On October 13, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in the quiet Hedingham neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina. Five people were left dead, one person being the suspect’s brother, and three other victims injured, including the fifteen year old suspect. According to the New York Times, “there is no consensus on what constitutes a mass shooting, complicating the efforts of government, nonprofits, and new organizations to document the scope of the problem.” By the time this article is published, the number of shootings could have very likely already gone up. It is undeniable that this country has a gun problem. Saying that there is not, in this day and age, is simply ignorant. 

Knightdale High School dismissed its students as usual on a Thursday fall afternoon. Teenagers took the bus back home as usual. These kids had the usual questions on their minds. 

“What did Mom make for dinner?” 

“Did I pass my calc test?” 

“Will our team win the game this week?” 

“When is that project due?”

A question that should not have been on anyone’s mind is “why did Austin Thompson try to kill me?”

Sadly, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Anyone who turns on the news on any given day could more likely than not see that there has been a shooting in their area. It’s something that is almost expected. If someone was asked, “did you hear about that shooting?”, their answer should not be, “which one?”. This is the new normal. This needs to change. 

Mass shootings are unfortunately more common in America than anywhere else in the world. Over time, these tragedies have become an everyday occurrence. The surge of violence grows each day, and there is no sign of it ending. Not only have mass shooting become more frequent, but they have also become more deadly. Out of the 25 deadliest mass shootings since 1982, 16 have occurred in the last ten years. Two of those sixteen shootings happened in the last five months in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. This is the heartbreaking reality that Americans must face.

One of these deadly shootings happened close to home for Dakota High School students. Less than a year ago, on November 21, 2021, fifteen year old high school sophomore Ethan Crumbley opened fire on his classmates at Oxford High School, killing four students. These four students had bright futures ahead of them. Futures that they will no longer get to live. Their lives were selfishly taken away. Far too many families were left traumatized and mourning over this senseless act of brutality. Students around the area were terrified to go to school, fearful that they would be the next victims. Many still do not feel safe at school and may never again. Shootings leave emotional wounds that will not heal. 

The United States has more guns than people. According to Bloomberg News, there are 330 million people in America, and nearly 393 million guns. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, gun ownership has seen a dramatic increase. In 2020, background checks for firearm purchases swelled 40 percent from the previous year. Guns are often purchased for safety reasons, but if they are bought for safety precautions, why are they causing so much violence? There is the argument that someone might need a gun to protect themselves. Although, this reasoning does not seem entirely logical. Violence should not be combatted with more violence. Guns in the wrong hands clearly have devastating results. They are purchased with the purpose of hurting someone. 

Gun deaths are not always intentional. According to one survey, around 53 percent of all suicides in 2020 involved a gun. With the heightened purchase of firearms, accidental deaths are also on the rise. If someone you know owns a gun, make sure they have taken the correct safety precautions to keep them out of harm’s way. 

What can be done to protect innocent lives? There needs to be some sort of change. There are less than three weeks until election day. It’s up to the US to elect candidates that support stronger gun control. If you cannot vote, you definitely know someone who can. Have a conversation with them about the importance of gun control and talk to them about voting to prevent future tragedy. This can be the generation that ends mass shootings.

Rest in peace to the the victims of the shooting on October 13 and to the countless others who loss their lives to gun violence in 2022.