One week ago four were left dead after the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Washington, adding one more to the list making eighty-seven. Eighty-seven school shootings since the tragic day at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newton Connecticut. Prior to Sandy Hook there had been close to thirty mass shootings in the country since the Columbine High School Massacre when thirteen people where killed and twenty-one left wounded. Before Columbine, mass shootings were rarely heard of in America. However, the day that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on hundreds of innocent people at Columbine High, America forever changed. The country took a turn for the worse. Safety hazards grew along with violence and as smaller shootings became more common, so did the requirement of monthly lockdown drills. It was decided that it is necessary for staff and students to always be prepared for danger.

            From the year 1999 when Columbine occurred, to the year 2012, the one shooting that truly shook the country was the one at Virginia Tech. Before taking his own life twenty-three year old Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. After Virginia Tech, hearing of smaller shootings became common again. The ones that occurred were considered “minor” compared to Virginia and Columbine. Although undeserving people were still dying and guns were still being put into the hands of the wrong people, Americans still did not demand a change; they instead adapted to the killing. It took until December 14^th 2012, the day that Adam Lanza shot and killed twenty kindergarten and first grade children and eight adults at Sandy Hook elementary school for America to wake up. The day after tragedy struck at Sandy Hook, millions of Americans, especially those who lost loved one began protesting for gun control to be regulated. Lawmakers who in previous years supported gun rights, started to propose that the nation form a ban on the assault weapons. Was it because the majority of people killed at Sandy Hook were children or was it because these American citizens had finally seen enough tragedies that provoked the need to change?

The country divided in the fight for gun control. Defenders said that more regulations would violate the Second Amendment, which states "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringe." Supporters of the rule believed that gun regulations would create a safer environment for the country and prevent further shootings. In agreement with the supporters, Connecticut lawmakers passed the law regarding gun control while other states, including New York, Colorado, and Maryland only tightened their gun laws.

Last week was the eighty-seventh school shooting since Sandy Hook. There have been eighty-seven school shootings within two years and still no major changes to the country’s gun control. Parents should not have to doubt their child’s safety anymore. How can America stop this number from increasing? Will regulating gun control actually change the growing percentage of school shootings? Can one law prevent future tragedies? A school used to be considered a “safe place to learn”, but in the world we live in today, is anywhere considered a “safe place”?

sources: http://everytown.org/article/schoolshootings/, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-31/connecticut-gun-law-passed-after-sandy-hook-ruled-legal.html