I Can Hardly Remember A Time When Reports of Mass Shootings Weren’t a Regular Occurrence

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGen Z

The first time I remember being informed of a mass shooting occurring was on December 14th 2012, the day that Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I was twelve years old, sitting in my living room, viewing the news coverage with my mom. I remember crying, and her asking me if I was crying out of fear of something similar happening at my school. My response was, “No, this is all just really sad.”

Seven years later, and I still experience the same feelings of sadness when I hear the news of yet another mass shooting occurring. However, reports of mass shootings have become so frequent that it would be impossible for me to remember how I reacted to the news coverage of each one, which is not okay. Sadly, many people are way past the point of caring and become more and more desensitized after the story breaks. After receiving so many breaking news reports that a mass shooter has opened fire in various locations, some people are able to shrug and move on, which is the kind of complacency that NRA members and the lawmakers they support are counting on. Despite their indifference and inaction, the repetitive loss of life at the hands of mass shooters is not something to be normalized. Active shooter drills are not normal. Students being given bulletproof backpacks as they venture off into high school is not normal. Students fearing that their lives will be cut short if someone were to enter their place of learning with a gun (whether it be an elementary, middle, high school or a college campus) is not normal.

The treating of mass shootings as if they are inevitable is where a majority of my frustration comes from. Lawmakers ignore the issue, offering “thoughts and prayers” and visiting locations in the aftermath of shootings, while refusing to actually do something by utilizing their power to create structural change that could prevent so many of these tragedies. In New Zealand, the Prime Minister worked to prohibit access to semi-automatic weapons weeks after a mass shooting took place. In Australia, 35 people were killed at the hands of a semi-automatic weapon, and twelve days after the shooting, Australia’s Prime Minister announced a number of changes to their gun laws: “High-caliber rifles and shotguns were banned, licensing was tightened, a “buy-back” scheme took some 650,000 guns out of circulation and remaining firearms were registered to national standards.” These are just two examples of leaders swiftly taking action to protect its’ citizens from senseless gun violence. America has done nothing like this. 

In addition to policy changes, an end to mass shootings cannot be brought without addressing two of the often-ignored factors that contribute to it: misogyny and racism. Many women—myself included—fear being gunned down for rejecting men, and way too many women have been. Black Americans get gunned down by police on a regular basis. The Charleston shooting that took place in 2015, the 2018 shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and the recent shooting in El Paso were all motivated by White Supremacy. (When you include the intersection of marginalized identities, the issue becomes even more dire). Mental illness, rap music, and video games are just a few things that have been used as scapegoats to avoid addressing these factors and doing the work to dismantle the systems that allow them to persist.

While I can hardly remember a time in my life where reports of mass shootings were not a regular occurrence, my hope is that the next generation won’t. While I’ll continue to advocate for comprehensive gun reform, I’d be lying if I said the feeling of hopelessness didn’t affect me. Countless lives have been lost; countless people have been traumatized—so honestly, what else is there to say that hasn’t already been said? What can be done to undo the years of damage that has been done by the normalization to mass shootings in the U.S.? Who else has to die before change comes? 

Similar Read: Bulletproof Backpacks, a 2019 Back-to-School Essential?

Dancing With the Devil… A Brooklyn Perspective on Gun Violence

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[This is the third installment of a three-part series on American gun violence. Read part one here and part two here.]

“You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

This is the iconic question that The Joker, played by the legendary Jack Nicholson, posed to his victims in Tim Burton’s 1989 film, Batman. You see, what The Joker is asking Bruce is if he’s ever wrestled with fate. Moreover, did that tangle with fate deliver grief and sorrow to his life experience.

I sure have danced with that devil in the pale moonlight.

Late in the summer of 2011, I ventured out with my roommate to Queens (NY) on a school night in an attempt to lift his spirits as he was dealing with a breakup. I offered to be the designated driver for the night so he could take his mind off the emotions of the breakup and have a good time.

Coming out of the club that morning, as fate would have it, my roommate began to say that there were Angels all around us and that he could see them. I affirmed his vision to appease him and wondered to myself how much he had to drink. Seconds later each of us had the barrels of loaded guns pressed against our torsos. Our initial response was to push the guns away, to which our assailants threatened that they would shoot us. They stole our jewelry and then ran off into the night.

We quickly moved to the car and drove off towards flashing police lights in the distance. Thinking that we were trying to chase them, one of the robbers opened fire on our car eight times at close range. Similar to the photo above, I’ll never forget ducking down and looking back to see flames coming out of the muzzle of the gun. As I turned my gaze forward, the back windshield of the car in front of us shattered. Luckily the car was empty and we sped off towards the police lights. Thankfully, he was a terrible shooter and not one bullet struck our vehicle. The Angels that my roommate saw that evening and the availing prayers of my Mother had truly prevented us from being yet another fatality in America’s gun violence epidemic.

Hearing the gunfire, the NYPD acted quickly and ultimately apprehended the young men with our jewelry in their possession. We were a little shaken but the Officers asked that we return to the precinct to identify the shooters later that day.

The Officers had investigated the crime scene and determined that whoever was in the passenger seat would have been struck between the head and chest area – I was in the passenger seat.

With that in mind, the Officers then crammed six young black men into a small room and asked that I select the men who robbed us. Looking through a one-way mirror where they could not see me, I looked at these young men in the eyes and was overcome with strong feelings of empathy and sadness.

What could have transpired in the lives of these young men to bring them to this room? Was it low wages and poverty that brought them to this room? Was it the poor public education system that brought them to this room? Was it the American government backed distribution of crack cocaine to black neighborhoods that brought them to this room? Was it mass incarceration and the fatherless homes that those policies left in its wake that brought them to this room?

Having an understanding of the pitfalls in the area in which I grew up in Brooklyn, I had a surreal feeling knowing that there was a pane of glass separating me from an alternate life that I could have lived. In fact, I would later find out that one of the young men who robbed us lived in the neighborhood I grew up in. Here I was, a young black man working for American Express, living on my own, but wondering what I could do to prevent other young men from being in this room. In a way, I felt and feel a sense of survivors guilt. I walked away from that room muttering to myself, “there but for the grace of God go I.”

I know those young men went to jail and I think about them from time to time. I wish blessings on their lives and I hope that they can overcome the mistakes of their youth and the unrelenting punishment of the American prison system.

It has taken me a few months to complete this series on American gun violence and share my own personal experience with guns. Sadly, as time passed, I knew that before I completed this series that there would be another mass shooting. As I write this piece, I received yet another Notification of Death that ten people have been gunned down in a Texas High School.

Why do we need gun reform in America? Quite simply, too many Americans are having to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight… it needs to stop.

This article was originally published on 22 May 2017.

Teachers & Guns? Maybe?

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Imagine taking your kids to school and not knowing it will be last time you see them. The routine of seeing your children walk into school was just like any other day. Hours go by and you hear the chatter of breaking news that there’s an active shooter at one of the elementary schools in your city. You begin to feel sad just thinking about the situation and the potential outcome. And then it hits you – this might be at your children’s school. As you check your phone you overhear the news mention and confirm that it is their school. You immediately are overwhelmed with fear of the safety of your kids. You try with all your might to keep your composure and think positive while you’re in route to the school. Upon arrival, you begin to look for the familiar faces of your little ones as the scene is completely frantic. You notice students are in groups being watched by teachers and other faculty, but you can’t find your kids… anywhere. Hours seem to pass by but in actuality, it’s only been a few minutes. You soon learn that one of your children is a victim of the senseless act caused by the gunman who entered their school and started randomly shooting less than an hour ago. Shortly thereafter, your child is unfortunately confirmed dead at the scene.

How could this happen? Could it have been prevented? Many may ask God why did he allow this to happen? How does one move on in life from this situation knowing they can’t take their child home? These are probably some of the many questions that families are dealing with when such a situation occurs, a situation that is becoming all too familiar in the United States. And why is that? Why can’t we trust our schools of all places to keep our kids safe from such tragedy and violence?

Is allowing teachers to carry a handgun the real answer to what’s happening in our schools? Who’s to say that teachers are responsible enough to handle their firearm in the presence of 20 or so children? On the other hand, what if a teacher could prevent multiple casualties if he or she was armed and had the mental composure and aptitude to respond effectively in the event of an active shooter entering the school or their classroom? There are several Pros and Cons when discussing whether or not a teacher should be allowed to carry a firearm in school, and should he or she be trusted to respond effectively.

Nothing can bring back these children whose lives were taken from their families in these senseless school shootings, but lessons can be and must be learned from these tragedies. I’m not sure arming teachers is the right move, but do nothing is not an option.

Texas Church Shooting, I Disagree With Trump

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President Trump claims more would have died were there stricter gun laws—insisting the gunman would not have been taken down by a “brave civilian” if that were the case. As a member of a Southern Baptist Church in Texas, and whose father and brother are both Baptist Ministers, I still cannot agree with POTUS. There absolutely should be a ban on assault-style weapons in the United States such as the firearm used by the gunman to kill 26 people and injure 20 others. Even with oversight by the U.S. Air Force to upload the gunman’s past domestic offenses in their database, civilians should never be able to possess weapons designed to be used in war. 

However, not isolating this incident and considering all of the senseless shootings that have taken place, my stance is not a commentary on the Second Amendment giving civilians the right to bear arms. I do not advocate for a gun-free society, but I do believe stricter laws should be enforced and types of firearms should be evaluated. There are firearms such as the one used by the “brave civilian” that are meant for recreation and defense. While they still can cause bodily harm, they should not be banned. However, in the case of assault-style weapons which are meant for combat situations—to kill as many people as possible in the least amount of time—they should not be accessible to civilians.