Chelsea Hoag, Campus Carrier Asst. Graphics Editor

Half the deadliest shootings in U.S. history happened in the past six years. What is more deadly, a gun or a thought? A gun gives you the opportunity, but a thought pulls the trigger. The navy yard shooting was what made my belief in gun control more firm.The Camden “Walk of Death” on Sept. 6, 1949 is known as the worst mass killing in America. The killer was considered too insane and was never tried. This is the earliest mass murder where at least 12 people died in the United States. Sadly, American mass shootings are becoming a regular part of news media’s expectations.
It took two decades for the next mass killing to emerge. At The University of Texas, a man fired from a bell tower killing, 16 and wounding 31.
Another two decades pass before the third, 21 people killed at a shooting in a McDonald’s in California. Two years after, 14 dead in Edmond, Ok. that started a nation wide post office scare. Next, 23 people killed in Killeen, Tx. in 1991 and later Columbine in 1999.
Dr. Charles Catania, a behavior analyst and experimental psychologist with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, shared his research with MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and Maddow later televised a segment on the history of deadly shootings in the United States.
These six shootings took half a century to occur. Six more have happened in the last half-decade.
Last week, a former Navy reservist killed at least 12 people on Monday in a mass shooting at a secure military facility that led the authorities to lock down part of the nation’s capital.
The numbers are dooming, but these are not simply numbers, these are actual people; people killed in what should be a safe country to live in.
Yet, the government has not passed any new gun regulations. I am tired of us Americans treating these shootings in such an American way. We see the problem, feel its effects, and then look back down to our iPhones.
After shooting a friend’s AR15, I cannot fathom the helplessness the shooting massacres’ victims must have felt. I know there are responsible gun owners out there, but that does not make me feel any safer and neither does owning a gun myself.
Dr. Arthur Kellermann is the former founding chairman of the department of emergency medicine at Emory University and said, “Firearm violence is wreaking havoc on public health.” His research showed a firearm in the home represents a greater risk overall than the protection it may offer against intruders, either indirectly or by discouraging potential assaults.
When picturing gun violence, the newest version of “Grand Theft Auto” should not come to mind. Guns are not cool toys to admire and show off to peers. Isn’t the purpose of shooting at targets to improve the ability to shoot at moving objects? Last time I checked, only living things willingly move. Weapons are made to kill and I believe automatic weapons should only be distributed and used for combat purposes.
It is easy to jump to conclusions in both arguments for or against gun violence and gun laws. Also, putting gun regulations into practice is a multifaceted process. Even so, I can say with confidence that such regulations need much more attention and need to be put on higher priority, no matter what the National Riffle Association may think.