Murder, robbery, human trafficking, rape, kidnapping. The commonality between these crimes are the perpetrators with immoral intentions to do harm. Recently, the Texan city of Sutherland Springs suffered through a terrifying mass shooting at the First Baptist Church, resulting in numerous deaths of innocent church-goers. With the Las Vegas mass shooting occurring not too long before this tragic incident, fear strikes into the hearts of Americans and demands against gun control are being made. The question becomes, though, what should be done in response to this kind of evil that has been committed? Two articles, “In the Face of Evil, Prayer is the Most Rational and Effective Response” by David French and “Can Government Solve the Evil of Mass Shootings? A Response to Mollie Hemingway” by Daniel Schultz, go at opposite ends with issue here. The Texas church shooting in accordance with the articles present the idea of God’s omnipotence as the solution to the problem of evil, in relation to Augustine’s “Evil is the Privation of Good” and the Book of Job, which incorporate the significance of evil. This particular article takes on sort of an optimistic and religious viewpoint in regards to the aftermath of the church shooting. The article “In the Face of Evil, Prayer is the Most Rational and Effective Response” by David French explains how prayer, as mentioned in the title, is the one method that can be utilized in response to an event like this. French explains that a time
The biggest impact mass shootings and suicides are on the victims. This can range from physical assault to emotional distress. In the cases of mass shootings, the victims can be identified as the people that were either shot or indirectly harmed through the shooting. In columbine, there were 13 total deaths consisting of 12 students and one teacher. In addition to the deaths, 24 others were wounded with a range of injuries (Library, 2017). Some victims endured a few cuts and bruises from the chaos and others became paralyzed from the gun-shot wounds and are now living life with limitations. One victim was shot three times, two in the back and one in the arm. She suffered nerve damage from the shots in the back and an excruciating painful recovery from the bullet in the arm (Library, 2017). Unfortunately, she was unable to recover nerve damage which paralyzed her from waist down. Another victim was shot twice in the head and suffered traumatic brain injury as he tried to escape out the school window (Library, 2017). These stories were only two of the 24 victims from one incident. Similar stories exist from other mass shootings that display the tragic effects in has on the victims.
Has the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill led to the increase of mass shootings experienced in the US? According to Lankford, several reports suggest that up to 60% of offenders of mass shootings in the US since 1970, exhibited symptoms including depression, delusions, and acute paranoia prior to the commission of their crimes. Further statistics have shown that since 1982, there have been at least 71 public mass shooting across the country; with 34 of these mass shooting having occurred since 2006. A recent analysis of the database by researchers at Harvard University corroborated by a recent FBI study concluded that mass shootings have been on the rise. More than half of the cases involve school or workplace shootings, 12 and 20
On June 26th 2015, nine days after the Charleston Church Shooting that took away the precious lives of nine African-Americans, the United States president Barack Obama gave an incredible remark for pastor Clementa Pinckney that moved the heart of thousands and provoked the controversial conversation of gun violence across the nation. The success of the remark is incalculable, and what drove such success was Obama’s very ability to utilize rhetoric to attack and to build connections. Yet, throughout Obama’s speeches,
Mass shootings happen a lot more frequently in the world than most of us probably know. However, every mass shooting that has been documented and investigated have the same main question behind it; Why did the attacker choose to do this? Many times, our assumptions are all we have. Investigation analyses the entire situation as much as it can to make sure our assumptions, if needed, are as accurate as possible. However, there are a lot of theories and social situations that pertain to mass shootings as well.
Texas mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Americans have and church members have reacted in many different ways on to prevent tragedies like this one. A way Americans should respond to this tragedy is in a non violent was or combative way, which is a more effective and morally right way to do so.
It saddens me that even in this day and age racial terrorism still exists. One major event that reflects this is the Charleston, South Carolina, Church shooting that occurred last Tuesday June 17. On this day, 21-year-old Dylann Roof attended a bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and after about an hour he opened fire to the members who attended the study. Consequentially 10 people were shot and unfortunately 9 of them did not survive.
I've become desensitized and have little reaction to broadcasts about mass shootings, as I have become desensitized about other types of intentional harm and injury to another human being... because of the type of service I provide. I may not have strong emotional reactions anymore to the shootings. Still, can't wrap my mind around how easy it is to take away someone's right to live and breath.
In this article, “At least 26 dead in shooting at Texas church,” Dakin Andone, Kaylee Hartung, and Darran Simon discuss the tragic shooting that took place in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The shooter was a 26-year-old named Devin Patrick Kelley. He was a member of the US Air Force, but received a bad conduct discharge in 2014 and served a year in prison for assault on his wife and son. After the shooting, Kelley was found dead in his vehicle. It is still unclear whether or not he was shot by a neighbor or inflicted the injury on himself. 26 people died in this shooting and another 20 were injured. The ages of the victims range from 5 to 72 years old. This town is described as a place where “everybody knows everybody,” (Andone
"I'm angry someone would do this to us. There are lives ruined, families ruined, and our whole school year is ruined" (Brackely 1). Casey Brackely, once a student that attended Columbine High School, remembers the tragedy of the horrific Columbine shooting that killed and injured many students. Mass shootings in the United States have been on the rise since the 1980’s, especially in the last decade. These shooters motives and profiles are almost all terrifyingly alike. Many of these shooters try to imitate and parallel the tragic shooting of the Columbine High School in 1999. These shootings have made peaceful organizations, such as an elementary school; become a place of violence and death. Currently, in the United States, an epidemic of
In his article “Real-life mass shootings: The subject Hollywood dare not touch”, Alex Suskind focuses on the gun epidemic in America and discusses reasons why Hollywood shows immense brutality in movies but don’t dare to create one about real-life mass shootings. His main claim is that Americans prefer escapism to realism in movies.
The First Amendment of the Constitution says that the Congress cannot make a law that forces people to follow one religion or prohibit free speech. It also says that people have the right to hold peaceful assemblies to make a change. This allows people to have opinions and express them freely as long as they are peaceful.
This idea needs to become widely accepted by everyone in order for it to be successful, because if only some places accept it, then all the other places declined it will still be in danger of mass shootings. What we are trying to do is legal, therefore, we don’t have to pass any bills or laws, but the idea of bringing it to Congress is a great idea. We want to inform the general populace about mass shootings and how there in theory is a way to help decrease the casualties per killings and possible prevent the use of guns in shootings. There will always be mass killings, but we want to prevent the use of guns since it doesn’t affect the victim's, but also the law abiding citizens. Our goal is to spread awareness and to do that we will need to travel around and get people educated about firearms. We know there will be people who are against us, but if we even get some people on our side to be able to help us implement this, we would greatly appreciate it. We want teachers to have handguns, and nothing really over a 9mm. 9mm would be a modest ammo size while still remaining fairly inexpensive. We will not advocate for the use of hollow point or specialty rounds, as that doesn’t seem to fit for teacher use. Teachers will have to buy their own firearms if they do so please, and this will allow them to have full ownership over their firearms so they can use it to defend their homes as well.
Study author Sherry Towers, research professor in the ASU Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center, explained, "The hallmark of contagion is observing patterns of many events that are bunched in time, rather than occurring randomly in time."
On October 1, 2017 America was, yet again, devastated when Las Vegas suffered the United States worst mass shooting. One man killed over 50 people and injured 527. After he was finished firing from the 39th floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, he committed suicide. His name was Stephan Paddock (Yan and Park). When most people think of a mass shooting, they think of a terroristic act or someone shooting at a large group of innocent citizens, like Columbine High School or Sandy Hook Elementary School. In actuality, most people do not realize that whenever two or more people are injured or killed by a gun, it is considered a mass shooting. These “mass shootings” happen every day in America and they are one of the leading causes of death in
The barrage of arrows soaring down range and the sudden almost simultaneously, yet not, collision with the targets. My friend and I just entered the warm interior of the range that was a pleasing contrast from that of the cold winter night in the midst of January that it was outside. The Smell of wood filled our lungs that of s similar sent to an old wooden cabin. I took a quick glance around at the 10 or so people currently preparing or packing up their bows of all different colors, sizes, and makes. I only got a short glance before I noticed my friend start walking towards the counter in the store section of this range.