Slew of shootings rocks students

More than 20 shootings have erupted across the nation in a matter of months

Alyssa Kaigler’s heart dropped when she heard the news.

“I didn’t believe it was real,” Kaigler said.

The news of the shooting that left two dead and one injured at Great Mills High School in

Great Mills, Maryland on March 20, 2018 left Kaigler speechless. The sophomore spent two years of her high school career at Great Mills, a school she said holds a special place in her heart.

“That’s my school,” Kaigler said.

The Great Mills shooting took place five weeks after 17 people were killed and 17 more were injured in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Kaigler said the recent spree of shootings has left the nation shellshocked and in need of an answer.

“The country is hurting, and if we keep ignoring it, it’s going to get bad,” Kaigler said.

The Parkland shooting represented the 208th school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, according to Denver-based Westword. The youngest Americans, born around the turn of the century, have experienced so many school shootings that USA Today termed them “Generation Columbine.”

The recent uptick in school shootings, including those at Great Mills and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, has brought gun ownership and usage to the forefront of a nationwide debate that has reached its boiling point.

Nobue Kaigler has never touched a gun in her life.

Alyssa’s mother has a vastly different perspective on the gun control conversation. The Japanese native was born in Zama, Kanagawa and has known a nation with distinctly strict gun laws for much of her life. She said the different environment surrounding guns in Japan has influenced her stance on the issue.

“I am an anti-gun person,” Nobue said. “No one should have guns.”

Nobue grew up with a wariness for the inherent damage guns can cause. Her father, a former police officer, never let her touch his handgun. She said that even though they are in a position of authority, the consequences of firing a gun weighs heavy on the officers’ minds.

“It still scares them,” the mother said.

Like her daughter, Nobue was devastated to hear of the shooting at Great Mills. While she said she was heartbroken, she also said the act was a betrayal of moral sense.

Nobue said that while it’s impossible to be gun-free in the United States, change has to begin somewhere. The mother said a sense of safety in schools is at stake.

“Kids should feel safe in school,” Nobue said. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s not how it goes these days in the United States.”

“The country is hurting, and if we keep ignoring it, it’s going to get bad,” Kaigler said.

The push to improve classroom safety has produced widely varied results. The National Rifle Association suggested teachers be armed in the classroom, an idea President Trump tweeted support for. The Maryland General Assembly considered spending north of $100 million on security upgrades statewide. A superintendent of a school district in northeast Pennsylvania has equipped every classroom with a five-gallon bucket of rocks.

“If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance into any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full of students armed with rocks,” Dr. David Heisel said, “and they will be stoned.”

Chris Jeanlouis said he considers gun control to be elementary.

“To me, a gun control solution is just common sense on legislation,” Jeanlouis said. The LSU senior said he was “deeply saddened” and “strongly affected” by the news of

the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, but he ultimately wasn’t surprised. He said the current political climate and the vigorous debate over gun ownership crafted a world that is numb to the shootings that have plagued the country.

Despite his sentiment on gun control legislation, Jeanlouis said he isn’t entirely against gun ownership. The New Iberia native said he stays true to his roots.

“I’m from South Louisiana,” Jeanlouis said. “Guns are great.”

Considering his split viewpoint, Jeanlouis said he believes there are three criteria for a solution: the protection of second amendment rights, the guarantee of safety in private homes and the assurance that gun owners are capable. He said he considers the problem to be clear.

“Certain types of guns should not be readily available to the public,” Jeanlouis said.

While many consider gun ownership and availability to be at the core of the issue, some suggest mental illness may play a factor in crafting those who carry out school shootings. A call to improve mental health treatment often accompanies a call to increase gun regulations.

Dr. Raymond Tucker is on the board of directors for the American Association of Suicidology. The professor said the linking of recent shootings to mental illness frustrates him, as the vast majority of homicides are not perpetrated by mental illness.

“My immediate reaction is that’s very stigmatized toward mental illness,” Dr. Tucker said of the association of mental illness with school shooters.

Dr. Tucker said the psychological profile of someone who commits a murder-suicide often looks much more like that of someone who died by suicide than someone who committed a murder. The perpetrators of the shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook Elementary School and Great Mills all died by suicide.

Over 22,000 Americans died by suicide involving a firearm in 2015 and approximately 85-95% of all suicide attempts involving a firearm resulted in death, according to a 2018 statement from the ASA. Dr. Tucker said gun ownership is a factor more likely to predict a suicide attempt.

The professor said a solution to the issue will be multidimensional. He said that on a personal level, he has had to answer to students concerned about campus safety in the wake of recent shootings. He gave a 15-minute lecture on gun violence to both of his introduction to psychology sections in an attempt to increase awareness of the issue and put students’ minds at ease.

Olivia Rackley said the fact that school shootings have occurred so frequently in her lifetime is “bone-chilling.”

“The thought of it happening to me or someone close to me is terrifying,” Rackley said.

The sophomore said she thinks guns may be a little too easy to acquire, but the regulations are too blurry to know for sure. She said she’s not sure what a solution entails.

“It’s like the war on drugs,” Rackley said. “If someone wants to get a gun and shoot someone, they’re going to do it, no matter the regulation or law.”

Rackley said the manner in which school shootings are broadcast could encourage copycats in lonely or bullied kids. She said she’s not sure of how the media should handle such situations, but the current manner of broadcast often glorifies those who perpetrate the shootings.

Despite the recent uptick in school shootings, Rackley said she personally hasn’t felt anxious about an event occurring on LSU’s campus. She said that the campus is more secure than most others and she notices a police presence all around campus, but there is a caveat.

“I think no one really worries about it until it’s too late,” Rackley said.

While some lie at various points on the reform spectrum, others are skeptical of the idea of tighter restrictions.

Andrew Lemoine said he’s a firm believer in the second amendment and the public’s right to own guns.

“De-arming a country is not the best way to protect its citizens,” Lemoine said.

The sophomore said that instead of restricting certain firearms, he believes there should be more hoops to jump through in order to obtain one. He suggested more comprehensive background checks and mental evaluations as a first step toward having a more capable crop of gun owners.

Lemoine said he believes some of those pushing for reform are naïve. He said he believes there are limits to reform and the answer to the issue is not clear-cut. He cited those who participated in the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. as an example of those he feels are pursuing an unattainable reality.

“How would you go straight from being able to have a gun to cancelling it?” Lemoine said. “I feel like people at the march think it’s a black and white answer, but it’s really not.”

The recent shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Great Mills and other schools have left those on either side of the gun ownership divide scrambling for answers. Across the widely varied opinions of those engaged in the conversation, the one common denominator is that no one is certain of a concrete solution to the problem.

Alyssa Kaigler said that while she doesn’t have an answer to the question of gun reform, she will focus her efforts on those affected by the shootings.

“I’m going to focus on helping people who are dealing with it,” Kaigler said. “That’s the way I’m going to help.”