Almost two years ago, I was voting when an active shooter situation trapped me in the Student Recreation Center. I didn’t know if it was a coincidence that this was happening on Election Day, or if the shooter had some kind of political agenda. I did know the shooter was just across the street on Old Row. There, by the voting booths, I entertained the possibility that someone might try to shoot me.
One year ago I climbed into a car with my three summer roommates, not suspecting that the one in the passenger seat was drunk. He pulled a pistol out of the glove compartment and showed it to the rest of us. Goaded by the driver, he fired two shots into a wooden fence. On the other side of the fence, about 200 yards away, was a fast food restaurant. I have no idea how close he came to hitting someone.
A week ago, attendance was made optional for all my classes because an online commenter had promised a “day of retribution” for UA students. He gave times and places and named a model of weapon he planned to use. Yesterday, the trial date was set for a man who injured 18 people at the Copper Top bar with an “assault-style” rifle. The point of this is, I’m tired of wondering if someone is going to try to shoot me.
When I complain about feeling threatened, people tell me gun control is pointless. They tell me if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. They tell me the University should allow concealed carry on campus, so that each and every student is prepared to counter a shooter with lethal force. But I don’t want to shoot someone before they can shoot me. I just don’t want to think about shooting at all.
This isn’t a pipe dream; America is the only developed country with regular mass shootings. There is no other first-world nation where students live in the shadow of fear the way we do. There is something pathologically wrong with our culture that produces this phenomenon, and it’s time for us to start rooting it out.
What do I have against concealed carry as a deterrent to mass shootings – or, as I like to call it, John McClane safety? To put it in the most straightforward terms possible, it’s barbaric. People shouldn’t live a life that’s marked by violence, or violence-oriented behaviors. People’s safety shouldn’t depend on their ability to take away someone else’s life. People like me, who don’t like the thought of owning a gun, shouldn’t be easy prey in a society where weapons are ubiquitous and shootings are commonplace. John McClane safety embraces America’s legacy of violence, but in my opinion, we should be running from it as fast as we can. So let’s embrace the idea, as a culture, that we can do better. Let’s try and distance ourselves from killing and killing tools. And hopefully, someday, The University of Alabama can be a place where we don’t have to be afraid.
Nathan James is a senior majoring in psychology. His column runs weekly.
