Story by Kayla Denson
Staff Writer
A month ago in Newtown, Conn., 20 innocent children and six adults died after a psychotic gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And two days before this, a man checked into the Excalibur Hotel-Casino, and later proceeded to kill a concierge and himself.
Along with these two massacres, just five months before,12 people were slaughtered by a man who called himself “The Joker” and was in possession of several firearms at a midnight viewing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo.
With eight tragic shootings in the United States this year, and each shooter seeming to try to top the other, should American citizens fear for their lives every time they simply go out in public?
Bishop Amat High School history teacher Mr. Chris Beck has a new way of thinking when going out.
“I’m not scared, but for the first time ever the thought of what I would do if somebody started shooting has crossed my mind while in a public place,” Mr. Beck said. “ It’s an unfortunate change of mindset, and the fact that I have to think that way is disappointing.”
Many others like Mr. Beck find the possibility of being shot while in a familiar place like a movie theaters or casino strange to even think about.
“I find all these shootings very depressing, and i’m beginning to be scared for my life when I go out,” senior Brandy Galaviz said.
According to a study from the UCLA School of Public Health, “The rate of people killed by guns in the US is19.5 times higher than similar high-income countries in the world. In the last 30 years since 1982, America has mournedat least 61 mass murders.”
Yet even with an increasing number of murders caused by firearms, people say they still feel safe in this increasingly violent country.
“I definitely feel safe in America because if I lived in any other country I would probably be dead by now,” junior Javanni Edwards said.
Along with Edwards, senior Dionza Blue doesn’t feel he’ll ever be a victim of these shootings.
“I am not afraid to go out anywhere because I know I’m not going to get shot,” Blue said.
Not only do people still feel secure in America, but these shootings don’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary for some.
One of these people is junior Jose Garcia.
“This is just the way America is, and always has been, nothing has changed,” Garcia said. “They make a big deal out of 20 kids, when it happens to people all the time.”
Fellow junior Stephanie Iniguez agreed with Garcia.
“I’m not scared,” she said. “I feel bad about everything that’s been happening but I’m definetly not affected by it.”
Whether you are afraid or not the statistics do not lie, and the number of mass murders in the United States is increasing before our eyes.
“It’s upsetting that people take out their pity and self anger on others through a gun,” Bishop Amat alumnae Geovanna Rios .
With the need to put an end to these seemingly endless shootings, Bishop Amat religion teacher Bernardito Kasilag thinks government needs to take action.
“We need to rethink our position on gun control, limit the amount of guns and what kind of guns we permit,” Mr. Kasilag said. “And parents need to keep an eye on their children and show them love because these shooters obviously did not have a great support group.”
