America can prevent shootings like Jacksonville. But it must come to terms with its gun problem.
It was just another video game tournament. Based on the live stream , players were playing Madden NFL 2019, and shoutcasters were giving the typical play-by-play, while the chat on Twitch.tv carried on with conversation about the match and memes. But then, a laser point appeared on one of the player’s chests. Suddenly, 12 shots rang out. There was chaos on the live stream — screaming and running around as the game abruptly paused. A voice could be heard asking, “Oh, fuck, what’d he shoot me with?” At that moment, this tournament in Jacksonville Landing in Florida , had become the site of another mass shooting in America. By the end of the gunfire, three people, including the shooter, were killed, and at least 11 were injured. It was a horrifying end to a tournament that was supposed to be a qualifying event for a national competition sponsored by EA Sports later this year. By now, mass shootings have become almost routine in America. One seems to make the news every month or so. Since the mass shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, more than 1,800 mass shootings — defined as any shooting in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, were shot although not necessarily killed — have happened in the US. We don’t yet know why this particular shooter carried out a horrific act of gun violence. But we do know why this keeps happening in America. Guns. America has the laxest gun laws […]
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