On Jan. 31, a man fired several shots into the west Omaha Target. He carried with him an AR-15 and 13 loaded magazines. That man was Joseph M. Jones, a schizophrenic 32 year 

old who was the only fatality of the shooting.

 He was shot dead by Omaha Police after he told them that he would kill them.

Around 250 people were in the store when he entered. At least one employee was a high school student, and several children were also in the store.  

There have been 60 mass shootings that resulted in at least one injury or death in 2023, at the time of writing this. 190 teenagers have died in shootings alone this year. 

We’re stuck in a cycle of violence, and as long as it continues, teenagers will continue to be targets. As long as shootings continue, the mental health of Americans will

 continue to deteriorate. And as long as mental health deteriorates, shootings will continue.

Most students were not alive for the first mass shootings. The first one that comes to mind is the Columbine shooting, in which 15 people died. Last year was the controversial and tragic Uvalde shooting, where 19 elementary schoolers were murdered. This may just be a hunch, but it feels like it’s getting worse. More shootings and more deaths, and it’s all increasing exponentially. 

Teachers who have been at MIllard South a long time will sometimes get jittery during lockdowns; some will even tell you their story. Though our school has already endured a shooting, no school is truly immune to the risks. If a man can walk into a target with an AR-15, despite safety precautions, locked doors and security, what’s stopping someone from walking up to a school with a gun? He carried it in a brown cardboard box. People bring unmarked cardboard boxes up to schools all the time. 

This isn’t political. Whether we ban guns or not, teenagers are at a far higher risk now. Did your parents practice lockdown drills? Did they have reinforced doors with bulletproof glass? We are coming of age in a brand new world, and it’s a dangerous one. 

All that we’re saying is that shootings are not a hard thing to conceptualize. All it takes is one angry person. There’s plenty of angry people in this world.

Students know that there’s a risk every time they’re at school, no matter how small that risk might be. But it hadn’t quite sunk in yet that we’re no longer safe at work either. No place is untouched by gun violence. Now you’re a target wherever you go.