School Shootings Across the U.S. When Will Enough be Enough?

Over the past year, multiple schools across the U.S. have been impacted by shootings, which have resulted in the deaths of both students and faculty members.

Recently, authorities rushed to the scene of a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. This shooting marked the 25th fatal shooting at a U.S. elementary, middle or high school since the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

Not long before the shooting in Florida, there was a shooting at a middle school in California, in which a 12-year-old girl shot and injured multiple students and some staff members.

Dasia Edwards 18’ stated, “I believe they should practice shooting drills given the increase of incidents these past years. We need to strengthen gun policies, increase and properly train security guards in schools, and teach kids what to do when there is an intruder present.”

According to USA Today, since 1990, there have been 22 shootings at elementary and secondary schools in which two or more people were killed, and that does not include any perpetrators who committed suicide.

Laury Jean-Baptise 20’ said, “The school shootings are maybe due to bullying as not every kids or parents will react to the situation calmly, not every signs can be read to prevent the situation. So I don’t really know what the society can do to protect the kids at school. I just feel like school shootings are starting to get more frequent now.”

In the wake of the Florida school shooting, there has been debates on whether teachers should be able to carry guns in school to help protect students in case a school shooting occurs.

State laws related to guns in schools vary by state and although many only apply to college campuses, some states give teachers with concealed carry permits the ability to have guns on the grounds of K-12 schools, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Professor Jill Hummer commented, “I think schools need to have tighter security. It is sad that it has come to this. At my home church, we have an armed police officer standing outside of services. The media could also stop giving this mass shootings so much attention. The most important thing is to keep students safe from harm.”

If school shootings of any variety are going to be seriously addressed, then the government needs to change gun laws, in order to protect the safety of students and staff members.

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