NOVEMBER 2017
NEWS 7
RECENT SHOOTINGS heighten the national GUN CONTROL DEBATE
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Samantha Lebeck Copy Editor The first weekend of October 2017 was one of celebration for the 22,000 people who gathered to enjoy the Route 91 country music festival in Las Vegas, NV. Gunshots rained from above the crowd for almost exactly 10 minutes, killing 58 and injuring nearly 500 people. Almost a month later on Nov. 5, 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley shot and killed 26 people inside a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, TX. Authorities say he was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, abused his wife and son and was denied a license to carry a gun but still passed background checks to purchase the rifles he used in the rampage (CNN). Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old resident of Nevada who opened fire on the unsuspecting concert-goers from a 32nd floor window, is unlike other destructive shooters. No one can determine a motive. Devin Kelley’s motivation for shooting, anger toward his inlaws, was determined quickly after the shooting. Paddock’s motive, however, remains a mystery weeks after the shooting, vexing the public and putting pressure on both federal and local investigators to reveal his motivations. The Las Vegas mass shooting is the deadliest in American history- a feat that is heartbreaking to many, but nothing new. Alarmingly, the five shootings with the most casualties in the United States have all occurred in the past 10 years (CNN). Since the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, there have been at least 1,518 mass shootings in the United States and least 7,804 resulting deaths and injuries (Vox). The debate over gun control heightens after each
major shooting, and both state and federal gun laws are criticized. In the wake of both the Las Vegas and Texas church shootings, gun laws are under the microscope more than ever before. “I feel that the gun laws in our country are not fulfilling their obligation. They are too lax and guns are getting into the hands of dangerous people or [people who] should not use them,” sophomore Saoirse Farrell said. Federal law requires a background check of each person who tries to purchase a gun and though some states are tougher in the process than others, guns can still be bought illegally without much effort, even if the buyer does not own a permit. In Virginia, a person must be at least 18 years of age to purchase a rifle or shotgun and at least 21 years of age to purchase a handgun. Following
right reasons. There should also be more restrictions on gun magazines including where they are sold and who receives them.” Supporters of the current gun control laws argue that it is their right as American citizens to carry a weapon as it stated in the Second Amendment. They express vehement support for gun ownership and insist that blaming the laws that regulate guns is not the answer to the issue of gun related deaths and injuries. The most prevalent disagreement between gun enthusiasts and those calling for stricter regulations is how laws could be changed to give trustworthy gun owners freedom while also stopping murderers in their tracks. “If I could change the law, I would make the person wanting to be in possession of a gun be run through a series of test to see if they are eligible of having a gun in their possession,” freshman Anita Celebic said. Shooters with malicious intentions can obtain the weapons necessary to carry out their plans easily. Ineffective mental health programs and violent media tendencies also influence these shootings because of their impact on the shooters themselves. Trump blamed the Texas shooting, not on gun control, but rather on the gunman’s unstable mental health and the lack of help he received for his issues. While mental health influences shooters more often than not, the majority of people with mental illness are not violent. “I believe mass shootings in some cases could be prevented,” Farrell said. “It is definitely a case by case basis. In cases where the shooter had an identified mental illness or was unstable more laws to prevent the guns getting in their hands could have helped.”
[“ ] Gun laws in our country are not fulfilling their obligation. They are too lax and guns are getting into the hands of dangerous people.” - Saoirse Farrell
mass shootings, it is argued that acquiring a gun is far too unchallenging and straightforward. “I would change gun laws. I would make it so that we still have our right to bear arms but only in very specific cases,” Farrell said. “There would be extensive background checks, psych evaluations and paperwork. This would help make it harder for people who are mentally unstable to get these weapons. There would also be more restrictions on who could attend gun shows to make sure people are attending them for the