Mindful Mondays: Americans must recognize and address gun violence as a systemic issue


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We’ve all seen this before. At least, I know I have: I saw two shooting scares at my high school and one here at USC. I remember watching the news and hearing about the tragedies at Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Pulse nightclub and the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas — the four deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history. Every time, we mourned, we debated and we resolved that something like this would never happen again.

But it did happen again. On Nov. 7, a gunman entered a Thousand Oaks country music bar on college night and went on a shooting rampage, leaving 12 dead.

I know I’ve gone over it — in a column last semester when the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. killed 17 students. It enraged young people like me to participate in a nation-wide #NeverAgain movement that called on our policymakers to address the issue of gun violence in America. I don’t know what more I can add to the conversation. Please don’t shoot people? Make sure to wear a bulletproof vest the next time you go to the grocery store? I’m tired. And so is the rest of America.

But regardless of how mentally exhausting it is to discuss shooting after shooting, I cannot let this issue be swept under the rug or pushed out of the news cycle. The victims of Wednesday’s tragedy, and all Americans, deserve better than that. As people with basic human decency, we cannot ignore the ongoing wave of gun violence because it makes us uncomfortable or we’re grateful it hasn’t affected us yet. We also cannot ignore the fact that America has a gun problem — and it doesn’t look like we’ll find a solution anytime soon.

After a shooting like this, we usually attempt to backtrack and form an explanation as to what went wrong. More often than not, the focus turns toward the shooter. Male? Check. Veteran? Check. Mentally ill? Check.

But generalizations — whether they are about ethnicity, gender or military status — are dangerous because not only do they unfairly label and place targets on certain groups, but they also oversimplify an issue that should apply to everyone. While there is something to be said in the fact that mass shooters tend to be men, the reality is that anyone can pick up a gun and pull the trigger.

So instead of examining one person we should turn our attention toward the system that lets these shootings keep happening. We love to blame mental instability as the cause of mass shootings, but we never talk about the topic until after we’ve mourned. In my column about the Parkland shooting, I made the point that America should prioritize destigmatizing mental illness and developing emotional literacy at the elementary school level, which might help create a culture of awareness that prevents future violence.

A concept especially relevant to mental health as a whole, much of the discourse surrounding these tragedies boils down to transparency. That’s why, in these situations, looking for and talking about warning signs is so important: While we may never pin down exactly what goes through the mind of a mass shooter, we can search for signals that point toward a potential tragedy. But the “if you see something, say something” lesson doesn’t solely apply to mass violence — for instance, we should all stay informed about the signs of suicide or self-harm and report them if necessary.

But if we truly want to create change, if we truly want to see more gun control legislation passed, then it is also our obligation to vote. Midterm elections passed, and California governor-elect Gavin Newsom has hinted at enforcing more gun control legislation in response to the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. In fact, House Democrats will make gun law reform a priority when the party takes control in January. Regardless of whether or not they will actually follow up on their promises, this is good news for the generation of young people who have grown up in fear of the chance that the next mass shooting would come to their hometown. After all, electing leaders who share our political visions is the first step toward making long-lasting progress.

But for everyone’s sake, we cannot leave these issues in the hands of policymakers alone; we need to keep talking, keep fighting and keep marching. At this point, I’m not just tired — I’m exhausted. And while I may go to bed tonight in my usual state of worry, I just hope the fallen will rest in peace.

Ryan Fawwaz is a sophomore majoring in journalism. His column, “Mindful Mondays,” runs every other Monday.