The Santa Fe high school shooting was just one of the 300 school shootings that have occurred in the United States since 2013, and it is necessary to recognize the fact that the measures that are being taken to prevent incidents like these simply don’t prove to be enough.

And now, the minds behind the violence have not been pursuing ordinary facilities to terrorize, but have found a new target — schools.

9/11 served as a wake-up call for American citizens to the threat of imminent attacks against the heartland, and what once seemed like the safest and most prosperous country in the world took a new, vulnerable light in the eyes of foreigners and Americans themselves. Even with the ample amount of time that has been granted to the American government to stop shootings and other acts of mass violence, the numbers of these horrific acts have not been going down but instead have been following an upward trajectory.

On May 18, students at the Santa Fe high school scrambled for safety subsequent to the sound of gun shots echoing through the hallways. 10 were found to be wounded and 10 were killed; of them a Pakistani foreign exchange student and a substitute teacher. As authorities searched campus to find more evidence of the shooting after its conclusion, more explosive devices were found to exist.

17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the identified shooter, was later detained by authorities on accords of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant. He was a typically quiet student, and some have reported to say that he was in fact helpful. He admits to killing those he didn’t like in particular and wanted to commit suicide following the shooting.

But what is most heartbreaking of all is that incidents like these are common now.

Hearing about another school shooting is plain to all of us, because on average one takes place every week. It is simply not enough to recognize patterns of shooters such as loneliness or exclusion or strengthen school safety measures in order to prevent shootings. To effectively eradicate them, we must recognize the underlying issue that is the root cause of the violence: guns.

Pagourtzis allegedly used his father’s gun and revolver to carry out the shooting, a feat he would not have been able to so easily accomplish without the use of a gun.

First, take note of the facts. America is home to about 300 million guns, more than any other country. Its gun death rates top those of almost every country — on the other end of the spectrum, Japan has less than 1 gun per 100 people and has fewer than 10 gun deaths a year for the entire nation.

Nobody is saying that guns should be banned completely — that would go against everything our country stands for, including raw freedom. Instead, stronger gun control needs to be implemented, because the fact stands that more guns equals more deaths. If guns were out of the equation, a downfall in the amount of deaths due to gun violence would definitely be seen as well. This approach would include lengthy background checks, a ban to those under 21 from buying a gun, safe storage, tighter enforcement of the law on straw purchases and ammunition checks.

While lax gun laws make it effortless for good guys to get guns, they also make it strikingly simple for bad guys to get guns.

In the “wise words” of President Trump, mass shootings have been “going on too long in our country.” So in my words, president, what exactly are you doing to stop this phenomenon?

President Trump, you receive $30 million dollars from the NRA as your personal form of hush money, but you choose to ignore the fact that disbanding the NRA will cause your country to prosper greater than ever before. So, instead of listening to an organization that will rip your country apart, listen to Paul Ryan, a member of your own party who wants to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and listen to the millions of people that want you to take action against guns and do something; anything to prevent gun violence.

As teachers, parents and peers of these shooters, let's do our part to be aware of the warning signs of someone inclined to gun violence.