Remembering Those America has Lost
By: Brooke McBee
By: Brooke McBee
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Almost every day, there is a mass shooting somewhere in the U.S. In fact, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, they happen, on average, nine days out of every ten. If one switches on their television or scrolls through the news on their phone, they are bound to come across articles recounting the most recent mass shootings, for there were over 330 in America just last year. These calamities have become so common that much of society has become desensitized and unphased by the overwhelming amount of reportings about them, but people shall never forget the innocent lives taken by the fatal weapons Americans call their second amendment.
As of November 2019, America’s deadliest mass shooting occurred in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 when Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of twenty-two thousand, killing 58 concertgoers and injuring about 700 others. America, though not surprised, was devastated by the news, as waves of trepidation rippled throughout the nation. Concerts, an event once characterized with feelings of excitement and community, became another source of fear for much of the population. “It was absolutely terrifying. Everywhere on social media you saw pictures of what happened. I don’t think anyone felt safe after news spread,” Alicia Keup, a junior, reveals. The images of victims from the shooting, encapsulating the horror of the event, reminded people in America of how tragic occurrences can happen anywhere and at any time. |
Before the 2017 Las Vegas catastrophe, the deadliest mass shooting was at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando. On June 12, 2016, 29-year-old Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured over fifty, but he drilled fear into the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community, for bars had been their safe havens from the discriminatory outside world for decades. Maggie Kempen, another junior, expresses, “It was more than just a mass shooting. It was years of hard-work and strength trampled, especially since it happened during pride month. This was the LGBT community’s time to celebrate, yet they were still being struck with bullets like they had been decades ago.”
Although neither the concertgoers at Vegas, nor the people inside of Pulse had expected the tragedies that occurred, perhaps one of the most appalling mass shootings was at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Currently holding the fourth spot of deadliest mass shootings in the U.S., Adam Lanza killed twenty children, all ages six and seven, and six educators before shooting himself. In addition, police later found his mother shot dead at home also. While this was not the first school shooting to have ever occurred, it undoubtedly impacted people’s perspectives and feelings of safety about schools and began an upsetting future trend. Whether it was the people massacred at Vegas, Pulse, or Sandy Hook, victims of mass shootings should forever be remembered, especially as activists against gun violence work to bring justice to their heartbreaking stories. Out of the next ten days, nine of them will likely be marked with at least one mass shooting, for no one is bulletproof or safe from the looming threat gun violence poses. |
