April 20, 1999.
Does that date mean anything to you? If it doesn’t resonate right away, let me remind you.
That is the date that Dylan Klebold & Eric Harris of Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado made a heinous decision to enter their high school and commit mass murder on twelve students and one teacher. This was a highly planned attack which included a fire bomb to divert firefighters, propane tanks converted into bombs, 99 explosive devices, and car bombs. This doesn’t include the multiple guns and knives they had as well. In addition to killing 13 people (15 if you include themselves), 24 were injured.
Although this is not the first massacre of this type in my lifetime, it is the first one I have a clear memory of. I have a vague memory of the Oklahoma City Bombing (which Klebold & Harris wanted to rival), but mostly I just remember when Timothy McVeigh was executed by lethal injection, in 2001, after being on death row for the crimes he committed.
I was a freshman in high school when the Columbine shooting happened. The news broke like wildfire and I remember being so terrified. I couldn’t fathom how this happened in a high school, an environment where children go to learn and socialize. School is supposed to be a safe zone. No parent ever imagines they are going to send their children to school on what could, possibly, be their last day. What a terrifying thought.
The mascot for Columbine High School is the Rebels. The mascot for the high school I graduated from is also the Rebels. I remember after the shooting happened, my school made a huge banner to show our support. The banner said, “From One Rebel to Another”. It was placed in the cafeteria where students could write a note of sympathy, showing their support. Although I do not remember what I wrote, I signed it. It made me feel proud that my small high school, 930 miles from Columbine, Colorado, produced and sent that banner to show our support. Although I did not know any of the students from that high school, or even Colorado, I felt that in some form or fashion, we were connected.
That specific school shooting was the first fond memory I have of something of that magnitude happening in our culture. It terrifies me to think of the number of mass casualty massacres that have happened since then.
Here is a list of the deadliest mass shootings that have occurred:
Las Vegas – at least 59 deaths – October 1, 2017
Orlando – 49 deaths – June 12, 2016
Virginia Tech – 32 deaths – April 16, 2007
Sandy Hook – 26 deaths – December 14, 2012
Killeen Luby’s – 23 deaths – October 16, 1991
California McDonald’s – 21 deaths – July 18, 1994
UT-Austin Tower Shooting – 14 deaths – August 1, 1966
San Bernardino – 14 deaths – December 2, 2015
Edmond Post Office – 14 deaths – August 20, 1986
This is merely a list of the top ten; it doesn’t account for all of the other mass shootings, such as the movie theater in Aurora, CO, which are not any less important or gruesome, by any means.
It terrifies me that things like this keep happening in our society. But why do they keep happening? What can we do? How many mass shootings are going to have to happen before we (collectively speaking) do something about it? In case you missed it, Jimmy Kimmel made a public statement on his show Monday night, challenging our President and Senators to act on gun control. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it below. I urge you to watch it.
I don’t need to repeat everything he has said, but I encourage you to think about his words. Reflect on them. Absolutely I think individuals should be afforded an opportunity to have, in their possession, certain types of guns that allow for self-protection (with the right background checks, mental health checks, etc.). But at the same time, I do believe gun control laws need to be revisited and revised. What reason does any individual have that would require them to be in possession of a weapon that could be used to commit a mass murder?
I can’t think of one.
Vagabond Texan 