With the new school year starting, the hallways are filled with laughter and joy, however that was all taken away on September 4th when an extremely tragic incident occurred at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The school shooting took place Wednesday morning as a 14 year old suspect took the lives of two 14 year old students and two teachers, one age 39 and the other 53. Following this, nine other victims were injured and several left with the traumatic memory of the scene.
The 14 year old suspect, Colt Gray, was armed with an AR grade weapon in which he used to harm others in his path. Eventually surrendering and taken into custody, he will be tried as an adult for accounts of murder. Looking back into past events that have happened, Gray was previously investigated around May 2023 for making anonymous threats online to commit a school shooting at an unknown location and time. The FBI traced the threats where it was then found to be coming from Colt Gray.
An interview later after the previous remarks took place where the sheriff’s office located Colt Gray and his father. According to abc NEWS, they stated “The father stated he had hunting guns in the house, but the subject did not have unsupervised access to them. The subject denied making the threats online,” the FBI said. Considering that the 14 year old has had access to the guns previously for the purpose of hunting that can lead up to aspects of violence and thoughts of violent acts.
Furthermore, with everything that has tragically happened, having possible age limits on hunting everywhere can possibly prevent violence in the minds of the youth, especially trophy hunting. Although hunting can be seen as a good family bonding event, youthful individuals that begin to use guns can find joy in the violence while hunting for animals. According to an article written by Psychology Today, it states “Research shows increased levels of hostility and a need for power and control are associated with poor attitudes towards animals, among men in particular.” Similarly, when it comes to fishing there is a license needed to simply go fishing, but depending on age there are strict regulations and rules to follow either way. Why isn’t there a license or limit on hunting, especially when it pertains to using a weapon as dangerous as a gun? Adding more regulations whether it be age limits or other restrictions could potentially lessen the threats that spread pertaining to gun violence.
While the tragic event had taken place, Barrow County now suffers the aftermath of pure evil and contemplates the normality of these events. Students shouldn’t have to be afraid everyday of their lives just attending school, with more precautions and limits on certain variables this can help to prevent school shootings going forward. Ignoring these incidents isn’t helping anybody, it only damages our society as a whole. Speaking out against gun violence is the only way to prevent these problems in our future, it is up to us to make a change.
