An event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah outside Sydney, Australia, ended in tragedy. On December 14th, two shooters opened fire on a group of over 1,000 people meeting to mark the first day of the holiday leaving around 16 dead and dozens injured. The shooting was carried out by a 50 year-old man, who was killed during the violence and his 24 year-old son, who was hospitalized in critical condition afterwards. Eyewitnesses have reported that the shooters initially aimed at crowded groups of families. One bystander is currently receiving praise and acknowledgement for his heroism after he was able to sneak behind one of the shooters, tackle him, and grab his weapon before he could continue the horror that was taking place. Australian officials are already taking action to try and prevent a repeat of this tragedy, the government is proposing laws that include using more criminal intelligence while trying to gain a firearm license, limiting the amount of guns someone can have, and many other strict rules that can lead to less gun violence. Australia has been known to be a country that has not had to face many mass shootings in the past. If a country that was once seen as safe and protected is now dangerous, what could this mean for the rest of the world?
A tragically violent weekend was seen all around the world, spanning from Australia to America. Major headlines covered the mass shooting taking place at Brown University on December 13th. These events took the lives of two students as well as injuring nine others. Students simply preparing to take their final exams for the semester were left fearing for their lives. As of December 16th, the shooter is still at large. The FBI has been searching for the gunman for days even arresting the wrong suspect. The shooting took place at the Barus and Holley Engineering building, a popular location for many students to attend classes. This marks the 393rd mass shooting in the United States in 2025 alone. Such a high statistic that has only proved to rise every year, leaving many to question when enough is enough and more laws will be placed on firearms and how easy it is for the wrong person to receive such a dangerous weapon.
In Brooklyn, New York, another mass shooting took place in Cypress Hills. Two gunmen attacked a group of six teenagers, ages ranging from fifteen to seventeen. Even though every victim is in stable condition and are expected to survive, many wonder what these innocent teens were doing to face such violent attacks considering they were doing something as simple as attending a birthday party. The NYPD does believe that the shooting is gang related, yet no arrests have been made for the two suspects. The 75th Precinct, where the shooting took place, has seen a 33% drop in mass shootings from this year to last, but still continuing to reach record high statistics.
After such a violent weekend around the world, many people are starting to wonder when is enough really enough? Living in a society where firearm laws are found to be easy, it is very easy that the wrong person can obtain one of these weapons and cause harm to innocent civilians. Some suggest more extensive background checks if someone is seeking one of these weapons or extreme risk laws to be enforced to try and limit gun violence. Though many people come from different backgrounds and someone could be suffering from PTSD or have past trauma, the longer these laws are so lenient, the more of a risk people are, living in fear of the “what if?” and never knowing what might happen.
