Strict Security Has Not Stopped Violence in the US

The many school shootings in the U.S. have led to increased security measures in many schools, but it has not prevented the deadly violence.

After the latest massacre, however, gun laws have become an election issue. When President Barack Obama spoke out after the school shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, where nine people died two weeks ago, his tone was both restrained and furious.

“Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it … We have become numb to this.” It is not acceptable, Obama says, that the U.S. is the only country in the world with so many mass shootings.

He expressed the powerlessness shared by many Americans. In the past 20 years, the number of school deaths in the U.S. has reached over 500. The massacres almost always involve firearms; instances where the numbers were higher often had to do with semi-automatic weapons. They are often easy to obtain and easy to use.

For instance, the perpetrator at Sandy Hook Elementary School fired 154 shots in less than five minutes. Twenty children and six adults lost their lives in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 — an event that marks a kind of “before” and “after.” The victims were so small and the tragedy so immense, the reaction was massive. But it was not the last attack in U.S. schools: since then, 142 shootings have occurred, and nothing indicates an end to the trend.

The debates are broad and helpless. Security at schools has increased; many are equipped with security cameras and metal detectors. School grounds are locked and surrounded by high fences. There is often close collaboration with police, and many schools have a plan of action in the event of an armed individual entering the school. Mental health has also been given great attention in the debates.

In several cases, the perpetrators were themselves students at the schools they attacked, but despite local projects promoting detection and prevention, there is still much to do. Meanwhile, the awareness of firearm accessibility has spread significantly (had the culprit in Trollhättan, Sweden been armed with a firearm, the number of victims could have been much higher).

Many Americans are in favor of stricter gun laws, but in the United States, the constitutionally protected right to bear arms is deeply rooted and closely associated with the freedom of the individual in relationship to the state. The difficulty of legislating restrictions on firearm accessibility can largely be explained by the large political influence of gun lobbyists. Firearm advocates believe that schools would be safer if teachers were required to be armed.

The event in Oregon has made gun control a matter for the presidential election next year. How much of an impact it will have in the end remains uncertain.