Our Cycle of Mass Shootings Isn’t Ending
It seems like we are stuck in a cycle of mass shootings. Shootings happen, people respond and demand action, and then none is taken, causing the cycle of mass shootings in the United States to remain as is, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of thousands. The cycle looks a little something like this:
Tragedy strikes
A shooting takes place. Someone brings a gun to a school, a place of worship, a store or another event. People are killed, injured and traumatized. People lose their loved ones in a senseless act of violence.
The news breaks
Within minutes, news organizations are on the scene. Posts are made on social media. Texts are sent, and phone calls are made. The word is out — yet another mass shooting has occurred.
People respond
Many take to social media to share their thoughts. Some are outraged. Some demand change, whether it's pushing for legislation that bans guns or the idea that teachers and other professionals should carry guns for self-defense purposes. A political debate erupts. No one can agree on what to do. Nothing changes.
Funerals, candlelight vigils, marches and protests take place.
We move on
We continue with our regular lives until the next shooting restarts the cycle. Many wonder if they are next.
Everytown, a gun violence prevention group, defines a mass shooting as “any incident where four or more people are shot and wounded or killed, excluding the shooter.” Research done by Everytown found that from 2015 to 2022, we had 3,708 mass shootings in the United States. On average, that is more than one mass shooting per day. They are seemingly inescapable, yet the United States is the only country with this problem.
No matter their political affiliation, a common question Americans ask is “How are we still letting this happen?”
A major part of the issue is that no one is willing to listen. Lawmakers, activists and other officials are so set in their own ideas that no compromises can be made, and nothing major is getting done.
Following the August 29 shooting, UNC-Chapel Hill students took to the North Carolina state legislature to demand action to prevent gun violence. Republican Senator Tim Moore laughed and made fun of the students. The next day, those students went on their second gun-related lockdown of the semester.
“I am done. Students are terrified of going to our schools. The one place that should be our sanctuary is our hell. Legislators do […] anything about this,” pleaded a UNC student in a TikTok.
A 2022 Gallup poll found that 86 percent of Democrats supported stricter gun laws in the US, while only 22 percent of Republicans agreed. Proposed gun safety bills often do not make it through Congress because they are vetoed by Republicans.
Mass shootings affect everyone regardless of political affiliation, so shouldn’t we want to have less of them? The reluctance of our elected officials to change their minds for the greater good is costing thousands of people their lives. As citizens, we should work to not point fingers and yell at each other, but to instead come together and find a solution that works for the greater good.