March 27, 2018

On Saturday, March 24, more than a million people around the world participated in March For Our Lives protests against gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings in the United States. The U.S. protests centered on Washington, D.C., where people called on lawmakers to pass gun control legislation. The protests were planned and led by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School in the Miami, Florida, suburb of Parkland, where a mass shooting killed 17 students and faculty on February 14.

Hundreds of thousands of people crowd Washington, D.C., streets during the March For Our Lives protest against gun violence on March 24, 2018. Credit: © Nicole S. Glass, Shutterstock

MSD students and other gun crime survivors from across the country spoke to hundreds of thousands of people along Pennsylvania Avenue, with the White House and the U.S. Capitol looming in the background. The emotional speeches were punctuated with cheers, tears, and chants of “no more guns” and “no more NRA,” a reference to the powerful pro-gun group, the National Rifle Association. The NRA has been effective at persuading members of Congress to block the passage of gun control bills, arguing that such bills violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. “Vote them out!” was another protesters’ chant aimed squarely at those NRA-influenced members of Congress. Many hand-painted signs carried among the crowds read “Graduations, not funerals,” “Protect kids not guns,” and “Am I next?”

Credit: © March For Our Lives

The most stirring moment came when 18-year old MSD student Emma González named her dead classmates and teachers and then paused in silence until she had used up 6 minutes and 20 seconds—the amount of time it took for the gunman to take 17 lives at her high school. Naomi Wadler, an 11-year-old speaker from Virginia, declared “Never again!” on behalf of black women and girl victims of gun violence. Never Again is the name of another student-led movement pushing for tighter gun regulations. Singers Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, and Lin-Manuel Miranda performed at the Washington rally, which was also attended and supported by thousands of parents and teachers as well as numerous Democratic politicians and entertainment celebrities.

“Sibling” March For Our Lives protests took place throughout the United States, with large events in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The nationwide rallies also encouraged voter registration, particularly for students about to turn 18 and vote for the fist time. Former president Barack Obama voiced his support for the protesters and the voting drive, saying “You’re leading us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.” Solidarity events also took place in such world cities as Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Sydney, and Tokyo.

Saturday’s March For Our Lives followed a 17-minute school walkout (one minute for each MSD shooting victim) that took nearly a million U.S. high school students briefly out of classes on March 14. The massacre at MSD High School was the most recent in a long line of school shootings in the United States. The worst came at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people were killed. Another national school walkout is planned for April 20 to commemorate the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 people died.

October 2, 2017

Last night, on October 1, in Las Vegas, Nevada, a gunman killed at least 58 people at an open-air concert near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The gunman fired from the window of his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, shooting into a crowd of 22,000 people attending a music festival across the street. Armed with numerous automatic weapons, the gunman poured hundreds of bullets into the crowd until police reached his hotel room. The gunman then committed suicide. The attack—which has also resulted in over 500 injuries—is the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. The death toll from the domestic terror attack will most likely rise.

People run for cover as a gunman fires into a crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 1, 2017. Fifty-eight people died in the domestic terror attack. Credit: © David Becker, Getty Images

The attack began just after 10 p.m. local time, not long after country music star Jason Aldean had taken the stage at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, a three-day event held in an open-air venue across the Las Vegas Strip from the Mandalay Bay. The Las Vegas Strip, a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard, is famous for its large resort hotels and casinos. Many people in the concert crowd did not react immediately to the attack, as the popping of gunshots was confused with the sound of firecrackers and drowned out by the music being played on stage.

People soon realized the horror of what was taking place, however, and began running for cover and searching for loved ones in the chaos. The shooting paused occasionally as the gunman reloaded his automatic weapons, but the rapid fire then resumed as bullets ricocheted around the concrete concert ground and inflicted further injuries. Police responding to the attack saw gun flashes coming from the Mandalay Bay, and soon zeroed in on the gunman’s locked hotel room. As police used explosives to burst into the room, the gunman shot and killed himself.

Thus far, the shooter, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, has not been tied with any militant or terrorist groups, and his motive remains unclear. Paddock lived in Mesquite, a small city northeast of Las Vegas. His dead body was found with 23 guns, many of which are readily available in Nevada, a state with some of the least stringent gun laws in the United States. Police found another 19 guns at Paddock’s home in Mesquite.

The previous worst U.S. mass shooting occurred just last year, in June 2016, when a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. That shooter, who was killed by police, had professed his allegiance to an Islamic terrorist group.

June 13, 2016

Police officers stand guard near the scene of a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016. Credit: © Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP Photo

Early Sunday morning, June 12, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, a gunman entered carrying an assault rifle and a handgun and started shooting. The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, shot several people before retreating deeper into the club and taking hostages. Orlando police, paramedics, and firefighters were quickly on the scene, but, unsure of what they were dealing with, they awaited the arrival of heavily armed Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) officers. About 5:00 a.m., SWAT officers broke through a wall of the nightclub. In a brief gunfight, Mateen was killed and one officer was wounded. Thirty hostages were freed, wounded bar patrons were treated and evacuated, and a suspected explosive device was destroyed. Forty-nine people died in the attack—plus the shooter—and 53 others were injured, making it the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. Some 350 patrons were in Pulse for a Latin music event at the time of the attack.

Mateen, a U.S. Muslim born to Afghan parents in New York City, apparently targeted the nightclub because it caters predominantly to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. While hiding in a restroom with hostages, Mateen called 9-1-1 and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, but there is no evidence that he had ties to the terrorist group. Mateen had, however, been questioned previously for suspected terrorism links. Mateen’s ex-wife described him as “emotionally and mentally disturbed,” and others noted a history of anger and violent behavior.

Numerous sympathies and tributes poured in to Orlando from around the world as people absorbed the shocking reality of the attack. President Barack Obama described the attack as an “act of terror and an act of hate.” Pope Francis condemned the “senseless hatred” of the massacre. This most recent mass shooting reignited calls for stricter gun control in the United States.

April 18, 2013

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate rejected a bipartisan effort to expand background checks to more buyers of firearms. The proposed legislation would have required background checks for all transactions at gun shows and online. Currently, such background checks occur only for sales handled by licensed gun dealers. Senators also voted down bans on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.

Political experts described the vote as a blow to the widely supported drive to curb firearms that was sparked by the massacre in December of children and staff at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. They also noted that the vote was a major defeat for President Barack Obama. The president has made broadened background checks the centerpiece of his gun control proposals. Speaking at the White House after the vote, President Obama characterized the Senate’s failure as “a pretty shameful day for Washington.” The Senate also voted down a Republican-backed bill to expand permission to carry concealed weapons.

Additional World Book article:

• National Rifle Association