The US has reported an alarming number of 45 mass shootings in the last month.

A mass shooting is an incident in which “four or more [are] shot and/or killed in a single event (incident), at the same general time and location, not including the shooter,” as defined by nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

The statistic begins on March 16, when eight people were killed at three different spas in Atlanta.  Since then, gun violence has escalated. On March 17, another mass shooting occurred in Stockton, California. Five people preparing a vigil in Stockton were shot in a drive-by shooting. Luckily none of them had life-threatening injuries. Another mass shooting that most Americans are aware of took place in Boulder, Colorado on March 23.

“Ten people, including a Boulder police officer, were killed in a shooting at a King Sooper Supermarket, according to police,” said CNN reporter Madeliene Holcombe.

“The amount of recent mass shootings is heartbreaking. Every time I turn on the news and hear that there has been another mass shooting, it sickens me. It is disheartening to see that despite the countless lives we have lost due to these horrid events over the past couple of years, we have still not found a solution to help stop it,” said Maille Smith (‘21).

The most recent mass shooting was April 15 in Indianapolis. Eight people were killed at an Indianapolis FedEx facility that night. The suspect had been an employee at the facility from August to October 2020. In July and September of 2020, Brandon Hole was able to legally purchase two assault rifles, the same ones later recovered from the Indianapolis FedEx facility. 

“People are so caught up with “protecting themselves”(when in fact the weapons people have to protect themselves are often not used at all) and wanting non-strict gun legislation that people are dying because of it. It is a very frustrating situation that we are in as a nation,” said Katie Batoy (‘21).

It seems as if America can’t put an end to gun violence. Today, the US leads the world in gun-related killings. 73% of homicides involve a gun, compared to 39% in Canada, 22% in Australia, and 4% in England and Wales. 

Additionally, shootings in the US have become increasingly deadly. The Las Vegas, Nevada shooting in 2017 was one of the worst mass shootings in the US since 1991. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire from his hotel room in Mandalay Bay Resort on a crowd watching Aldean below. Fifty-eight people were killed and more than five hundred were injured. Multiple weapons were found in Paddock’s room.

Biden calls U.S. gun deaths a  “national embarrassment.” America should be embarrassed. After all these years, we have not been able to put a stop to gun violence.

“I think in past years there have been big signs for us to have stricter gun laws surrounding all of the school shootings we had. Our country is falling apart and there is a need to make a change,” said Batoy.

Why are Americans still allowed to buy military-style assault weapons? Large weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines, like those used in the Las Vegas shooting, should be banned to lower the risk of mass shootings in America. The government needs to realize that change isn’t going to happen on its own. The gun laws that currently in place are not effective. Even though background checks are required to buy a gun from a licensed dealer, one can go online or to a gun show without receiving a background check. It’s been too easy to obtain automatic or semi-automatic assault rifles, the former of which is banned in California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, but are legal in most states. How many more mass shootings does America need to see for change to happen?