Gun violence has spiked tremendously over the past few years and continues to rise daily without action being taken, especially around college campuses. A little over a year ago three people were killed in a mass shooting at Michigan State University. There have been hundreds of other shootings happening all across the country, but was any action taken to further protect other college campuses afterwards?
While the reaction for MSU was immense and brought lots of people together, nothing changed because of it. I commend Michigan lawmakers for cracking down on ownership and background check laws recently to try and make a difference, only time will tell if these changes make a difference. However, will this really change how protected or safe students feel on school grounds?
The past few years have seen so many tragedies occur that students have almost become completely desensitized to these types of occurrences happening today.
Why is this the case? It’s because it feels like every other week, we’re seeing reports of a shooting happening somewhere nearby.
Just a few weeks ago, we stood by and witnessed a supposed celebration turn into chaos at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade.
Shooting numbers in general have spiked to an all time high in recent years and we happen to be the generation at the forefront.
It’s hard to act surprised, shocked, or scared when announcements of this violence are on our social media feeds daily.
Just last week, Ferris Department of Public Safety responded to a gun threat just down the road from campus. Yet, all we get is a mass email to let us know someone is on the loose.
For the growing number of shootings deaths, we deserve more than just a warning email in a situation like this. A small reaction such as this will only continue to desensitize us all.
By no means at I encouraging the school to go into a complete lockdown when DPS deems the situation dangerous, but we shouldn’t be taking any chances when lives are at risk.
We’re in an endless cycle of advocating for change and nothing happening because of it. The failure to make a change is normalizing this type of violence for students as more time passes. We continue to sit here helplessly with no action to take.
Not to mention that it affects our mental health. It’s hard to stay positive and motivated when seeing a fellow university being attacked knowing that a shooting could happen anywhere, at anytime.
Our minds are becoming completely numb and it’s because we’re adapting to this new normal of violence without even realizing it.
It’s incredibly sad to see that this is becoming the new normal in our country, and I, as well as many others, hope that can change as soon as possible. We are on the right path with new laws, but more action still needs to be taken.