In the year of 2015, the American people have been exposed to a chilling number of mass shootings in which innocent people have lost their lives. The shock of hearing about these shootings is beginning to have less, and less of an effect because the news is so repetitive. There’s even a website called “Gun Deaths Map” that allows one to type in their zip code, and the map locates all shootings within the area and whether they were deadly or not.
According to The Dallas Morning News, “There have been 353 mass shootings in the year of 2015.” A mass shooting is defined in The Dallas Morning News as, “An event or related series of events where 4 or more people are shot, likely without a cooling off period.” Within these 353 shootings, there have been 462 killed and 1,312 people injured.
Considering that in the past year there has not even been 2 weeks total in the whole year without a mass shooting, something needs to be done. This has been a very pressing issue throughout President Obama’s two terms and he continues to speak out against the violence and instill plans to help prevent these tragedies in the future. During Obama’s speech about the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon he said, “As I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America — next week, or a couple of months from now.”
The most recent mass shooting was in San Bernardino, California on December 2, 2015. During this horrific event 14 people were killed, and 21 injured. As the investigation dug deeper, there was a discovery that the shooting could have been carried out with intentions of being tied to terrorists. In this year the American people have seen an elevated threat from ISIS and this shooting is no exception. The two suspects in the shooting had pledged alliance to the Islamic State in an online post. One of the suspects had contact with people from at least two terrorist organizations overseas.
Moreover, the past year has been full of brutal mass shootings that must be stopped. There has been one shooting for almost every day of the year. Anticipation that these shootings are tied to terrorism has unfortunately been proven multiple times. The most recent example of this being the shooting in San Bernardino, California.
Campus Crier Online 