Persuasive Essay About School Shootings

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

During the past few years, the number of school shootings has increased markedly. In 2013, there were 19 school shootings that occurred, taking so many innocent lives. Some may remember the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14th, 2013. It was the second deadliest massacre shooting in United States history, behind the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre. Adam Lanza shot twenty children, six staff, his mother, and himself that day. School shootings are tragic. Violence continues to increase with these shootings, as well as with violence within the schools among the students. The big question is, how do we protect ourselves from these horrible occurrences? How do teachers protect the innocent lives of their students? One common suggestion is for the teachers and administration to be armed. The premise is that if the school staff has possession of firearms this would discourage shooters, thereby making the schools much safer. However, it is my belief that teachers should not be able to have access to weapons. There should never be any type firearm on a school property, excluding trained security personnel, such as police officers and security guards.

School shootings are terrifying and a big problem in today’s society. Schools have added lockdown drills, bullet proof glass and metal detectors. School should be a safe area for children to learn instead of fearing for their life. Instead of buying metal detectors and hiring more officers, there is a much easier solution in order to decrease and prevent school shootings. We have to be more alert about securing weapons at home and being aware of suspicious behavior at school in order to keep children and faculty safe.

There are many problems in this world today. One main problem in the United States and all over the world is mass shootings. This problem is a huge one because it involves people killing other people and that is just unacceptable. In the last ten years there have been over 53 mass shootings in the United States, not including the rest of the world (Chris Wilson). In the last thirty-five years there have been seven-hundred and twenty-two and then one thousand one-hundred seventy-seven (Chris Wilson). If you look at the number of people that are killed or being wounded, you will notice that with new devices being introduced. One of the devices that have been introduced is a bump stock. This device is a stock for a semi-automatic rifle that can basically turn your semi-automatic rifle into a fully automatic rifle. They are considering making this attachment to a rifle illegal to the public.

In The United States of America, 285 people have been injured and 126 have been killed in a total of 73 shootings that have occurred within the first three months of 2018 (Mass Shootings Tracker). This is a sad reality which is sweeping across America. Gun control has become an increasingly controversial topic in our nation, but people aren’t shying away from it. In order to create a safer society with less gun-related incidents, we need to set more gun reform laws that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of firearms by civilians.

In 1999, the state of Connecticut passed a gun seizure law allowing judges to confiscate guns from citizens if the police can provide evidence that the person is a threat to society or to themselves. Within two weeks of the seizure, a hearing must be held which will determine if the gun may be returned to the citizen or if the state will be authorized to hold the gun for up to a year. This law was put into place after four killings with a firearm in 1998 by a mentally ill man. The state of Indiana has a similar law, which was passed in 2005, and two other states, California and New Jersey, are now contemplating the enforcement of regulations like those in Connecticut and Indiana after a mass killing in Santa Barbra, California by a mentally

“Former Student Opens Fire at Florida High School, killing 17” According to NBC News, this was the tragic headline after another school shooting. This can’t happen anymore. Something needs to be done about the tragic school shootings. That's why I think teachers should be properly trained and then given a gun.

“Since at least 1950, all but two public mass shootings in America have taken place where general citizens are banned from carrying guns.” Now, envision being in a mall and you hear a horrible scream immediately after you hear a massive CRACK! You look behind you and you see a man running at you with a gun, you grab for your gun but you remember you have just gave your gun to the government. You would be defenseless because of gun control. Gun control should not be reinforced for the reasons that most mass shootings are in gun free zones. most gun related death are suicides, and these laws wouldn’t apply to criminals.

Over the past several years gun violence in schools has been led into many news stories. From the 1999 Columbine Shooting in Colorado to the Sandy Hook Massacre in Massachusetts, the death of students by armed intruders has ignited a debate among many Americans. At the root of this argument is the question: Should teachers and school staff be armed? Some argue schools would be safer if this occurs. The fact of the matter is; it would make schools a more dangerous place to be. Placing untrained individuals into a stressful school environment where their decisions have life or death consequences is a horrible idea.

In this past year alone there have been 23 shootings on college campuses, not including incidents that have occurred at other grade level schools. Innocent students and teachers have been injured or killed in each of these shootings. School shootings are not restricted to one geographic area; they are spread across the United States, from Arizona to Florida to every thing in between. There is no way to tell when or where events like this will occur, so many wonder how to prevent traumatic events like this. In the United States all 50 states have passed laws to allow concealed carry, but only under certain restrictions and mandates.

As of recent almost everyone has heard of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting that took place in Parkland Florida on February 14, 2018. This shooting has sparked much controversy over gun laws and legislation, 17 students were killed with numerous others injured making it the 3rd largest mass school shooting in US history. Anytime someone is shoot and killed it’s tragic, but why so much controversy and media attention you ask? Well many survivors of the shooting are saying Gun Laws are to blame, demanding change. In recent years Sandy Hook Elementary, Northern Illinois University, and the Virginia Tech University Shootings have all taken place but with not nearly as much media attention. Until recently guns where not to blame but the security of the schools and the sanity of the shooter where questioned, but today most want to blame the guns, when guns don’t kill people. Therefore, gun laws shouldn’t change but citizens and public security should change.

How would you feel if you were a teacher and a shooter killed one of your students? I can only imagine the grief and guilt you would feel. “What more could I have done do save this innocent student’s life?” you might ask. Many teachers have to face this question every year, as the number of school shootings rise. Well, I think there is a way to protect your students and keep your school from being an easy target. If select teachers were armed, than schools would become harder targets, and students would have a better chance of surviving a shooting.

Teaching at a typical small town school in rural America one day, shots ring out. Active shooter drills come to mind, but what do we do, where do we go, how many students are present? Panic sets in. Thoughts of hiding, running, calling out for help and screaming all flash across the forefront of the mind when a person can be seen walking down the hall with a large gun in hand. No one ever thinks it could happen in a town, school, or church like ours but when the act is committed everyone feels the betrayal. Although schools from elementary to universities have adopted drills for active shooters and have routes with plans drawn up we never know how we will truly react until the time comes. Armed guards stand at the ready at most entryway doors but they are only one person and can not be everywhere always. In a recent study of active shooters for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, J.Pete Blair and Katherine W. Schweit have said, “The second most common incident locations were in educational environments…and the study results established that …these incidents involved some of the highest casualty numbers” (20). Crime is always a threat to education and defending our students nationwide should be a priority. The trouble begins with the fact that the school shootings are becoming more regular. Allowing teachers to be armed gives administration, faculty and students a more successful chance at survival against an active shooter in our education systems.

This is an advertisement that on gun control that came out a couple years ago by an organization called "Moms Demand Action". This shows two kids in a classroom, one with an assault rifle and the other holding a Kinder Chocolate egg. The add asks which is illegal in the US.

There was a report of a shooting on the Umpqua Community College campus in Roseburg, Oregon at around 10:38 a.m. on Thursday. As of now, 10 people, including the gunman have been killed. Seven people were also injured in the shooting. The gunman has been identified by government officials as Chris Harper Mercer. President Obama stated that “anybody that does this has a sickness in their minds regardless of what they think their motivations may be”. He continued by saying “The United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings”. Obama calls these types