How To Stop School Shootings

A simple way to stop school shootings in our district would be by eliminating all the factors that form a school shooter.

The school environment is one that has been stressed to be a safe and enjoyable place to learn. However, for many individuals, that is not the case. Students around the world have very unique experiences at school, which can unfortunately become abhorrent. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), and average of 96 Americans lose their lives to gun violence each day (Gun Violence by the Numbers). There are several causes of death by gun violence, but one of the causes that have become a growing problem is school shootings. Each school shooter has an individual story and should be treated disparate from the rest, but there are several similar characteristics between many school shooters throughout history.

Since the Columbine High School shooting, school shootings have become a common occurrence. People have become so accustomed to seeing them on the news, so we hardly bat an eye at them anymore. For every instance of a school shooting we see, there are hundreds of lawmakers making public that their thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Frankly, those thoughts and prayers are simply not enough anymore. The Parkland shooting is one of many school shootings, that have brought light to the subject of gun violence in schools, and it is clear, if it hasn’t been one already, that gun regulation needs to change.

The first recorded school shooting in America dates back to 1764, during Pontiac’s War. Since then, hundreds have occurred, claiming many lives (Galvin). In the modern era, the rarity of these events has been steadily decreasing, which may be caused by the confusion that surrounds gun laws and regulations. The new debate over this issue is likely due to the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Since that event, about 65 people who have committed a school shooting have referenced Columbine as a motive. In addition, there has been over 250 shootings since that fateful day in 1999 (Pearle). To deal with these tragic occurrences, the government has opened the debate on gun laws and regulations. But this debate often leads to officials being unable to make up their minds or whole groups of people being split on their opinion. This causes a stalemate that does not help our nation 's current situation. Today, the government is not doing enough to prevent school shootings.

To prevent future mass shootings, we must strengthen our gun laws to make it as hard as possible for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons.” If gun laws are strengthened, campus shootings might decrease and innocent lives will not be

On April 20, 1999, two disturbed teenage boys Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris began a killing rampage at Columbine High School in the suburban town of Littleton, Colorado. This was considered one of the worst school shootings to occur at that time. In the morning of April 20, before noon, the two juveniles had killed 13 people to include 12 students and 1 teacher; they also wounded another 23 people before turning the guns on themselves. This event would change the theories as to why school shootings would occur. (History)

Guns have no role in our country schools. Schools and colleges are places of education. Students should be free to learn in an environment away from every day violence. The catastrophes that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Columbine High School, and Virginia Tech. confirm the penetrating conclusion guns have in our nation’s schools. Violence on campus has Students, Parent, and University Staff all concerned and looking for preventative measures.

In a nation of pioneers and settlers, where we capitalize upon a bear wielding a firearm to represent “our right to bear arms” there has come to be quite a bit of bloodshed because of that right. Fear has been interwoven into the school system, a kind of fear that even the greatest school safety measures cannot prevent. Such instances being the Columbine, Newtown, and the more recent Parkland school shooting. It cannot be controlled who does the killing, but what can be isolated is the weapon those chose as their aid in the slaughtering. So many lives are lost in these devastations a step towards preventing more from being lost is increasing gun control.

As life goes on, we have no clue what is going to happen tomorrow, as many of us just live life as it goes but in reality, we should think of situations such as a fire, intruder, kidnapping etc. situations. There has been staff and students killed in shootings at Columbine high School in Colorado in 1999, Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and now at Stoneman Douglas in Florida, where or who is next? No one is expecting this kind of situation nor are they well prepare for them. Schools preform drills such as shelter-in-place, lockdown, evacuation, drop, cover, and hold in case of an earthquake etc. but in reality as much as the students practice the safety drills in that moment each person will forget everything and have so many other questions

Would you want to live in fear? Especially at a place that you feel safe. A place that you are required to go to by law. A place that children roam the hallways, learning and having fun. Can you imagine, going to this place every day, until one. Someone bursts through the school, into the cafeteria, the library, an auditorium, or even in a classroom. Every day the threat looms over us. Haunting us with its increasing numbers. We live in fear of a school shooter. And I will not stand for it. Will You? In 2018, there have been 8 school shootings. 8. That is a staggering number. The total body count is unbelievable for just 2018 alone. Ridiculous. How have we not done anything about this? How have we not increased our gun control laws after Florida.

Since 2013, 185 school shootings have occurred in the United States of America, according to the article "The Long, Shameful List of School Shootings in America." This averages to about one every week. School shootings have been a problem in the United States since 1853 which is when one of the first documented shootings with a student undertaking the shooting happened. Chris Glavin in his article “History of School Shootings in the United States” exclaims, “[On] November 2, 1853 [in] Louisville, Kentucky, a student, Matthew Ward, bought a self-cocking pistol in the morning, went to school and killed Schoolmaster Mr. Butler for excessively punishing his brother the day before.”

This world has become filled with unimaginable violence and a significant amount of deaths caused by mass public shooters. The targets of the mass shootings have been places that have a gun-free zone sign posted on the wall. In 1995, the gun-free school zone act was passed which prohibited a person, with possession of a firearm, to step foot on school grounds. This act would allow certain people to be exempt from the gun-free school zone, which includes retired law enforcement officers and a person licensed to carry a concealed weapon. This bill would keep a school relatively safe because it would mean a person that does not have a license to carry a concealed firearm would be charged with a felony. It would also allow a licensed gun carrier to use their firearm for self-defense and the defense of surrounding victims. However, this bill has since be revised and passed with the deletion of the former exemptions. The revision can lead to an increase in school shootings, which will result in more deaths and injuries.

School shootings and gun violence have regrettably become a major issue in America today. The frequency of these acts of hatred are increasing and an increasing number of people are debating about necessary precautions. The most recent school shooting in America occurred this past week and the victims of it are raising their voices for the world to hear. There needs to be better, more efficient policies put in place regarding school safety and gun control to ensure this type of heinous crime does not happen ever again. There are people who say this is a matter of mental illness and others who say this is about gun control.

Equipping teachers with guns, who are little more than civilians, is absurd. This would not help prevent the type of deadly mass shooting we 've been seeing lately. All that would do is increase the possibility of innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. Instead of training for how to use guns teachers should be taught self defense and how to use items around them as weapons. It would also help if every teacher learned self defense and not just a

School shootings have been a problem in the recent times. Schools have tried to remedy this problem by adding armed security guards, putting security measures, and putting in metal detectors. The government only way of trying to help is by arming teachers. As effective as it sounds, this idea has many major drawbacks. Arming teacher will prove troublesome because training with guns is time consuming, guns in the hands of a teacher will make students uncomfortable, and teachers with gun does not ensure safety in the time of an emergency.