Picture this: you're at school, just minutes before you’re due to go home for the day. Suddenly, the fire alarm goes off. This is strange – you've already had a fire-drill today – but you leave the class anyway. Then, in the distance, you hear popping noises, screams. Teachers are yelling to get back inside, to hide. You run back inside, conceal yourself the best you can, wait, and wait.
In 1996, a 28 year old man walked into a café in Port Arthur, Australia, ate his lunch, then once he was finished, pulled a semiautomatic gun out of his bag and killed 35 people – injuring 23 more. [slide] This was the biggest mass shooting in Australian history. Now Australia doesn't do many things right – but if there's one thing they have done that I admire them for, it's the way that they took direct action following this incident. The Australian government, rather than wasting time arguing about and how to prevent the intrinsic motivations of the shooter, who was found to have the brain development of an eleven year old, they decided to combat the direct cause of the 35 deaths – the gun itself. The National Firearms Agreement established by the Australian government outlawed the purchase of semi-automatic and automatic guns throughout all states of Australia, and began a buyback scheme. [slide] This saw 640,000 guns turned into authorities across Australia – and since then, gun related deaths have fallen by 7.5 percent per year throughout the continent. This seems like the appropriate reaction to an event like this, right? So why is it that so often we see news of school and mass shootings in America?
America has a notoriously high number of school shootings that occur every year. [slide] How long do you think it has taken for this many school shootings in America? This represents the Each red dot represents a school shooting. 332, that's more than one per week. There have been at least 42 school shootings so far this year alone. 42. Why does this happen so frequently? The answer lies in America's lax gun control laws. Buying a semi-automatic gun in America is easier for an 18 year old than buying alcohol – and can take only 15 minutes at some stores. In 33 states across America, private sellers can sell guns without having to conduct a state or federal background check – which makes it all too easy for unstable and dangerous people to buy weapons with lethal consequences. Surely in a country where shootings occur so frequently there would be changes made to these laws. Surely America would take a page out of Australia's book. Yet there have been little to no changes. Why? A vast majority of Americans do not believe that guns are the problem. They blame any thing but guns. Mental health issues, bullying, toxic masculinity, a culture of violence – that’s what so many people point the finger to when these shootings happen again, and again. This graph, [slide] from a Vox article called "America's gun problem, explained" shows the direct correlation between gun ownership and gun deaths across the world. Look at the difference. Yet still people choose to ignore this. They claim they need guns to protect themselves – but from what? More people with guns?
Gun control is nothing new to the world. Right here in New Zealand, in fact, we have some pretty harsh gun control laws. On the New Zealand Library of Congress website, the system of police vetting and licensing that we have in New Zealand, in order to obtain weapons such as handguns, semi-automatic and restricted guns is explained. It states: "In order to possess these types of weapons license holders must also obtain license endorsements, which can be granted in limited circumstances. Permits to procure such weapons must also be obtained. The licensing system includes background and reference checks, as well as safety training and a written test." Pretty strict right? Perhaps this is the reason why we are here [point at NZ dot on screen] on gun deaths, and America is way up here [point at the US dot]. While New Zealand definitely is not the perfect place in terms of violence, at least we, as kids in school, do not have the same level of worry about being the victims of a school shooting.
In Gus Van Sant's 2003 film, Elephant, the storyline is loosely based on the events of the 1999 Columbine shooting. The film is drab, the acting amateur – yet the themes and messages that this film portrays is. Elephant's portrayal of the sick events that haunt too many school in such a detached yet realistic way is Van Sant's attempt to convey the truth of school shootings in today's society – and critique it. Nothing about the film is romanticized, false. The characters are played by non-actors, normal people. The deaths in the school shooting scene that ends the movie are not lingered upon, but moved past in a cold, calculated way. Is this not similar to the way we move past the deaths of countless kids killed in real shootings? It happens so often, so what difference does it make? Another shooting in America? Oh, haven’t heard that before. More kids dead? What a surprise. This issue is the elephant in the room of our modern society – and we have to do something about it.
Six minutes. In the time since the timer started and the alarm went off, the nineteen year old Nikolas Cruz managed to kill 17 people at Majory Stoneman Douglas high school, and injured many more. Six minutes was all it took for him to change the lives of not only the 17, but their friends, their families, their community. Yet it wasn't the end – 10 more kids were killed in Santa Fe on the 21st of May. Six minutes more. What makes it so easy? I think we all know the answer – and that answer has to change.