A gunman who killed nine people at a college in Oregon yesterday (Oct. 1) has been shot dead by police, according to Douglas County sheriff John Hanlin. The shooter also injured seven others, in an attack during which he apparently targeted Christian students.
US president Barack Obama criticized those who object to stricter gun control laws for allowing such a tragedy to happen so often. “Somehow this has become routine,” he said. “We become numb to this.”
There have been so many mass shootings this year—294 including yesterday’s—that they even outnumber the number of days passed since Jan. 1:
That’s according to Mass Shooting Tracker, which defines a mass shooting as one in which “four or more people are shot in an event, or related series of events, likely without a cooling off period.” Not every mass shooting in this definition results in a death, but at least four people were hurt in each incident.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the trend will end any time soon. After a shooting in Connecticut left 20 elementary school students dead in 2012, many people thought public opinion would change in favor of stricter gun laws, but shootings have continued.
Obama also added that the response to each one has also become standard: “What’s become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common sense gun legislation.”
