The Thousand Oaks Shooting

Rose Joffe ’21, News Editor

On November 7^th, yet another mass shooting occurred in Thousand Oaks, California. The news cycle had barely stopped covering the massacre that took place on October 28 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  The Thousand Oaks shooting took place at the Borderline Bar and Grill’s packed ‘College Country Night’. Thirteen people were killed and ten were injured. Many people in the bar that night had been at the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017, and some were not able to return home as they had after Las Vegas. Ian Long, the prime suspect for the shooting in Thousand Oaks, killed himself on the scene. Long, 28, was a decorated marine veteran who had served in Afghanistan. Long had been reported by one of his neighbors who often heard screaming and sometimes gunshots coming from the house where Long lived with his mother. Last April, the police responded to a disturbance at his home by having a mental health specialist speak with him about his experience in Afghanistan. The psychiatrist concluded that Long did not appear to be a threat, and thus concluded the minor investigation.

The mass shooting at Thousand Oaks California marked the 307^th mass shooting in 2018. Given the frequency and the extensive media coverage of these shootings, it feels as if a mass shooting could happen anywhere, at any time in the U.S. In fact, in early September, a gunman killed three and injured two in downtown Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Bank Center. In these past years and months, it has become clear that the epidemic of mass shootings cannot be wished or prayed away, instead they are unfortunately becoming increasingly more frequent. Although the government has been unwilling to enact legislation for common sense gun laws, last week’s election indicated that the American people are ready to see change in this area. The results indicated that there may be a possible shift in gun control regulations. The NRA only put $11 million in the midterm elections this year, a mere fraction of what they have spent in the past. Michael Bloomberg, a new member of the Democratic party and the former mayor of New York City, pledged $30 million to support candidates of stronger gun control regulation in the election. Similarly, gun-shot survivor and former congresswoman Gabby Gifford invested $5 million. Democrats who were strong advocates of stricter gun control laws saw success that they had been denied in past elections, which indicates that our nation is ready for change. Regardless of their political views, people are coming to terms with the fact that our current gun-regulations are not enough to protect the citizens of our nation and something has to change.