I had a hard time deciding which U.S event I wanted to write about, however, I found one event that really struck emotionally to me– The Highland Ranch school shooting in Colorado. As the years go on, we hear about more mass shootings. It is saddening that it is becoming something so usual to us, that it is not of the least bit of concern to some people. “Oh, another mass shooting?” is a phrase that has become so routine to Americans that we do not even realize it.
On May 7th, 2019 just shy of 2pm, gunshots began firing at the K-12 STEM school in Colorado. Let that sink in– K-12. Anywhere from the ages of about five or six to the ages of eighteen/nineteen, having to witness what every student in America has become afraid of. Reports say that the shots began in the middle school portion of the school. The suspect shooters are believed to have been two students that attended the school and they began firing in two classrooms.
One eye-opening thing about this particular shooting is that Highland Ranch is only minutes down the road from Columbine High School. It is only seven miles apart. In this shooting, two students opened fire on their classmates. They killed twelve students and one teacher. Columbine has gone down in history as one of the mass shootings that occurred in the United States, this one occurred in 1999. The 20th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting just recently passed.
Within minutes of the first gun shot at Highland Ranch STEM School shooting, there was an 18-year-old student dead, and eight students were wounded.
On the article that I read, there was a few quotes from a woman who is the mother of twins. She stated, “With everything at Columbine, you never think this would be the reality of this situation.” They did not identify who the woman was, but she also stated that she received a call from her daughter that said, “Mommy, there’s a gun being shot at my school.” There are so many parents and students now that fear the idea of going to school or their kids going to school. There’s never a way to know if something so terrifying, such as school shootings, will happen to your school. There’s always that worry, but so many people think, “it will never happen to me.”
Another couple of students that were injured were ones that did something many others would not do. Brendan, a senior at the STEM school, was sitting in one of the classrooms, when the two suspects entered. Brendan said that one of the suspects pulled a gun from a guitar case. With quick thinking and no hesitation, Brendan and two friends jumped on top of the shooters. Brad Bialy, Brendan’s father, said that one students who attempted to tackle the gunmen was shot in the chest and the other students applied pressure to the wound.
Another student that was injured was a 17-year-old boy. He was shot three times. Thankfully, he is going to be okay and has already been released from the hospital. The student and his father, Fernando Montoya, know that he is very lucky and is still in disbelief that he is able to walk away from this.
The article states that there was no clear warning of the shooting, however, just weeks before there was a scary incident. Douglas County Schools took extreme precautions on April 17th, 2019, as they closed the schools due to a potential threat. There was an armed Florida teen who had an infatuation with the Columbine massacre. The woman made threats to the school before making a trip to Colorado. She was later found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Focusing back to the Highland Ranch STEM school shooting, it is said that with the sudden action of the police, they were able to save many lives. In one of the interviews that I watched, a police officer said that the police station was only about a block away, so they were able to respond within minutes, if not seconds. Also in the interview, the police officer gave information on how the parents of the students could hopefully reunite with their child. Some children self-evacuated, while others were still stuck inside the school. The students were being transported by bus over to a recreational center, where they would be able to reunite with their families.
I definitely agree with the core argument of your article. Gun violence has become too normalized. However, I have a few questions. What are the implications of this normalization? What does it mean for the idea of constitutional democracy?
Gun violence might even call into question the United States’ monopoly on the use of violence. Also the partisan divide on gun laws threatens democracy in the long run through increased polarization.
I agree, and think you raise some interesting questions, and go a little farther. If we put aside the implications on our democracy as a whole for a moment- which we shouldn’t, given the rate and frequency in which they occur and the apparent indifference on the part of law-makers and policy-makers – and instead focus more specifically on the impact this normalization has on particular individual’s well-being and personal security and how that affects our perception of our government. If we are constantly living in fear of being killed by a mass shooter, that will significantly change the way we live and alter our actions so to avoid the most amount of risk. That takes a toll on a person’s well-being and more broadly, makes us question whether our government is doing an adequate job of protecting us. This, as we have seen in the mass movements in 2018 against gun violence, is an issue that brings people out to vote. What is more, when a populist candidate comes around promising to change the system and crack down on violence (though the blame is misplaced), and voters are in a vulnerable state of living in constant fear, dangerous people can be placed in powerful positions, which itself poses a threat to our democracy. On the other hand, if citizens are disillusioned and lose faith in the government so extremes, participating in democracy for them becomes a meaningless chore that makes no difference and they would choose to stay home. Democracies cannot function without participation. Currently the talk of gun violence is a judgement and opinion based discussion, given that the CDC is effectively banned from studying the effects of guns. As a whole, the impact of mass-shootings is far-reaching and given the reason just stated, and impossible to completely understand.
I completely agree with the fact that mass shootings have become more normalized in today’s world. But pushing the argument forward, how does this specifically impact democratic erosion based on the institutions that help create gun control legislation? What does New Zealand’s ability to pass gun control legislation within 24 hours highlight about the U.S. constitutional gridlock?
Mass shootings are becoming an epidemic in America, especially within secondary school systems. The Colorado shooting was one of many that brought a parts of the country together when discussing gun rights. I currently work in a Memphis school system, and somedays I am terrified to go into work because I have a thought of, “what if today, a shooter decides to pick this school?” I have countlessly played out scenarios and came up with solutions to keep the children safe. Gun rights in America is a common issue that has become normalized in today’s society. What is your take on how this creates democratic erosion?