by changing the culture of success and how it's evaluated. Until that is addressed and priorities change, we will remain right where we are now, which is not a safe place to be. If we keep analyzing these tragedies on a surface level, then enough will never be enough. Something needs to be done about fixing this country's overall mental health- our future depends on it.

So may God Bless the victims and their families of Aurora, Sandy Hook, the Boston Marathon, Umpqua Community College, and many, many more.