Weekly News Post #18

'We will outlive you'

Following the mass shooting at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on the 14th February, survivors have been speaking out about the mass shooting that left 17 people dead. Students at the school were attacked by former student, 19 year old Nikolas Cruz, on valentines day in what has been considered the worst school shooting since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. Whilst some people blame Cruz's emotional state, attorney Jim Lewis notes Cruz was depressed after his adoptive mother died and he was expelled from the high school, others blame the horrendous event on the fact that guns can be obtained easily in America.

Nikolas Cruz's supposed YouTube comment

Allegedly, according to CNN, Cruz had displayed his desire to perpetrate violence on his social media accounts, this desire was acted upon earlier this month. Alongside this display of wanting to behave violently, CNN also reports he "hurled slurs at blacks and Muslims". This coincides with the article which states that Nikolas Cruz had ties with the white supremacist group, Republic of Florida. This leaves the question on how did someone with supposedly white supremacist group ties, someone who had displayed the desire to kill people, and someone who was depressed, have the ability to walk into a high school and murder 17 innocent people with a gun?

People nation wide have cried for a change in the gun control and laws in America- especially those who have experienced trauma due to guns, like the students at the Majory Stoneman Douglas High School. David Hogg emerged as an advocate for better gun control in the US after he survived and witnessed the terror of the mass shooting first hand. Hogg claimed that him and his classmates "are going to outlive" those people, National Rifle Association, who are attempting to discredit witnesses. He also told them they should give up. The 18 year old has attracted a community of hatred from pro-gun allies of the National Rifle Association; who have attacked the surviving teens for speaking up about the shooting and asking for the US to reconsider the gun control in the country to hopefully eliminate any further tragedies caused by the weapon. The adults in the pro-gun community have been attacking teens online who have called the students "pawns" that are being "coached" by activists who aim to restrict firearm ownership in the country. In my opinion, these people attacking witnesses and victims of the traumatising event fail to understand that perhaps the teens are asking for  because they have a mind of their own and can see that the poor gun control is resulting in unnecessary deaths across the country. Trump's solution to the shooting, is to arm teachers with guns- more guns.

In 2015 America, there was around 13,286 deaths due to firearms, and a further 26,819 people injured according to the Gun Violence Archive compared around 50 to 60 homicides annually in England and Wales. This vast difference in deaths as result of guns could be due to the difference in the amount of people who actually own guns; GunPolicy.org estimates that per 100 people in the UK there was around 3.78 guns in 2010, whereas in the US, it was estimated that there around 101 guns per 100 people. Britain and the US have very different laws, policies and control on guns in the countries. In Britain laws were brought into place after Thomas Hamilton murdered 16 school children alongside their teacher at Dunblane primary school using an arsenal of handgun he legally owned. The firearms Act 1997 banned all cartridge ammunition handguns, except the .22 calibre single-shot weapons used in Olympic style shooting event- which were banned at a later date. Since this happened, there has only been one mass shooting. However, in the US, firearm laws are more relaxed, the majority of US citizens are allowed to buy and own firearms without restriction, and non-citizens are allowed to have permits. The minimum standards for firearm regulations states that licensed gun sellers must carry out background checks on buyers. It is seen as a right in America to own and bare arms as it's seen as protection. Even after multiple mass shootings in just recent years (the Las Vegas shooting, the Sandy Hook shooting, and the Sutherland Springs shooting- all mass shootings), America still refuses to change their laws and policies which have been met with objections by the younger generation in today's society. They demand change for their own safety and the safety of the population in general yet people like Donald Trump and people in pro-gun communities, believe these shootings are not due to gun control, but rather then individual carrying out the crime.

Whilst I believe Trump and the pro-gun community have a valid point in that it's the perpetrator's fault, blame must also be put onto the gun control in the US: as if these people carrying out horrendous crimes wasn't able to get hold of a firearm so easily, mass shootings wouldn't be as big of a problem, if it was even a problem at all. A simple solution to the gun violence problem in the US would be to have heavier restrictions on guns, like in the UK, Australia, and Japan; and whilst this maybe objected by a large proportion of the population surely the lives and safety of citizens is more important. One small change to an outdated law would cause the lives of thousands of people to be saved and not affected by death.


The main article looked at was sourced from the Independent which is a British newspaper, holding British views and values. The fact that the article is sourced from a British newspaper could explain why the article represented the students, such as David Hogg, positively and shared the view that gun control in America is a big issue- since they can see it from an outside perspective and see the bigger image, alongside the fact the views on gun control in Britain and America are contrasting. If the article was from a right-winged American newspaper, the representation of the students would be negative and perhaps would have represented them negatively because of their age and suggested they're too young to know and understand what they're talking about.

Reference;
Barnes, Tom. (2018). Florida shooting survivor tells NRA supporters: 'We will outlive you'. Available: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/florida-shooting-david-hogg-nra-latest-updates-we-will-outlive-you-survivor-student-crisis-actor-a8227501.html. Last accessed 25th Feb 2018.