Pepperdine faculty and students agree about one thing when it comes to gun laws: inaction must end.
As mass shootings become more frequent, all agree that change is past due. Something has to happen, however, no one can agree on what.
”If it’s human life at stake then everyone needs to come together,” said Taylor Ramirez, an undeclared first-year student.
In a Pepp Post survey of 50 Pepperdine students, nearly 47 percent said recent mass shootings changed their opinion on gun control. Almost 32 percent said mass shootings have changed the way they view human nature. For other students, recent events reaffirmed their beliefs and made them eager for change.
A recent history of mass shootings
More than 50 mass shootings have occurred so far this year, according to GunViolenceArchive.org, a non-profit archive that consolidates every legal report of gun deaths or violence.
The archive defines mass shootings as “four or more shot and/or killed in a single incident, at the same general time and location, not including the shooter.”
A Mother Jones investigation in March 2018 reported there were four mass shootings in 1999, the year 13 people died in the Columbine High School shooting. 2017 saw 346 mass shootings, according to GunViolenceArchive.org
One of the more recent mass shootings occured on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 people lost their lives.
In October, Stephen Paddock shot and killed 59 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas, commiting the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.
Before Vegas, 49 people were killed at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016. In 2012, 27 school children and teachers died when a shooter entered Sandy Hook Elementary School. These are a few examples of the hundreds of mass shootings to occur in recent years.
Of the 50 students surveyed, five people reported being personally affected by a mass shooting.
“Do you remember when that guy went in and shot up the Republicans playing baseball? That happened when I was working for Congress,” junior physics major Karin Frizzelle said. “The guy came in there with an automatic weapon and just tried to mow people down.The security guards, the capitol police, had little handguns on them. And that was all that they needed to take him down.”
The Pepperdine Counseling Center recommends being attentive when supporting those personally affected by such tragedies.
“I think the most important thing we can do is to support those that are most affected and that support will look differently depending on the individual,” Counselor Jeffrey Williams said. “Some will need therapy, others will need spiritual guidance to address their concerns because this type of violence can lead to existential questions that can be disorienting.”
The computer game “Thoughts and Prayers” exemplifies a growing frustration with government inaction.
Thoughts & Prayers: The Game
America faces an epidemic of mass shootings. It’s up to you to stop them… with the power of your thoughts and prayers.
Many Pepperdine students agree that something should be done. After that, opinions begin to differ.
“I don’t see on this topic, or a lot of topics, much desire to compromise, which is sad to me,” Pepperdine Chaplain Sara Barton said. “I think learning to see from another person’s perspective is central to the Christian life.”
The Second Amendment
The Second Amendment states that a “well-regulated militia” has the right to bear arms. There are many interpretations as to what this means.
“The Constitution is open to differing interpretations and I think that’s particularly true with the Bill of Rights,” Political Science Professor Chris Soper said. “The language of the Bill of Rights is both brief and vague. No civil liberty in the Bill of Rights is absolute. There are reasonable limits on them.”
Soper said he believes reasonable limits include a waiting period for the purchase of guns, full background checks and some regulations on the kinds of weapons available for purchase.
“Rightly or wrongly, I tend to think wrongly, the Supreme Court in a case called Heller v. District Columbia decided that the expression of well-regulated militia in the Second Amendment was only one of many purposes for which the right to keep and bear arms was acknowledged in that amendment,” Constitutional Law Professor Douglas Kmiec said.
Pepperdine students have varying opinions on the Second Amendment. Some 20 percent of students believe it is important to protect their Second Amendment rights while 64 percent believe it is important but still want to see more gun regulation.
“The right to bear arms, I mean for me, isn’t something intrinsic to my belief (of) who I am as an American,” said Lauren Allard, a junior sports medicine major.
Others see gun ownership as an essential part of their freedom.
“As soon as there’s a fear that somebody might threaten our Second Amendment right, people start buying more guns to hide them and hold on to them,” said Daniel Rodriguez, divisional dean of Religion and Philosophy. “I have friends who live in Montana and that’s what they do.”
Background checks
The State of California requires a background check and a 10-day waiting period when purchasing a firearm from a licensed seller. However, federal law does not require background checks when purchasing firearms from private sellers. This is often referred to as the “gun show loophole,” according to Giffords Law Center.
“I think that anyone with child abuse or domestic violence or animal cruelty charges against them in which they have been found guilty, I think those should be on their background checks, I think that those need to show up,” Frizzelle said.
A PEW research study found that 85 percent of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, favor background checks for private sales.
“I think there needs to be stricter background checks and just laws overall in general,” said Austin Welch, Student Government Association president, Pepperdine College Republicans chairman and a junior political science major. “… But also just making sure that it’s not impeding on people arguing their right to bear arms.”
Welch said that recent mass shootings have not changed this opinion.
National Rifle Association Spokeswoman Dana Loesch said in a CNN town hall that the problem is there’s no federal law requiring states to report prohibited possessors to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
“I think background checks need to be standardized across the country,” said Megan Johnston, a junior international studies major. “I think a nationalized, standardized background checks would be good.”
Age Limit
The federal law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from possessing a handgun or handgun ammunition but someone of any age can possess a rifle or shotgun, according to Giffords Law Center,
The NRA is suing the state of Florida for passing the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act March 5, the BBC reported. The act will raise the required age to 21 for anyone purchasing a firearm, excluding military and law enforcement personnel, according to Florida’s government website.
“I don’t think that’s enough, I don’t think that’s sufficient,” Allard, a Virginia native, said.
Frizzelle, who is also from Virginia, supports the idea of raising the age limit, even as she embraces gun ownership.
“I want to register for a concealed carry when I’m 21 because I will be a woman living alone and I don’t know where my job will take me,” Frizzelle said, “I would rather be armed if I needed to be armed.”
Bans
After the Parkland, Florida shooting, President Donald Trump said he was “writing out” bump stocks in an address to a group of state senators Politico.com published. The devices allow semi-automatic weapons to simulate the ability of fully-automatic weapons. The NRA has opposed bans on bump stocks in the past.
Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock used bump stocks when he shot and killed 59 people from his hotel window. Afterward, lawmakers debated banning the accessories but nothing came of the discussion.
Ramirez said recent mass shootings have only confirmed her beliefs on gun control. She supports keeping a handgun at home but believes military grade weapons should be banned.
“Yes, it is in our Constitution and it is one of the amendments that we have the right to bear arms but I don’t think that means for you to protect your family you need a military assault rifle,” Ramirez said.
Additionally, the AR-15 rifle gained a reputation for its role in mass shootings, including Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Orlando and Las Vegas. Its involvement in these tragedies have made some question their necessity.
“If I was king of the universe, here’s what would happen tomorrow. We would have no handguns and no assault rifles,” Rodriguez said. “But if you want to walk around the street with a rifle that shoots a single bullet at a time … everyone gets a rifle. But no handguns and certainly no automatic guns.”
Solutions
Regardless of differing opinions, communities must find a way to work toward a solution, Barton said.
“Democracy is built on the hope that people will always find compromise,” Barton said.
Soper said change comes from mobilized voters and “raw political power.”
“Politicians will respond to highly mobilized publics,” Soper said.
Since the Parkland shooting, students nationwide have participated in school walkouts, demanding the attention of lawmakers. Pepperdine, however, has not organized any official marches or walk outs.
In early March, global advocacy group Avaaz covered the lawn of the Capitol building with 7,000 pairs of shoes to memorialize the estimated number of children killed in school shootings since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Protesters across the world participated in “March For Our Lives” March 24, shouting things like “NRA, go away!”
Parkland student Emma Gonzalez spoke at the Florida march. Her speech lasted about six minutes and 20 seconds, the same amount of time it took shooter Nikolas Cruz to kill 17 people.
Kmiec believes gun violence should be at the top of a voter’s issue list and admires the demonstrations and marches taking place across the country.
“If you don’t have political leaders who are willing to stand against that type of outrageous behavior, they’re not really leaders, they really shouldn’t be participating in politics, and they really should be defeated,” Kmiec said.
Soper sees the marches as the byproduct of a healthy democracy.
“Political participation, particularly by younger people who tend not to be politically engaged, is a very good and positive thing,” Soper wrote in a follow-up email. “We can agree or disagree on policy proposals and the forms of political engagements, but we should all agree that activism is healthy for a political democracy.”
Haidyn Harvey completed the reporting for this story under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos in Jour 241 in spring 2018. Dr. Littlefield supervised the web story.
