Texas school shooting

 

 Texas school shooting 

 

 Summary 

     In the afternoon of May 24th, 2022 a young man named Salvador Ramos came into a elementary school in Texas an killed 19 children and 2 teachers working that day. The young man came into the school and tried to enter one of the locked classrooms. When he gained access to one of the classrooms he shot 19 kids and 2 teachers that were in the classroom. The shooting lasted about 40 minutes before before the young man was shot and killed by a Border Patrol Team. Witnesses who lived near the school said that when shots were being fired people were yelling at the police to go in and do something, but they did not enter the building, even though they know shots were being fired. Other witnesses at the scene said that the police didn't do anything, they just stood there and they were very unprepared when they reached the scene. When Salvador gained access to one of the classrooms, he barricaded himself inside, many people in response to hearing this said "It just shows you the complete evil of the shooter.” All the people that were killed were in that classroom. There are a lot of mixed opinions about how the police handled this situation, some think they did as best as they could, others thing they were unprepared and lazy, and should be held responsible for not being able to contain the shooter before he reached the classroom. This Texan community is left in shambles because of this young man, there have been murals and memorials created for the people who lost their lives and their families. This shooting has now sparked the conversation of gun laws in America again. Joe Biden made a statement about the shooting saying "when in gods name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" It is undecided if this event will trigger something in the government to change the laws, however all the families are hoping that it will. 

My opinion 

    Living in relatively safe neighbourhood in British Columbia Canada, I am privileged enough to never have to experience a situation like this now, and hopefully in the future. In Canada it is quite difficult to get a gun, but it is still possible. Many gun owners say that this law is a pain and they wish it wasn't so difficult. What they don't understand is that guns being so difficult to buy and own in Canada prevents lives from being taken and violence being enforced. Now just because guns are difficult go own in Canada, doesn't mean that gun violence just doesn't exist here, it does but it is much less common then in the States. The United States have had in total over 200 school shootings, and that's just so far this year. There have only been 2 in Canada in 2022. I think this just proves furthermore that even though people think gun laws are a pain and unnecessary, that data not only proves that they do, but that they save lives. Me personally, I have been hunting with my grandfather and I did not enjoy it, I am not a big gun person and i never will be or really understand it. However I do recognize that many people hunt for food, and use guns ONLY for protection, so I do not think that they should be banned in the States, just that it should be harder to get one. They should include background checks, and mental and emotion evaluations from professionals, as well as a full interrogation of why they want to purchase a gun before they are allowed to be in possession of it. As well as every few years, re-do a background check and mental evaluation on the individual who owns the gun. It all might sound a bit excessive, but it saves lives. And who knows, if laws like these were enforced by the United States government just a few weeks earlier, those kids would of had a life. Their parents would of seen the graduate, build a degree, get married. This event I hope would be a final push for the United States government to revise these laws, no matter the feedback. 

Title of article: 

What we know and don't know in the Texas massacre 

Date of article: 

May 26th, 2022 

Page number: 

Page 1 

Author of article: 

Holly Yan, Dakin Andone, Aya Elamroussi 

Link: 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/us/uvalde-texas-elementary-school-shooting-what-we-know/index.html