In the morning of March 27, 2023, three children and three adults were shot and killed at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. Police have confirmed that the suspect, Audrey Hale, bought seven guns legally and hid them at his parent’s house. Recurring mass shootings have terrorized American families; some saying that they have seen a previous shooting just nine months before.
Recent findings have uncovered that Hale was not targeting any specific individuals but rather the school itself. The reason why the incident was conducted was not yet specified, but it is relevant that he was a former student at the school. The suspect has been under “doctor’s care for an emotional disorder”, but due to a lack of information, police did not have access to reports of suicidal or violent tendencies that would have allowed them to confiscate his guns.
It began at 10:13, when the police received the report, and arrived hearing the gunshots on the second floor. After the first fifteen minutes the attack began, two officers killed Hale at 10:27. The Nashville community was outraged by the incident. Groups like “the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action” a gun safety advocacy group, rallied outside of the State Capitol, calling for legislative change.
Mass shootings in the United States have never been put to a stop. The sentiment of knowing that this type of incident can happen at any moment brings constant terror to the lives of American families. Shootings should not be acceptable even if motivated by grievances, or simply randomly. This leads us to the question: to what extent are gun legislations of this type protecting citizens and fulfilling their initial objective?
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